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Review of Broseley eVolution 8 boiler stove

Pros and Cons

Rob 10 years ago

Well I was really excited about this purchase, it was a lot of money but we should be using it for years and saving plenty of money on gas to heat the house. So we ordered it and we were told it would take a month to arrive, well it took approx 3 months before we got it! It was installed and then we started to use it. It works pretty well, after 15 mins or so then water in the tank gets hot enough to start pumping around the central heating system. Probably takes about an hour before it's nice and hot. So I'm quite happy with it, however the nice large window became foggy after a few weeks. We tried everything to clean it up but it seems like the heat has permanently damaged the glass. We complained so after a few weeks Broseley turned up to replace the door. They checked the airwash and it seemed to work fine. So we started to use it again but bit by bit the glass went cloudy again. We are using dry seasoned wood and I've got a flue thermometer so it doesn't get too hot or cold. Now it's all cloudy again apart from a small section right at the top, wonder if that's where the airwash is working properly? Anyway we had a chimney sweep in to clean it all. He did a great job and cleaned the hearth too. He then attempted to clean the glass but was unable to. He's cleaned hundreds of stoves but this is the first one he's been unable to clean the glass, he assumed the glass had not been treated correctly. So we went back to Broseley who then said we had for fitted our warranty due to overfiring!

Overall i'm happy with the stove (apart from the glass) and not very happy with Broseley!

Stove expert replied: Cloudy discolouration on glass is normally due to overfiring for prolonged periods, it can start with a small patch which increases over time if the stove is operated at too high temperatures. I notice that you have marked the stove down for controllability. I think perhaps you may have a strong drawing chimney - this can make any stove difficult to control and can easily lead to overfiring. A possible sign would be a sucking noise from the air inlets. Fitting a flue damper may allow you to control the draw more effectively.

Overall rating:

3.5 flames

Build Quality 4.5 flames (avg 4.5)
Quality of finish 5 flames (avg 5)
Value for money 3.5 flames (avg 3.5)
Ease of use 4.5 flames (avg 4.5)
Ease of lighting 4 flames (avg 4)
Firebox size 5 flames (avg 5)
How well does the airwash work 1 flames (avg 1)
Controllability 4.5 flames (avg 4.5)
Handle operation 2.5 flames (avg 2.5)
How likely are you to buy it again? 2.5 flames (avg 2.5)
What is your overall satisfaction? 2.5 flames (avg 2.5)