WhatStove?

Review of Franco Belge Lorraine stove

A disappointment

Gareth Thomas 6 years ago

We''ve had one of these in our sitting room for nigh on 20 years, running on well seasoned hardwood, but we hardly ever light it these days because the output is so disappointing. It''s also a pain to light, and to keep in. It either smoulders away, or goes off like a furnace - it''s extremely difficult to regulate the draught. Compared to the Jotul No1 in our dining room (which is a fantastic piece of kit) the FB has been a huge disappointment. It seems to give off very little radiated heat from the sides (the double-skinned construction is surely to blame here) and much of the heat seems to disappear up the chimney! It looks lovely - the pattern on the casting is very fine - but unfortunately it just doesn''t do its job very well.

Stove expert replied: Have you had the flue draw checked, as it seems to go from poor to working very hard. Is the chimney lined? Having more than one flue system in a property can mean that one stove is fine and the other not so. Does the stove perform differently in different weather conditions (if so this is also indicative of a flue draw issue). It may not be the stove at fault but the installation! I would recommend getting a Hetas installer into check this for you.

Overall rating:

2 flames

Build Quality 3 flames (avg 4)
Quality of finish 5 flames (avg 4.5)
Value for money 1 flames (avg 2.5)
Ease of use 1 flames (avg 2.5)
Ease of lighting 1 flames (avg 3)
Firebox size 2 flames (avg 3.5)
How well does the airwash work 1 flames (avg 2.5)
Controllability 1 flames (avg 2)
Handle operation 4 flames (avg 4)
How likely are you to buy it again? 1 flames (avg 2)
What is your overall satisfaction? 1 flames (avg 2.5)