WhatStove?

Review of Aga Minsterley stove

Brilliant!

Mark Coates 5 years ago

Fitted this stove about 6-7 years ago and it has been faultless, delighted with how it performs, I have it heating a hot water tank and 8 radiators, 2 singles in bedrooms, hall single, bathroom double and towel rail, conservatory large double, living room very large double, hot air cupboard double, and kitchen double. It copes with no problem at all. I have been running it between smokeless ovoids or wood, wood is great to give a fast heat up and throw out the heat, I normally run high with both air inlets fully open, if turned down low or the front vent closed with wood it does tar up the inside a bit and dirty the glass but a quick run up on high clears it,. After the house is warm I run it on smokeless ovoids, close the front air inlet and set the rear to 2or 3, 1 good load will last over 24hours keeping the house warm, it also does my hot water through a differential stat giving us plenty of hot water. 1 thing I had when it was first fitted (found out 2 years later when giving a good clean) it seemed low heat output to the water, I figured it was just the quantity of radiators I had and didn't give it a second thought, but after cleaning the fire and removing the top inspection hatch, the top baffle or deflector wasn't fully in position, there's a wedge that sides down between the boiler and baffle plate, the wedge hadn't been slid down far enough causing a lot of heat to go up the flue. I pushed the wedge fully down until it stopped so the baffle was hard against the top of the stove making all the heat pass over the top of the boiler and what a difference this mad. The radiators were red hot after this! Worth a check if you think it's not heating your radiators enough.

Never replaced anything so far on the stove and i''s had regular use, still the original glass, although it has gone a sort of sand blasted finish with the heat, only cleaning I do to the glass is after the winter when I use a metal scouring pad to remove any soot or tar.

The one option I would have liked when I bought it was to have the black finish in the high gloss enamel but it seemed the only stove this wasn't available on.

Stove expert replied: It is important not to overfire a stove as this can cause discoloration on the glass and could lead to distortion of the stove. The air controls should not be left fully open for periods of more that 20mins at any one time, once you have an established fire. Using a metal scouring pad may possibly have damaged the surface of the glass and you should only need to use a cloth dipped in woodash or vinegar which should remove normal deposits that can occur on a glass when the stove is operated correctly and the fuel being used meets the requirements expected.

Overall rating:

5 flames

Build Quality 5 flames (avg 4.8)
Quality of finish 5 flames (avg 4.7)
Value for money 5 flames (avg 4.4)
Ease of use 5 flames (avg 4.2)
Ease of lighting 5 flames (avg 4.7)
Firebox size 4 flames (avg 4.1)
How well does the airwash work 4 flames (avg 3.9)
Controllability 5 flames (avg 4)
Handle operation 5 flames (avg 4)
How likely are you to buy it again? 5 flames (avg 4.5)
What is your overall satisfaction? 5 flames (avg 4.6)