Review of Carron enamel stove
Overall pleased, tricky with smokeless fuel.
First stove after years of open fires, which I miss, went for the matt black 4.7kw.
From previous reviews, handle does get hot, but works well. I agree with the DEFRA kit installed you cant dampen it down that much, I dont know if this means it is burning cleaner or if I need to control it better with a flue damper or not. With wood, mainly kiln dried, some seasoned, burns well and gets to heat quickly. Pleased. With wood and smokeless it gets hot quickly and has excellent output. It stays warm for a long time too. Looks nice and it feels robust. The chimney breast in the living room and upstairs gets warm (not hot), flexible s/steel flue installed, I was a bit worried about this too start but am told it is normal and a benefit. My only concern is burning smokeless fuel on its own. I get the fire going well with wood, then introduce smokeless in stages. I have tried extreme heat, brazier and homefire, but the stove stays warm rather than hot, the flue temperature gauge does not get into the bestburn zone, although if you open the door there is plenty of heat in the fire. It will burn/ slumber like this well for a long time, but even opening vents fully does not get it above the bestburn line. It might be me, or maybe they just burn lower? Overall pleased, but need to get the smokless thing sorted.Stove expert replied: When all vents are fully open I would expect the stove to start getting very hot and flames to be dancing in the firebox, if this is not haoppening the flue draw may not be very good or a different smokeless fuel may be better.