Review of Firebelly FB1 stove
Wolf in sheeps clothing
I have 2 firebelly stoves, a 12kw and a 6kw, Being a fabricator/welder I was very very dispointed with myself on delivery of the 12kw as we bought off internet without seeing, we paid £1100 for it and its no more then a basic but well made steel box. The flames look fab when at full blast but it does not throw out no where near the 12kw it advertises regardless of dry logs and other burning conditions, The vamiculite panels that create the fire box are absolutly useless and will cost you a small fortune to replace within a year. If you do what the following suggestion explains you will avoid this unnecessary expense, the side panels although cracked will remain good and in place,the top panel will crack and eventually collapse and is expensive to replace. I have overcome this issue by replacing this panel with a section of an old cast iron bath that I cut with a disc cutter the same dimension, it will last forever, I also put a baffle plate in the flue that controls the pull of draft and allows more burning time in the box thus giving you more heat. To conclude this is a nice looking metal box and the fire looks good when cosied up on settee but reality is there are a few more 12kw fires out there that will out perform this stove. The vamiculite panels are a joke and lets the stove down badly. A friend of mine bought a dru 78 12kw and it blasts out so much more heat then mine, very over priced stove, realistic price £800 for what it gives
Stove expert replied: Modifying a stove will invalidate the warranty. Most stoves on the market come with the vermiculite liners which will crack during use but providing they are protecting the metal of the stove are fine to use. Fire cement can be used to kepp the parts together. The problem of poor performance does not seem to be all of the stoves making as having installed a flue damper output has increased, the flue draw is a critical part to any stoves performance so investigate fully before condeming any stove.
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