As the previous reviewer puts it the new bars on the plus range are wholly unsuited to burning smokeless fuel in that they are unable to riddle efficiently. I first tried to rectify this by
using a hand held angle grinder to widen the gaps between the bars which had little effect. I then asked AArrow for advice re using an alternative bar to which I was told there was not another alternative. There is however the alternative of the bars from the previous range - Ecoburn and I had a few spares left over from an old Ecoburn 7 and bought some extras to complete the set -problem sorted.The stove now clears ash efficiently, is easy to light and burns overnight using smokeless fuels. I will mark the stove a 3 owing to the daft design of the + firebars and the fact that Aarrow do not offer an alternative at point of sale despite manufacturing such a bar. This company should know better with all their experience.
Stove expert replied:
The new bars will operate effectively and remove the ash but as this customer is used to an older style product the comparison is a great change. If you know no different then the current bars work fine to remove the ash and yet provide a good base for not only wood byt smokeless fuels as required.
If you are requiring a true multifuel stove my advice is not to buy any Aarrow model with the Flexifuel grate. After running this stove for several months I gave up trying to burn soft or hard
smokeless fuel as the grate is incapable of riddling the ash. The result is that overnight burning is impossible which in my circumstances is essential. The Flexifuel grate can best be described as a wood burning grate with a nervous twitch.I have contacted Aarrow and expressed my views and have been told that I should fit an older set of firebars which will cost me approximately £50+ which I resent having to pay for. I am dubious as to the effectiveness of this solution.Also, I have found that the stove controls are very difficult to calibrate and very hot to touch. As for the air wash system on the glass, I have little to say that can commend it as the only way to keep the glass clean beyond 5 hours is to run it constantly on a high burn rate, thus using large amounts of fuel. The only feature that I can recommend regarding the Ecoburn Plus 9 is that it does put out a good amount of heat.I purchased this stove in order to replace an older Aarrow multifuel stove which I had run for 25 years and had performed superbly, being run 24/7 for six moths of each year. To compare the two stoves in any respect, is like chalk and cheese. The irony is that I looked at, and carefully examined many other stoves before buying the Ecoburn 9 yet it was the one make which was not held in stock. I bought blind based on the information contained within the Aarrow brochure and website and most importantly that I had run an Aarrow stove for 25 years with perfect results and consequently had full confidence in the brand. What a costly mistake I made.
Had this fire since the summer and it heats my the whole house even on the coldest days I have used logs and coal and I have no issues at all it lights easily and the lounge is warm in the morning
with smokeless coal on( with the air wash open all night you have red coals in the morning).I cannot recommend this fire enough.
