Review of Charnwood Country 4 stove
A great little stove
I inherited this little stove in a house I bought in 2006, having never had a stove before. Mine is the multi-fuel version with a back boiler fitted to heat water. Everything about this stove works very well, it is simple to control.
Although the site says don't burn slack, I burn a mixture of doubles and slack with no problems - I would burn trebles but can't get them! The stove is lit 24 hours a day, 7 days a week all year round. It keeps enough water hot to facilitate 3 people for showers etc. I usually just keep it ticking over by closing all the controls and this means I only have to fill it with fuel 2 or 3 times a day. This is my only gripe, the firebox is so small that I have to fill the fire full of fuel to ensure there is enough fuel to keep it burning for 8 or 10 hours at a time. The stove emits a fierce amount of heat when filled with coal and all the controls are open, great on a cold day when you come in from work etc and you want heat straight away. If I was to burn wood, which I can, I can only put small logs in as the multi fuel grate etc take up about half the room in the firebox! I see people complaining about the glass becoming black, this happens with coal also but doesn't bother me - if I want the glass clear I just open the top control and let it burn fully for a few minutes and this clears the glass. The stove itself is fairly self cleaning, a quick wipe with a damp cloth is all I need to do to keep it clean. All in all, this is a great little stove for anyone wanting a LITTLE stove. I am seriously considering converting my open fire to a larger version stove so I can run my radiators from it - I have been told this is a fairly simple job and think it makes a lot of sense in these hard times with the price of oil etc. All things considered, I am really happy with the stove. I don't know how much it cost when purchased but I bought the conversion kit, to allow it to burn multi fuels, and this was quite reasonable and I installed if easily. My advice to anyone buying a stove to heat water,run radiators etc purely from burning wood, this stove is too small for it. Even with the conversion to multi fuel I don't think it would run more than 2 radiators. Just buy a bigger version, as I will do if/when I convert my open fire.Stove expert replied: Small stove with a big heart, great review.