Review of Little Wenlock stove
Fabulous, Brilliant, Fantastic,
I'm not sure which version ours is as we bought it brand new in 1998! Mainly just for show as we have gas central heating. About 2004, (I lamb in winter) and one particular miserable winters night, we came in from lambing frozen. So we thought, lets light the stove. Shock, horrors, never done this before at night!! Needless to say the little darling is now lit from November and stays lit until early April. To start with the gas couldn't cope as the stove got the water hotter than the gas ever could. Ours is a multifuel with boiler and plumbed in to the water and one radiator as we were informed that is couldn't do any more. About 4 years ago, we challenged that and had a 2nd radiator placed higher (gravity) in my bedroom which now is heated all day and night. We can't afford to keep the gas going constantly but with the stove we do have hot water. Mum would like a 3rd, smaller radiator fitted in her room, therefore lower than the original one off the stove, but whether it will work or not we will see. I can't comment about the newer models but the version we have is marvellous. We burn through the turn tables yearly so have to replace them and the fire bricks at the side need replacing but other than that she is wonderful. We run her on wood, home grown and bought but mainly on Wildfire. We found that running her on normal coal clogged up the griddles and burnt through them whereas the Wildfire turns to dust. I have been advised that Homefire and Phurnacite would be better for the stove but not for my purse. She doesn't go through the summer just the winter. I would heartily recommend this little stove to anyone. Oh Yes, I've cooked on top of her too!!\n\n
Stove expert replied: Leave a bed of ash and always empty the ash after riddling to help with the life of the grate. Fuels do vary so worth trying more than one type to see if it makes a difference.