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 !
As a chimney sweep I''ve come across 100''s of stoves. I''ve had my dik Geurts iver 8 for 4 years now, it''s on daily from October to April with regular overnight burns.
This is quite possibly
the best stove I''ve come across. It''s far cheaper than others, absolutely fantastic build quality, easy to light, cheap to repair/replace parts.
I purchased the multi fuel kit for this 3 months after installing it.
It works very well with wood but if you want it running 24/7 over winter then multi fuel is the way to go.
Yes other manufacturers are good, but they are more expensive to buy, more expensive to repair and not as easy to clean.
I like the fact the handle can be fixed in place or removable which improves the look (in my opinion) and stops people adding fuel when it''s not needed.
Purchased this DG Ivar 8 stove after months of deliberation and we definitely made the right choice. Its direct air kit means we no longer have drafts in the room and the stove gets sooo much
hotter than its predecessor. We can control the flame with ease by moving the single lever, from a blistering inferno to a slow dancing flame within minutes. There's little ash left at the end of the evening and the best part?....... it stays in all night! Highly recommended.
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