Review of Dunsley Highlander 5 stove
A great little burner !
We live in London and so where restricted with our choice of wood stoves to DEFRA approved (smokeless zoning) wood burners .
Our search was long and complicated and times felt more like a quest for a wholly relic ..as we had many restricting factors. Inc: .Size and depth of existing old brick fireplace (which originally would have been a coke burning open fire, so small in all dimensions..inc depth to existing chimney opening) .Quality of burn (we needed a reliable fire) .Instillation .Must be a multi fuel (as fire wood can at times be hard to find in London) ..and is certainly expensive! .Budget .looks and finally the cherry ..must be approved for use with in the city walls . After many weeks of mind numbing searching reading reviews ,measuring , going to fire place show rooms , we had a small but practical list of fires from all over the World ,Britain, Australian ,Sweden, Italy ..etc etc ..(God there are so many ..) All would fit the space , but they started to fall when , cost , reliability , Looks and London Approval came into play. We finally settled on the Dunsley Highlander 5 ...and we have not been disappointed , we had it professionally installed to make sure it worked with no problems (this cost inc fire and new slate hearth just under 2500 pounds,(but money well spent) Pros: .It may be small but it throws out more than enough heat to heat our whole house (rising up stairs) , . .It fits into the tightest of spaces as the the flu is no more than 150mm from the back of the burner to the flu center.. . Simple good looks , not to uber modern or to country twee. . Easy to light ,and gets going fast and stays alight with minimum of maintenance .Good price , We looked at similar sized stoves that where double or treble the price ..with no more guaranty they would work any better. .Burns well,evenly with no strange or flash burning patterns (like some COs proudly state?) just a nice gentle flickering fire. .Very easy control, the dampers work well , you can have a roaring fire in moments then reduce it to a slow burn ..enabling wood to last a surprisingly long time. .Efficient .Burns well even on the still nights (no breeze=draw) .Easy to clean ..(but I would recommend from personal experience not using a poncy Dyson to do this :(...Henry hover does a great job once box cool) ! .Multi fuel. .London DEFRA Approved .British Made Cons: .Small fire box , which makes finding pre-cut wood hard , I have often have to reduce (cut down) the delivered wood to fit it in. .The door opening mechanism seems a little ridiculous and old fashioned more suited a steam train or large traction engine) ..it comes with a separate cast iron wrench like tool with which to open the small annoying and very hot front knob ,with out this the door is to hard and far to hot to open. (A wooden or coiled spring like covered leaver handle would make more sense attached to the door ..as many other Co's models have) .The vent damper leavers are also a little small and flimsy and slightly hard to locate in low light. . Does not run well once the vents have been completely shut down , the glass soot's up and the fire dies down ..so we have found keeping the top vent slightly open at all times is enough to stop this happening . .Over night burns are impossible with wood as it simply does not have a large enough box. This said I would definitely recommend this wood burner ..and Unlike the rest of the country I am very much looking forward to winter because of it !!