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Review of Firebelly FB1 double sided stove

Extremely disappointing product & service

Marion Robertson 5 years ago

We bought a double sided FB1 6kW stove for space heating our dining & living rooms in 2012. We thought the design was contemporary & we liked the single large fire windows. I wish we hadn't been so easily persuaded by its looks.

Both manufacturer & our installer made mistakes with delivery of the wrong model, replacement of the item with one with a faulty door & one that arrived smashed & dented from having been dropped from what must have been a considerable height. I contacted Firebelly but never received any reply. I assume they regarded the issues raised as the responsibility of our installer who was, if anything, even more unhelpful.

The stove has never performed satisfactorily; heat output is much lower than our previous Scan wood stove, has too much air in the chamber hence burns too fast & the vents allow too much air in even when almost completely closed.

We are now replacing the stove. Its purchase, installation & in-use performance have been a most unpleasant & disappointing experience. The only reason we didn't take up its unsatisfactory performance was because the installer was so shockingly rude & unhelpful.

We would go further than simply not recommending this brand. We would warn anybody considering buying a Firebelly not to do so. They wouldn't help & the installer wouldn't fight our corner.

Stove expert replied: What a shame that you have had a bad experience with this stove. It is unfortunate that you were delivered the incorrect stove followed by damaged products which didn't get you off to a good start with this brand. You do not make it clear who purchased the stove, if it was the installer then he should be the person to sort out the problems caused by the delivery of a damaged products and any warranty issues that make require attention. Your contract is with whoever you have paid your money to and not direct with the manufacturer under normal circumstances. The installer is also responsible to check that the flue draw is with in the tolerances recommended by the manufacturer, if these checks were not undertaken again you can't blame the manufacturer or the stove. It appears that you have been let down by the installer from your comments which is a great pity, as these stoves do perform well when installed correctly using the seasoned wood recommended.

Overall rating:

4 flames

Build Quality 2 flames (avg 2.4)
Quality of finish 3 flames (avg 2.8)
Value for money 5 flames (avg 3.6)
Ease of use 3 flames (avg 3)
Ease of lighting 4 flames (avg 2.9)
Firebox size 4 flames (avg 2.8)
How well does the airwash work 2 flames (avg 2.8)
Controllability 5 flames (avg 3.5)
Handle operation 4 flames (avg 3)
How likely are you to buy it again? 5 flames (avg 3.6)
What is your overall satisfaction? 5 flames (avg 3.6)