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Review of Firebelly FB2 stove

Firebelly FB2

Richard 12 years ago

I have had my Firebelly FB2 stove a little over a year now and it’s installed in my holiday home 700m up in the Austrian mountains. I chose a FB2 because I wanted a stove that would produce a lot of heat quickly as the house is surrounded by snow for up to five months of the year and can be freezing to walk into after a two or three week absence.\nThe stove is connected to a straight insulated double skinned chimney of approx. 6m in length and I find it easy enough to light using firelighters and dry sticks, but it will produce a lot of smoke and blacken the glass until the fire has produced enough heat to induce a draught up the chimney. The air-wash system will then clean the glass of soot and the stove will produce a lot of heat as it is rated at 12kw. It is this figure that you should bear in mind when choosing one of these stoves as that is a lot of heat to put into a room and although the burn rate is controllable the minimum output achievable while still keeping the glass clean and the chimney draught working I would guess to be about 6kw.This also accounts for the lack of overnight burn as the amount of wood required to keep the stove burning at this rate overnight is more the firebox can hold.\nI rate the construction of the stove as good (3.5-4 out of 5) with a few niggles such as the lower air control, I found that I have to spray it with WD40 (when the fire is out) to keep it moving freely, and the stove must be installed on a flat surface for the door to open freely, uneven bricks/tiles will not do. The stove also has a tendency to drop ash out of the door when you open it.\n Overall I am pleased with the stove, it looks good and produces a lot of heat (by burning a lot of wood which must be dry) but please bear in mind that it will be produce too much heat for a lot of rooms unless it is fitted with a boiler to distribute the heat around the house via radiators.\n

Overall rating:

4 flames

Build Quality 4 flames (avg 3.9)
Quality of finish 4 flames (avg 3.8)
Value for money 4 flames (avg 3.2)
Ease of use 4 flames (avg 3.8)
Ease of lighting 4 flames (avg 4)
Firebox size 4 flames (avg 4.4)
How well does the airwash work 4 flames (avg 3.4)
Controllability 4 flames (avg 3.4)
Handle operation 4 flames (avg 3.9)
How likely are you to buy it again? 4 flames (avg 3.8)
What is your overall satisfaction? 4 flames (avg 3.7)