WhatStove?

Review of Burley Hollywell 9105 stove

The glass will go cloudy

Martin Lewis 6 years ago

I have had the Burley Hollywell for two and a half years now, on the whole it has been pretty good. The seal around the glass on the door is failing now, so I am going to replace it this week. I had some initial problems with the door catch, dealing with Burley customer support was a painful experience.

I have a number of friends with Burley stoves and all of them have the problem with the glass going cloudy. My chimney sweep says that every one of the Burley stoves that he has seen has the cloudy glass issue. I don''t know if this is due to the design of the stove or the type of ceramic glass used. If you want clear glass get another stove.

I only burn Hotties heat logs (one at a time, they last about 45 minutes each) and compressed pellets of waste wood from the local wood turner, which are bone dry. I have a stove thermometer, but that never goes much over 150°C as it is on the top of the stove.

If the glass gets a dark deposit on it, this is due to the combustion chamber not reaching the right temperature. The deposit will go when the temperature is reached. It is easy to clean the glass with vinegar and newspaper, but it will go cloudy again after a couple of uses. The cloudiness started after a year of use in my case.

I have seen it suggested that the cloudiness is due to the way the stove blows ash and particulates over the glass due to the ''fireball'' system. There is no airwash system on this stove due to conflicting with the fireball system. It is very efficient, but the glass will go cloudy.

Stove expert replied: Cloudy glass is normally indicative of an over drawn stove but as you have a thermometer and the operating temperatures are kept around the 150 degrees this does not appear to be the case. Pellets on a stove are unusual unless specifically designed for this type of fuel and they are usually too small for a grate system to function correctly.

Overall rating:

4 flames

Build Quality 4 flames (avg 4.3)
Quality of finish 4 flames (avg 4.2)
Value for money 4 flames (avg 4.2)
Ease of use 5 flames (avg 4.4)
Ease of lighting 5 flames (avg 4.3)
Firebox size 5 flames (avg 4.3)
How well does the airwash work 1 flames (avg 3.8)
Controllability 5 flames (avg 4.1)
Handle operation 5 flames (avg 4.3)
How likely are you to buy it again? 1 flames (avg 3.9)
What is your overall satisfaction? 3 flames (avg 4)