Review of Huntington 28 Stovax stove
Stovax 28 Poor Heat Output
This is my third stove and friends have other makes too so I have a few to compare with. The Stovax 28 is solid and good looking. However we are not pleased with it in terms of heat output. We bought it as a multi-fuel in the hope that we could burn wood and coal. We have experimented with various types of coal, smokeless and premium house coal. We have used just wood and a combination of wood and coal.
Our chimney has a new liner. We do not suffer from smoke blowing back so whilst I think the draw could be improved, it is adequate and not problematic. Our house is old, the room size approx 15' x 19' x 7' high. We have central heating. Our experience is that when burning wood or smokeless coal the stove itself does not get warm enough to feel any noticeable heat. Some may say we need a large stove, but I have had a smaller old model in my last house with similar room size, the Esse Montrose. this stove pumped out so much heat we had to leave the lounge door open. This Stovax generates no more heat than the tiny 12" open fire we use to have. I can even touch the sides of teh stove, it is that cool. We have candles on the hearth next to it which are in no danger of melting. I never use to touch the Esse as it would get too hot. We also have a Jotul, pure logburner which gets a lot hotter than this one. The only way we can get an adequate amount of heat from it, sufficient for Spring & Autumn use, but not during winter unless we have the central heating on at the same time, is to use a lot of house coal, but we have to really stoke it up and even then, we would have to keep the lounge door closed and I sit with a rug over me. Then I feel just nice and toasty, but it isn't winter yet. We go through about 1 sack every 4-7 nights and we only use the fire to sit down in the evening for up to 3 hours. Other problems are that the fire box is so shallow, you can't fit wood on anyway, unless the sticks are very small. It restricts lighting and re-fuelling. This isn't a problem if using coal and if it gave out any heat, I would put up with this restriction. In conclusion - the Stovax 28 should not be used for wood at all. Even smokeless doesn’t give off any heat. Unless you have a small room in a modern house not located in a smokeless zone so you can just burn house coal, I would recommend against the stovax. They look great and are very solid, but that’s as far as it goes. The input/output ratio is no where near as good as other stoves and you will not keep warm with this stove.- Be the first to comment
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