WhatStove?

Review of Clearview vision 500 stove

Quality control issues but OK in the end

Larsihasi 12 years ago

After having tried and tested many, many stoves in the market and pretty much all of the leading brands I had to complete my mission and bought the epitome of the 'English' stove a Clearview 500 to find out for myself how it compares to my Scandinavian all time favourites. Initially I was very impressed with the ease of lighting and its ability to burn a relatively small amount of wood effortlessly. However, after a short while the stove started to make clicking and banging noises which turned out to be a faulty weld somewhere in the stove. Clearview swiftly replaced the faulty stove and I had the joy of continuing my studies on version no. 2, which sadly also turned out to be faulty (this time another welding problem in a different place) Again, Clearview exchanged the stove without any fuss and I'm pleased to say that version no. 3 is now in place and does not exhibit any of the faults of its predecessors. Minor issues like the door not being aligned with the stove body, missing locktite on the brass handles are all problems easily solved if you are mechanically minded. On the plus side the stove works well, the glass stays very clean indeed and all the replacement parts are relatively cheap so ownership should be fairly cheap in the long run. Because the stove is very well insulated the heating efficiency of the stove is relatively low at around 65% but this can easily be improved by changing the vermiculite plates to steel fire brick plates to increase heat output and a more even heat distribution. The steel fire brick plates are also much more robust and will last longer than the relatively soft vermiculite. All in all it has to be said its a good product and apart from some quality control issues, which I'm sure Clearview will overcome I would recommend the stove to anyone.

Stove expert replied: It is refreshing to hear that a manufacturer exchanged the stove when a fault manifested itself, even if more than once!! Lets hope third time lucky!

Overall rating:

4.5 flames

Build Quality 4 flames (avg 4.6)
Quality of finish 4 flames (avg 4.6)
Value for money 3 flames (avg 4.1)
Ease of use 5 flames (avg 4.5)
Ease of lighting 5 flames (avg 4.5)
Firebox size 4 flames (avg 4.5)
How well does the airwash work 5 flames (avg 4.5)
Controllability 5 flames (avg 4.5)
Handle operation 3 flames (avg 3.9)
How likely are you to buy it again? 4 flames (avg 4.3)
What is your overall satisfaction? 4 flames (avg 4.4)