Review of Stovax Vogue Small stove
Stovax Vogue Small
I have the Vogue Small with the heat shield kit on the back to reduce the clearance needed to the studwork wall. The stove is fixed on a Riva bench by Stovax and looks very smart. I like the large glass - and the styling reminds me of the screen of a nineties TV.
Like other reviewers, I have had a lot of trouble with smoke spillage when refuelling over the three years I have had the stove. The smoke spillage has been a distressing issue for me and I have used the stove less because of it. My chimney sweep did smoke tests without the baffle plate - excellent draw, with door closed and open - and with the baffle plate - ok draw but smoke spilling when the door was opened. So I suspect there’s something about the design of the baffle plate, or maybe the combination with my chimney. The air control is a pull/push slider that I find difficult to judge the setting, compared to a side-to-side slider. The firebox is a good width but shallow front to back. It is a Small stove, after all. The front of the grate area seems designed to spill ash when you open the door: there’s a sloped edge toward the front and a gap to the log bars. When I get the stove going, it heats up quite quickly and can gradually warm our open-plan room very nicely over an hour or two. I find the stove draws very well with the door shut so it can gobble wood, which makes the smoke spillage while reloading even more frustrating. Overall, it looks good but I regret buying it because of the smoke spillage issues.