WhatStove?

Review of Little Thurlow stove

14 mths on and what we've learnt.....

Matt

We have had our little thurlow now about 14 mths and have just had a sweep for the first time so I'm now feeling suitably experienced to review the stove.

We read many many reviews, went to various outlets and spoke to countless stove owners before making the choice we made, in the finish it was between the thurlow and the clearview, the final decision was around price with the thurlow being £500 cheaper and we loved thurlow as we had seen it in use at a local stove shop. Besides you can also purchase a lot of fuel for £500!

The stove is used in a 22x12 lounge in our bungalow and heats the room with ease, it will raise the temp in the room by 5 degrees in around 90 mins if burnt hot, at that point we have to open the door to our hall or risk cooking ourselves!

I've read all the other reviews on this site and I agree and have experienced all that the others had but will say this..... Everything promised about the stove is true if.............. the wood you use whatever it may be, soft or hard must be dry, and by dry I mean very dry, I have a moisture meter and I don't bring any wood into the house unless its below 20% moisture, then I am a days burning ahead of myself stacking the wood at the side of the stove so by the time it hits the stove its very dry, at this stage it burns slow, very minimal glass sooting and a cracking hot fire, trust me as a non industry related reviewer it's ALL about the quality of the fuel, I also use a stove pipe thermometer and keep the stove within the 'best operation' zone 99% of the time, I try to keep a good mixture of hard and soft woods going through the stove, but I've found that its always the moisture level that will catch you out with poor fires not the type of wood, I've burnt a large amount of both hard and soft woods over the last 12 mths and had very little soot from the sweep, the guy that did it was very surprised at how little there was and put it down to us burning at a good temp all the time, I keep the stove between 150-200c 99% of the time. People, know this, the only way you will keep a warm stove for the morning without black glass is by shoving half dozen large smokeless briquettes on last thing, they will still be glowing 8hrs later, we have had some glowing embers from woods like elm but you need to stack it up, turn the vents right down and this will lead to back gass however dry the wood is, and of course that kind of use is HIGHLY un recommended by the manufacturer.

We love our stove, it's romantic and everyone who visits is jealous, but they are a little work to get used to its operation, you will need to invest time in sourcing good fuel, which if you have to purchase is expensive so we do all we can to gather freebies. I would recommend and purchase again but remember folkes, nothing worth having was ever THAT easy...........

Stove expert replied: Always get the chimney swept at least once every 12 months and mor often if using wood only. It is not a good idea to stack logs by the fire to dry as these can conbust if the stove temperature gets too hot - be very careful!

Overall rating:

4.5 flames

Build Quality 4 flames (avg 4.8)
Quality of finish 5 flames (avg 4.9)
Value for money 4 flames (avg 4.8)
Ease of use 4 flames (avg 4.9)
Ease of lighting 5 flames (avg 4.9)
Firebox size 5 flames (avg 4.7)
How well does the airwash work 5 flames (avg 4.5)
Controllability 5 flames (avg 4.7)
Handle operation 5 flames (avg 4.6)
How likely are you to buy it again? 5 flames (avg 4.9)
What is your overall satisfaction? 4 flames (avg 4.8)