WhatStove?

Review of Harmony 23

Practice makes perfect!

Chris Murphy 9 years ago

I have used this stove for 2 years so I am now qualified to write a review!

Starting requires a little care and practice. Good kindling is a nice airy pyramid pile is key. You need to babysit for another 10 minutes before you get enough heat in the firebox to start loading it up.

I started by burning only soft wood. There was great heat output but this was very labour intensive. We would go through a basket of logs every night and I was constantly feeding the fire. I have now moved to smokeless coal (ovoids) which provide a lower but more constant heat output. I supplement the ovoids with hardwood to give a nicer visual effect and for a burst of heat when required.

The riddle on the stove does not work very well. The ovoids can sometimes collapse into a mush blocking the airflow so sometimes it is required to rake through them to keep the airflow going. Of course, only do this when required, otherwise you will just break up all the ovoids and drop them through to the ash pan.

In Winter I run the stove 24 hours and is the primary heat source for the house. At night I turn it right down and add a good shovel of ovoiids. This puts out enough heat throughout the night and there are plenty of red coals in the morning. Rake through to clear the airflow, add a fresh shovel of ovoids (and a few bits of kindling if there is not much heat left) and she takes off without a problem. In fact, this stove works beautifully when kept hot all the time, starting from Cold each time is a bit of a pain due to the baby sitting I mentioned earlier.

Air wash works fine as long as you have plenty of heat in the stove.

I have the automatic remote control but prefer to operate manually.

This stove needs some attention. Not a lot, but you can't forget about it. It requires babysitting when started but once it is running its ok. However, as with all stoves you need to give it a minute or two of your time every couple of hours to make sure it is going well. I think this is where people go wrong and think it will look after itself!

Build quality is excellent, I have replaced the inside glass which cracked. Parts were reasonable and the exploded diagrams were simple to follow. No other maintenance has been required.

My chimney goes through 2 floors. I have no additional fresh air venting (which is a building regulation requirement over 5kW) but I do live in an old drafty house. No problem with draw on the stove.

Overall rating:

4.5 flames

Build Quality 5 flames (avg 4.5)
Quality of finish 5 flames (avg 4.5)
Value for money 5 flames (avg 3.1)
Ease of use 4 flames (avg 3.2)
Ease of lighting 3 flames (avg 3.4)
Firebox size 5 flames (avg 3.4)
How well does the airwash work 4 flames (avg 3.2)
Controllability 4 flames (avg 3.7)
Handle operation 2 flames (avg 3.8)
How likely are you to buy it again? 5 flames (avg 3.2)
What is your overall satisfaction? 5 flames (avg 3.4)