WhatStove?

Review of Firefox 8 stove

FIREFOX 8 CLEAN BURN

Stephen Foster 3 years ago

After prev. having an AGA little Wenlock and an AGA Ludlow in our old home, we decided to fit a stove in the new house.

I've heard that many so called premium brand stoves like AGA are now made in China like most budget stoves and carry less of a guarantee than some of the cheaper models.

Therefore, I decided to save myself £500 and opt for a FIREFOX 8 CLEAN BURN stove with a 10-year stove body guarantee. The reviews on here are mainly positive and thought the best choice.

The Stoves construction and quality appear to be very good however I feel the design lacks thought in relation to the ash area and coal griddle.

The Coal griddle sits extremely high up in the stove (almost halfway up) you get a nice view of the fire, but the flames lick the baffle plate and there isn't much room. I guess it will go through baffle plates yearly.

On the flip side their appears to be twice as much room underneath sat doing nothing.

I'm aware you can buy a log burner kit but then you lose the coal side of things, why not just have a log Burner blanking plate that sits on top of the coal griddle to block some holes like a Little Wenlock has. I also think if I convert to log burner the fire will sit too low has the doors bottom third is solid and I will miss most of the fire view.

The stove isn't too controllable compared to the AGA and sometimes there isn't no difference between all the vents open to closed? (could be outside high pressure?)

Once thing that beats the AGAs is the size of the fire box - it is perfect for logs, Coal and Viewing. The little Wenlock struggled to get most logs in it and the Ludlow looked bear with just two logs in.

I guess the Firefox 8 CB is about half as good as an AGA Ludlow SE but its half the price I suppose therefore you get what you pay for.

Thinking back, I wished I'd saved an extra £500 and plumped for what I know with the AGA but the Mrs won't take it out now. Guess I will use for 5 years and upgrade.

ONE QUESTION I do have for whatstove and stove experts is

My Stove is a Clean Burn Defra approved brand new fitted 3 weeks ago through a HETAS engineer.

I've since learned the law is changing in 2022 and you can only Buy a SIA Stove? Does anyone know or has anything been said about the stoves already installed i.e. what will happen to them? Would you be forced to upgrade to SIA in 2022?

Stove expert replied: What a great review Stephen. Some useful feedback for Firefox there - it sounds like, if they agree with your suggestions, that some minor mods would improve this stove a bit. I will feed that back to them. It sounds like you may have strong chimney draw which would make the controls not seem that responsive. It might be worth looking at what sort of cowl you are using on top of the chimney. In terms of the SIA question - it's not an SIA only stove that comes in in 2022. From 2022 newly manufacturered stoves need to comply with EcoDesign legislation, although stoves already in stock that do not comply can still be sold until stocks run out. This sets a minimum efficiency as well as limits on emissions, NOX and OGC. It's an EU-wide policy which the UK plans to also adopt after Brexit. The SIA (Stove Industry Alliance) are running another scheme which aims to go further than the EcoDesign legislation. This is a star rating - as yet it isn't part of UK policy as far as I know, but it may become so. There is no plan that I know of to make these legislative changes apply retrospectively. I'd personally like it if the ban on open fires in cities/Smoke Control Areas was actually enforced, and a scrappage scheme put in place for older stoves - because open fires, old stoves, and garden bonfires are likely to represent the lion's share of emissions. There's currently little appetite for that type of legislative change - I have argued for it and will continue to. Thanks for a great review! Sune

Overall rating:

4 flames

Build Quality 4 flames (avg 4)
Quality of finish 4 flames (avg 4.2)
Value for money 4 flames (avg 4.3)
Ease of use 4 flames (avg 4.1)
Ease of lighting 4 flames (avg 4.3)
Firebox size 5 flames (avg 3.9)
How well does the airwash work 3 flames (avg 3.6)
Controllability 5 flames (avg 3.7)
Handle operation 4 flames (avg 3.7)
How likely are you to buy it again? 3 flames (avg 3.7)
What is your overall satisfaction? 3 flames (avg 3.8)