OK we have had 2 Clearview pioneer stoves in the past and loved them. We needed an inset stove to fit in our lounge so we plumped for the Vision Inset. It looks great and is built really well
. However as a heat source it is at best useless! Looking online Apparently unless you fit a convection box around the stove the inset style of stove hardly gives out and heat. Unfortunately we didn''t know this when we bought the stove and in addition the convection box would make the installation too big. The only way we can get any heat into the room is to open the door and use it as an open fire. All in all very disappointed in the product and the lack in information in the Clearview catalogue and the shop we bought it from to say without a convection box this stove is useless!!! Now having to look at paying to have it removed and scrapping it after only 3 months and then having to pay again to have an open fire put back. Total waste of money and time, not to mention the amount of wood we have had to burn to get it even warm! We have used over £150 pounds worth of kiln dried wood in about 6 weeks! PLEASE NOTE DO NOT BUY THIS STOVE WITHOUT A CONVECTION BOX.......
Bought a Clearview on the advice of my chimney sweep. The salesman at was so effusive that I thought the stove would not live up to his spiel, but it did. I have had a stove before and this
one lights, and once it has burned for about 90 mins seems to use less fuel. I have a big room to heat and the radiators struggled, but the stove does not. In fact in a small house I think I would just use a Clearview stove. Since I installed it 3 weeks ago at least 4 of my friends are keen to get one, this did not happen with my last stove. Well worth the cost.
To sum up, the inset is a stove that should be considered if you want a lovely large clear window, controlled fuel consumption at all times and something that can transfer most draughty inefficient
open fires with very little disruption to the home.
Stove expert replied:
Great review and good scores.
We had the Clearview Vision inset stove installed yesterday replacing a Stovax Stockton 7 inset and the difference in the amount of heat output is staggering. Its a breeze to get lit, the draw
is excellent and stayed in with only a few logs on it overnight. Some advertising bumph you read makes you wonder how accurate it is, I am pleased to say that its all worthwhile. I wish I had bought one of these instead of the Stovax years ago.
If you follow the directions you will have no problem lighting this stove and regulating the heat output. It is simply a case of some scrunched up newspaper and a few sticks of kindling to
initially light the stove and then keep it stocked with good dry logs. We haven't tried keeping the fire in over night but we have closed down the fire and left it for 4-5 hours if we have had to go out and on our return you would think it was out but once you open up the valve and put more logs on the fire flares up nicely again. We would rate the stove very highly and should have done this years ago! The whole experience from start to finish has been first rate. Great assistance provided by the company we used.
Had a clear view installed in October. Overall I am pleased with the fire but on two occasions when lighting it there has been backdraft and the room has filled with smoke even smoke coming
from the underneath, around the door and through vents at top. I have asked the Engineer to come back out to check it out. Could it be the wrong cowling on my chimney?? Any one else had this problem
Stove expert replied:
Down draughts can be due to a poor draw on the flue system, not enough ventilation in the room, weather conditions etc to name but a few. Specific cowls can help to alleviate this problem but ventilation is still key to allow combustion to occur so a full investigation should take place to establish the cause. All internal parts should be checked as they may have been put in the wrong position and this will affect how the stove performs.
Have had the stove for just over 8 years and burned just hardwood and peat in it. It has performed without any hitches at all. Being an inset it does take a while for the surrounding stonework
to reach temperature so that the room benefits from the stoves full out put. Controllability is ace. Keeping it going all night is really easy especially with a couple of hefty logs or peat. Overall, very satisfied.
Just had our third fire in our Vision Inset stove and so far so good. We stay in an old cottage and had started to have damp problems coming from the chimney. The choices were take away the
chimney or reinstate as a working chimney and we opted for the second one. We had an old "Living Flame" gas fire which had become troublesome so we had stopped using it and we decided to go for the Inset as it would fit into the opening currently there. We checked out some of our local suppliers and fitters and finally purchased the stove from a local company (Ayrshire). Being an old cottage the style of the stove fits very well and looks as though it has been part of the cottage from day one. The stove has been no problem to light and all the new paint smell has now gone. It has got up to optimal temperature no problem and burns the wood well. We've tried various logs (bought-in kiln dried and briquettes) already including our own eucalyptus logs from the garden (well seasoned). The stove comes with gauntlets to protect hands when touching the hot handle when opening the door to add fuel during operation and a very informative set of instructions from the manufacturer. ENSURE YOU MAKE USE OF BOTH !! We didn't pay quite as much as some people seem to have paid on here but it was still a bit over £1K but our fitter commented we'd opted for a good stove and it took three guys to manoeuvre it into place as compared to one man for the cheaper stoves, so certainly seems to have a high build quality. It is early days but so far so good and it does remain to be seen how it performs in the long term so I will update if there's any change in status. With regard to fitting you probably could fit yourself but ours was fitted within 5 hours max and the bulk of that time was removing the old fire, blanking off the gas supply and sweeping the chimney.
Needed an inset (not "insert") stove & Clearview seemed the best/best rated.I think if it had been a third of the price (paid c.£1.5k) I'd be rating it higher, but for the money I think it
should be better.The handle gets hot, although after a week it's fallen off so perhaps it's meant to be removed (or the tiny allen key bolt wasn't done up properly).I find it very hard to light, with no obvious reason why - can put a match in to some newspaper as tinder & it'll instantly die, despite the door being open.Once going, it burns well with the wheel open, less well with it closed, until really hot (about half an hour).The ash doesn't seem to sit as a layer on the bottom, it falls through the riddling grate.It still smells after 5 burns, possibly a result of buying a coloured stove rather than black?I've no doubt it's chimney-related (mine's two storeys, thermocreted) but if it's windy outside, it does seem to affect the interior of the stove.Perhaps the worst thing about the stove is the constant "click-click-click" from the glass whenever you open the door, and close it again - presumably from the double-glazed window that isn't sealed unit so air escapes on the slightest pressure change. They claim to have the only d-g door but that's patently untrue.So overall - it works, looks nice, the manual was fairly clear (albeit with surprising English errors for something non-Chinese!), it seems solid, and the interior of the stove is larger than I'd expected. However, for that money, I'd have expected more - my cheaper Charnwood, with its removable handle and big ash box, is nearly as good.
I purchased this clearview insert in Northern Ireland after much research and looking at many others , two family members have these fires and all are very pleased , the main thing is the heat, is great and easily lit , and no problem keeping the fire in for about five hours .
Burns logs and coal , good solid build more expensive than others but you get what you pay for .
We got a Clearview stove installed in Northern Ireland and it was the best addition to the house we ever made. It is easy to light - easy to maintain and gives of loads of heat. It fitted
in our existing fireplace and was installed without any hassle - It warms the downstairs of our house and for the first time ever we have to open the living room doors. The help advice and support we received from the supplier was first class.
