WhatStove?

Review of Clearview vision 500 stove

First rate product

Frank Lee 10 years ago

Read the reviews, ignored those which appeared to apply to wrongly installed stoves, and bought one.

I installed it a month ago with a choke in the flue, as we have a 50ft chimney, and am glad I did. The choke remains in its closed position at all times except when lighting and refuelling, otherwise I suspect the stove would go into meltdown! So far I have burned only smokeless coal, not having a store for wood, and the stove behaves impeccably on this. A surprisingly thin layer of coal will keep the fire on all night, and if required it will blaze-up in a few minutes on opening the spin wheel. While the stove will easily heat the room (16ft square x 14ft high) it is possible to sit quite close to it without feeling scorched, as heat is produced evenly over the body of the stove. Despite burning coal, both the firebrick lining and the glass have remained as new! The riddling mechanism as so far never jammed, unlike those on every other (many) stoves I've had in my nearly 70 years. The stove appears well built, and being of steel I'm assuming it will not crack, as many cast iron ones seem prone to doing.

Overall rating:

5 flames

Build Quality 5 flames (avg 4.6)
Quality of finish 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 5 flames (avg 4.5)
Controllability 5 flames (avg 4.5)
Handle operation 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)