WhatStove?

Review of Hunter Herald 80b boiler stove

Unimpressed

Emma

We have a 3 bedroomed house with 2 double, double fin radiators, 2 double single fin rads and 3 single, double fin rads. The general consensus was that this Herald 8 wraparound boiler stove would heat the water and the rads too. Comically we were concerned that the rooms would be too hot. In reality the only warm room is the front room where the fire is. The radiators barely get warm and we still have to use the electric immersion to heat the water. The stove is very hungry and we have spent double the amount on wood than we would have on oil this first winter.

The engineer finally came again last week, he fiddled with the dials in the cupboard [water too and from the tank I believe] he told us we should burn kiln dried wood [which is double the price of usual less than 20% moisture wood] He also told us it is too windy where we live and the fire is drawing too much and that we should try keeping the top vent closed all the time and just using the bottom vent to try to keep the heat in the fire... I wonder if it would be a good idea to get a wood burning conversion kit Ive read about? and also do we have too many rads?

I dont think its the fire that's at fault - its lovely - it just seems its not as straight forward as we were led to believe at the purchasing stage. In retrospect we wish we had updated our oil bolier and only got a normal stove without the boiler but it would cost a lot to change it over now so we'll persevere some more.

Stove expert replied: If you are using lots of fuel for little heat output then the flue draw may be excessive. This can be addressed with either a damper or flue stabilizer. Further investigation is required to overcome this problem.

Overall rating:

3.5 flames

Build Quality 4 flames (avg 2.7)
Quality of finish 4 flames (avg 2.8)
Value for money 3 flames (avg 2.5)
Ease of use 5 flames (avg 3.1)
Ease of lighting 5 flames (avg 3.2)
Firebox size 4 flames (avg 4.1)
How well does the airwash work 4 flames (avg 3)
Controllability 4 flames (avg 3.6)
Handle operation 3 flames (avg 3.4)
How likely are you to buy it again? 3 flames (avg 2.5)
What is your overall satisfaction? 2 flames (avg 2.7)