Review of Hunter Herald 14 stove
Excellent heat output, easy loading, clean glass. A bit on the hungry side, slightly stiff controls.
I have a doubled sided Herald 14 that heats my lounge and large conservatory, two big spaces but its output is impressive. I've lived with it for just over a year (it came with the house). I don't get any smoke into the room or conservatory when reloading though I see this is a problem for some people. But the sweep says I have a good draw. I always have it burning with the top secondary vents open apart from when I'm starting it or need to give it a burst after reloading when I use the primary. The secondary controls are quite stiff and can be difficult to get right. I'm also finding its pretty hungry, but it must be burning fairly efficiently as I only remove ash every 6 weeks ish (I fire it 3 or 4 times a week on average). The glass stays clear if I have the secondary open and dry wood. I find I have to give the controls a fair bit of attention to get it burning right.
However I seem to get through wood at a higher rate than expected - to be fair reading the manual again it says a full load will last 1.5 hours - well I'm doing a bit better than that. I don't have any fire bricks. I contacted Hunter and they say my model originally wouldn't have had any. I was wondering if I found some side ones would it improve the efficiency, and maybe I'd use less wood and more heat would come out the front? Is it actually possible to leave it going through overnight - that would be helpful!Stove expert replied: If no liners were required intitially as Hunter says I would not bother to put any in, the heat generated should be able to radiate effectively providing you have the required clearance round the stove.