This is the fifth stove we have owned, and of the four wood-burning stoves in our home this one certainly puts out the most heat per kg of wood burnt.
Lighting up is a bit fiddly, the door needs
to be left on the ‘ajar’ part of latch for at least ten minutes before you can start to close it. Once up to operating temperature it is easy enough to keep going.
There are a couple of quality issues with the manufacture though. My main gripe is the flimsiness of the stainless steel and mesh baffle plate. It became warped after just a few months, hardly surprising considering the thinness of the plate. The mesh inserts are also made of entirely the incorrect material, it became corroded and brittle in a very short period of time. (I did some research and was able to replace it with a grade of material more appropriate to withstanding large thermal stresses.) The entire plate only lasted two years before becoming unusable, I think this is unacceptable. The cost of a replacement was prohibitive, so I have commissioned a replacement from a local steelworker using more appropriate metal.
Despite this obvious gripe I still like the stove and don’t anticipate changing it any time soon.
Stove expert replied:
Thanks for the comment, it is recommended to leave the door ajar when lighting any stove, especially a new, more efficient stove as the chimney needs to get warm, relatively quickly to aid draw.
Had this stove about 2 weeks now, great stove, well built, uses hardly any wood and kicks out a lot of heat, handle is an irritation sometimes as it does loosen, however, you do need to adjust
this properly as per the instructions provided and tighten with both the allen key and a spanner and really tighten it up, I have found that once this is done its fine. Glass keeps clean and the fire ball effect is amazing. Very easy to use, I have the room sealed kit as well so even more efficient, gets going easy.
We have been running this stove for 9 months. It has been absolutely excellent. It can heat three interconnected rooms with ease and with doors open can raise temp of whole house. Burns incredibly
cleanly. Use seasoned logs, once running on an emberbed we can add 1 log per hour and run down at setting two all night. Have used roomseal kit.
Having used many fires over many years, this is probably the least practical.Problems started with the top fire brick not having anything to locate it in place and had moved to the front somewhere
along the line so the heat was going straight up the chimney. There''s a flimsy mesh plate which also does not fit well and had fallen off at the back. The mesh is so weak that my fingers went through it while trying to put it back.I''ve never had a fire that is so temperamental, that I had to follow the instructions exactly. Yes, I read the instructions again after being disappointed in its performance. It states:The maximum amount of fuel specified in this manual should not be exceeded.The weight of dry wood per hour is: 1.0kg for the 9103, 1.3kg for the 9104, 1.6kg for the 9105, 2.8kg for the 9108 and 4.4kg for the 9112.Overloading can damage components of the stove. The stove is not designed for overnight operation.So after following and even weighing the wood my conclusions are:It does not like logs bigger than 4" across, more than one log at a time or wood much over 15% moisture.It also needs a lot of kindling to give it a good base as it will not draw up from a low fire, let alone embers.But once up and running; one dry, 4 x 8 inch log once an hour will give you a lot of heat. Very efficient.Personally, I prefer a more practical fire, even if it does mean a bit more wood.
Having rennovated and insulated another area of the house, our existing 8kw ''cheap'' cast iron stove became too big for the living room (heating to over 28c) so chose to downsize the output
and install better more efficient British made technology.This was a simple remove old stove and install with new connecting stove pipe to the existing recently 5" lined and insulated chimney (4.2mtr)We also had the external air kit installed at the same time.Upon delivery our installer advised us to grab the Dyson and spend an hour removing blasting shot from it.... about half a kilo of it! We also familiarised ourselves with how to remove and reinstall all the baffles and fire bricks as we will no doubt need to replace bits at some point in the future.The initial lighting being a small fire was simple and gives you an opportunity to get a feel for how the handles operate and the air control works. The literature included covers This well.Onto daily use, and this is where we notice the subtle (but significant and clever!) differences in how this Burley stove works compared with all the wood stoves I have used over the years.The first difference is the position of the fire bed. In most stoves the base of the fire sits behind a bar fairly high up. With this stove it is well below the door level, effectively in a small ''pit''. This makes lighting awkward, especially if you lay the fire ready to light later on. Trying to reach a lit match or lighter that low can be awkward! As we no longer have a newspaper I now use a single firelighter and 8 to 10 pieces of kindling. Light the fire lighter and place in the firebox, criss-cross the kindling over it and place a couple of smaller split logs (imagine a couple of bits of 2"x2" about 10 inches long) on top. Leave the door ajar for around 5mins. The fire is well alight at this point and with the air control fully open, close the door then watch the flames.... mesmerizing!! After another 20mins close the air down so the flames look lazy.We have found that one bigger log weighing around a kilo lasts around an hour before refueling is required.This is another area that I have found differs . Where in the past I would have let the fire burn down to embers then piled wood into the firebox shut the door and whilst it slowly builds heat to catch on fire, the heat held in the cast body warms the room; then leave it to burn for 3 to 4 hours before refueling; I have had to learn to pay a little more attention; but it has it''s rewards!!The firebox is fairly small, you will not fit big logs in this stove and have a successful fire. 10 inches long and split to around a 5 to 6 inch diameter is about the max.If you let this stove burn down too far, you will struggle to get it going again without another handful of kindling.We have found that as the log burns out, open the air control a little to encourage flames. Once you end up with the air fully open and no flames, this is the point to add fuel. Place towards the back of the firebox, leave the door on the catch for a couple of minutes until the new fuel is alight, close the door and wait a couple more minutes then close the air until you have lazy slow rolling flames.....the cycle then starts again with feeding more air in as the flames diminish.We have noticed one quirk (NOT A CRITICISM) with this stove. When left at the end of the evening to burn out (with the air fully open) the glass soots up. Once re-lit and before you are at the point of turning the air down, it is crystal clear again.Economy. Let''s be honest this was the most economical stove on paper; one of our main reasons for choosing the Debdale and it certainly delivers in practice. It manages to keep the room at around 24/26c and uses SIGNIFICANTLY less fuel. We were burning around 15kg over 9 hours, we now burn around 3.5kg.We have had one minor niggle, the door handle was coming loose multiple times per evening. A small dab of loctite resolved and no longer an issue. The wooden handle is unique and effective. It''s refreshing to not get burned when you grab hold of it!With the external air supply kit we have noticed there are less small draughts over our feet and no smoke coming back into the room of you open the door quickly.In summary. The small firebox it a bit restrictive, however I have burned briquettes which poses no issue; but a gnarly bit of hawthorn poses a challenge!! It is a good looking well put together stove that lights easily and is very controllable and fuel efficient whilst still putting heat into the room rather than out of the chimney. Well worth the investment and I am thoroughly impressed with the design and ease of use.
Stove expert replied:
Ideally logs should be no more than 4" diam to get the most efficient burn - if you use larger then more energy is taken to burn them than with a smaller log and efficiency is lost.
I have rented many cottages with solid-fuel stoves and owned a narrowboat with two. The Debdale has the best flame-picture and belts out heat. It''s easy to light but does need to be run at
''full chat'' to get the best out of it. I find that it''s best to light it with a lot of kindling but that it can run with the door closed after about five to ten minutes. The firebox is not very deep (front to back) and it runs best on eight-inch logs. It needs to have air around all sides of the logs. It draws well on a windy day but needs the regulator almost fully open on a calm day. It really does burn the ash - I''ve just removed ash for the first time after burning for six hours a day for three weeks. Compressed peat burns well but the ashes are still red hot after twenty-four hours! If run slowly the glass does not stay clear as the air wash is also restricted when you close the only control.The construction is superb. It is an elegant, understated stove. I love that is supplied with paint to touch it up over time.If you try and close it down a bit, it will probably go out. But when you have ''the knack'' it is a brilliant stove.I use an IR thermometer to see if it is remaining hot or tending to cool. At full belt, it runs at over 220C on the glass. If this drops below 180C, then it needs more air or more fuel.Currently, I am burning kiln-dried pine or spruce logs at 15% humidity or less. I don''t think this stove will work with supermarket logs - you need to find a reputable supplier.I bought a builder''s dumpy bay of kiln-dried logs for £50, delivered and they have been an absolute joy. In three weeks I have used only a quarter of these.If I light the fire in the morning, it will warm the whole house. In my 40m3 room, with the door open, it''s now25 C !!
Stove expert replied:
No stove should be operated on maximum draw continuously. Short periods of maximum burn for 15 - 20 mins max is what is recommended with a more gentle slumbering period in between.
This is it''s 3rd year of use .. the glass became cloudy in the first season of use . I've had wood burners for years . While it was still new I asked the manufacturer about this problem . They
weren't interested and sent a generic email about how to use the stove ,etc . On the whole the fire is excellent for heat output and efficiency but the whole experience has been marred by the cloudy glass . After spending that much on a fire I will keep it going and maybe buy a new glass . I've never had a glass become acid etched , let alone this quickly .
Stove expert replied:
Glass can be affected by the flue gases if you are not operating the stove effectively and it is shut down or a slumbering mode for prolonged periods, this gives a spiders web affect that gradually creeps across the glass. The cloudy appearance is caused by the stove being over-drawn and the glass surface becomes damaged, it does not affect the integrity and can continue to be used. Both of these are permanent changes that can't be wiped off. I would suggest getting a flue pipe thermostat that gives you the recommended working temperatures for your stove and should prevent this from happening again..
This is my second winter since installation and my first ownership of a logburner. I was limited by the size of the recess it was fitting into and particularly wanted a simple looking stove
with no ornate trims. I researched carefully before purchase and was impressed with the claimed efficiency. It needs to be built up slowly when first lighting but is so easy to use, fantastic flame effect and extremely economical. Really pleased that I took the step of replacing gas with this very effective heater. Contrary to some I have had no issues with the handle, wondering if it has been updated.
After a few teething problems (it lights and burns in a different way to ordinary log burners) once you have a good bed of ashes it burns forever on a basket of wood . This little 4 kW version
is more than able to heat our double sitting room . With the aid of a stove fan it also pushes heat upstairs to take chill off if we leave stairs door open . Some comments I've seen note that it's hard to light . If you follow the instructions you should have no problem . I haven't in 2 months of use even on the calmest if days . It also seems to be solid and well made . Also made in Britain . Not the cheapest but for economy of wood you can't go wrong . The only thing I can find against is the air wash isn't the best I've ever used . Although by the end of burning you can still see the flames .
Bought this stove last summer and fitted shortly after. It's unique in the way it burns, i.e a single log at a time, self-perpetuating air flow, bed of ash, etc. At the end of the winter we
still have half our log store left and this is after regular fires. Ridiculously efficient and great flames throughout. I can't recommend this enough (previously had a Stovax burner before - nothing like as good).
We had the Burley Debdale installed in October 2015 and are extremely pleased with it. We find that it is straight forward to light, making sure the wood is dry, and gives out a great amount
of heat. We find the door only needs to be ajar for about 5 minutes for it to get going. The glass needs cleaning every now and then, but that is probably as we are burning the wood slowly which is well known to cover the glass. When burning hot it is clear. Having a wooden handle to open and close the door is great, no hot metal to touch at all, and nice catch on the door lock to keep it ajar too. Would definitely recommend.
