WhatStove?

Review of Clearview vision 500 stove

15 years and still like new

Steve Carr 10 years ago

I bought this Clearview stove 15 years ago ,and have only had to replace fire bricks and a top baffle plate in all that time .

It has been with me in three houses and now heats a 16x 16 x9 farmhouse living room with ease ,

I burn Supertherm or Burnwell nuts on it , and also seasoned hardwood , If you make sure the ropes and seals are all in good order and the chimney to the stove is sealed correctly you can control it like a gas hob! Its very efficient ,

I take it out once a year and clean it down and spray it with the Clearview paint , Its been black , blue, honey brown and back to blue again , Bombproof !

The only thing is I have no experience of having the back boiler fitted , which is around 10kBTU for hot water , and takes the place of the back fire brick . A competent engineer could make one of these with a basic understanding and a welding set , so £200 quid for one is a bit steep .

It may effect the stove performance with a back boiler , as the stove is steel and not cast iron , which has heat sink and retentive property’s to aid a back boiler to run effectively. Any one had back boiler experience ?

Stove expert replied: It is not recommended to undertake making boilers for stoves, they require certain tapping fittings and will need to be a certain size for the stove concerned hence best to get through the manufacturer. Once a boiler is fitted the heat generated to the room will be reduced so it is important that a stove is correctly sized to cope with both room heat and heat to water.

Overall rating:

4 flames

Build Quality 4.5 flames (avg 4.6)
Quality of finish 3.5 flames (avg 4.6)
Value for money 5 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 4 flames (avg 4.5)
Controllability 5 flames (avg 4.5)
Handle operation 0.5 flames (avg 3.9)
How likely are you to buy it again? 5 flames (avg 4.3)
What is your overall satisfaction? 5 flames (avg 4.4)