The Contura 586 stove is a modern, contemporary 5 kW woodburning stove. High efficency and direct air with an optional turntable base make this an interesting model.
Pros: Simply the most efficient stove I've ever seen.Smart and modern looks.Easy to use/clean.If this won't warm your room nothing will.Cons:Probably too expensive for some.A spring on the door
means the door has to be held open while loading the fire.Although not the cheapest stove out there, this is by far the best stove I've ever had. The efficiency of this stove is outstanding, as it recirculates the gasses burning it twice with these cool little vents at the top of the firebricks that shoot flames from them. The design of this stove means all the heat is pushed out the front and side and vents at the top of the stove meaning you can almost have it touching the rear wall with no need for any protection on the wall itself. We have a large living room, 23ft by 19ft with the ceiling removed, so a height of, 11.5ft at it highest point, and once this fire is up and running we can easily sit in the room in shorts and t-shirt. Of course quality of what you burn makes a big difference as well and we only burn top quality hard wood bricketts.I would recommend this Contura fire to anyone and everyone who is considering buying or replacing a stove. You really will notice a difference.
I have had my Contura 586 now for 1 whole winter & feel now can write a full review on this stove. The 586 is a very contemporary free-standing Swedish designed stove with my model mounted on
a pillar, you can also purchase the stove with a wood storage stand. It has a very large front window & side windows giving great views from any direction. It would give any room the ‘wow’ factor.
The 586 only has 2 handles, one being for the ash to fall into the ashtray below when opened & the second for the door. This handle works in 2 ways, 1 to open the door & 2 to put the door into the lighting position i.e. on the ‘ajar’ as it rests on a pin to leave the door slightly open. The stove only has one controller min to max.
To keep the ‘draw’ in my flue I leave the door in the opening position all the time, as I have a twin skin external flue with 4 bends. This I think adds to the problems I have lighting the fire. As this stove has a large firebox you really need to build a large kindling fire, Contura suggests around 1-2 KGS of wood. I build an upside down fire (log on the bottom & the kindling fire on top). Once I have the kindling fire going @ at around 100c- 120c I start to add the first logs & some more bits of kindling, keeping the door open until the fire is really going.
Keeping the glass clean is easy as long as from the start keep the fire is hot all the time. I clean the glass in the morning with water & once a week clean with HG stove cleaner, which makes the glass look new again. Once going the fire looks fantastic & easy to control, the heat output is great too (it helps if you buy a stove temp gauge!!!)
My only disappointment is some casting imperfections on the pillar & door. The colour match/batch are different between the side panels & door. The door seems to be 2mm lower on the right side. And I sometimes I wish the side windows were a little wider by 1-2 inches. Overall I’m very happy with this stove & if you thinking of buying a Contura stove wait until October/ish as they have winter discounts……..
Stove expert replied:
If the door is not aligned correctly I would recommend that this is adjusted so that a correct seal is maintained. The flue having bends in can lead to a more sluggish draw but do take care that full control is maintained as overdrawing can lead to problems with distortion etc.
