Review of Dik Geurts Ivar 8 stove
Seems ok....
I''ve run my Ivar 8 every day for 2 winters now. Here are my thoughts: Firstly, if you''re new to all this, bear in mind this stove has no ashpan underneath. This is good in that there is less to go wrong, with ashpans buckling or rusting, but if you want lots of air to get the fire roaring quickly, you can''t. Starting the fire or bringing glowing embers back to life is a slower process, and takes a bit of getting used to. My first efforts caused clouds of thick smoke to ooze out of the bottom of the stove and around the door like a horror movie. I have mastered it now, and everything works fine. Indeed it has served me very well. You can have it glowing the following morning if you use best quality wood and carefully adjust the setting. The instruction book says it is not intended for continuous use, which makes you wonder why, although you have to have it cool at least every few days to remove the ash.
One rear firebrick cracked after a couple of weeks, the other after a year, but I haven''t replaced them yet. It would be difficult to make your own as they have various holes drilled in. The metal bar on top of the bricks, holding up the baffle plate looks like it has almost melted and is slightly distorted. The rest of the stove is sound. I particularily like the large window, which does seem to self-clean most of the time. I am looking for another stove for somewhere else, and I have found it very difficult to compare the hundreds of different stoves out there. Whether this stove is any better than a half-price Chinese one, I cannot tell (and maybe mine is part made in China too for all I know). My neighbour has a Jotul F400 which looks great, but is it any better? It''s certainly much heavier, which is probably good for retaining heat and for durability. Cheeers !- Be the first to comment
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