Review of Stratford TF90 stove
TF90 B. A sad tale of wasted money.
When I first saw this stove I thought it was the answer to our prayers. After owning one for 5 years I feel I have to write a review of the headache it has caused us and the expense. Firstly, after initial fitting it was notice that the door hinges were not level. They are factory fitted , so the manufacturer sent a chap to inspect but he deemed it 'not problematic'. After firing it for just a couple of months it was noticed that the glass did not fit the aperture fully and left a 1/2mm gap at the top through which air was forcefully sucked, destroying the glass seal. Aarrow sent us a new seal and told us there were actually 2 sizes of glass used in this model, maybe we had the wrong one? Mmmm??? We have been getting through 1/4 ton of anthracite per week costing us £75. The chimney has a low draw, so its not overfiring. The rads never really got that hot. We have to supplement our heating with logs in another stove on the coldest days: below 0c. The front of the stove warped after the first winter, so the ash door lock wouldn't work. The house is still cold with just the boiler running. \nThe thermostat on the side is a joke and never worked properly and the airwash system in poor. The glass cracked of its own accord twice.\n\nIt has cost me £2500 per winter (Oct - April) just to heat my house. \n\nTo top it all, despite being used as recommended, flushed out yearly and inhibitor used, the back boiler rusted through and all the water flooded out during the night.\n\nThe stove cost us £2000 to buy, has used £9750 of anthracite over 5 winters.Two lots of glass at £60 odd quid per time.\n\nAnd has only lasted 5 years and now needs scrapping.\n\nI would never buy one again.\n\nOthers have been surprised at our tale of woe as they believe Aarrow to be a fair manufacturer.\n\nJust goes to show you can easily get a lemon of any brand.\n\n
Stove expert replied: Obviously you are disappointed by the premature failure of the model. There may be other factors which have not been investigated! How many tapings are used? is the boiler cross-flowed? The stove has certainly been exposed to higher than normal working temperatures if the body has warped, this may be partly due to the glass problem. The thermostat should work effectively and control the water temperature, not sure why yours appears not to work. Sad tale but not typical of the Stratford Boilers.
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