WhatStove?

Review of Stovax Riva 55 stove

Mostly good...

Paul Staunton 12 years ago

Just installed, only six fires so far. It is easy to damage the firebricks with anything with an edge, wood block, shovel when cleaning etc. Not sure about the rest of construction, time will tell. Not cheap and I got it reduced by 20%. Easy to light by using the primary air control, but here's the rub: I cannot damp it down enough. I live three miles from the west coast and get heavy winds regularly. The draw from the flue is huge since the stove has been installed (wondering if the rain cowl is affecting this?), it is in a buungalow with a short straight 5m lined flue. If I open the primary air control to halfway on a windy night with fire going, the air noise is too loud to talk over, and it appears like the entire stove is about to explode, it is scary to see and hear it. If its very windy I cannot stop it burning through fuel in half the supposed time with both primary and secondary airwashes completely closed: e.g. a smokeless megatherm beech firelog lasts about 30-40 minutes instead of approx 80 minutes guaranteed by independent tests. There is no way it is capable of an overnight burn since the maximum you could get a fuel load to last would be three hours. I would say either my flue has too much draw, or the airwash controls are not working to full effect, since I cannot stop it from burning full blast on a windy night even with both controls closed. Another gripe is that the slot for the door handle is too close to the glass and can be a very, very hot place to go near to put the handle back on and load more fuel. I would review the market before buying this particular stove again, but only if I manage to solve the airwash/excess flue draw problem I am having.

Stove expert replied: definitely a case of too strong a draw on the chimney here. This is nothing to do with the stove. It should be taken up with the installer and can probably be sorted by fitting either a damper or draught stabiliser. If there was an open fire before then of course one would not hear the rush of air as the chimney is a large hole, whereas the stove air vents are very small in comparison.

Overall rating:

3.5 flames

Build Quality 4 flames (avg 3.7)
Quality of finish 5 flames (avg 4)
Value for money 3 flames (avg 3.2)
Ease of use 5 flames (avg 3.9)
Ease of lighting 5 flames (avg 3.8)
Firebox size 5 flames (avg 4)
How well does the airwash work 3 flames (avg 3.6)
Controllability 2 flames (avg 3.7)
Handle operation 3 flames (avg 3.5)
How likely are you to buy it again? 3 flames (avg 2.9)
What is your overall satisfaction? 4 flames (avg 3.3)