We have owned this stove since 2017. I have few complaints. We chose the grey finish which looks good but there are some stain marks in a few places. The glass has stood up to being cleaned
very well and remains clear and scratch free. Ours is rear flued and gives out heat on all sides which is good as it sits in front of a pleasing previously open fireplace. The single control is easy BUT I would prefer a more precise numerical setting ability rather than just a push pull. I think a bit of engineering could have added some thermostatic functionality too, a bit like a radiator valve but controlled by the stove temperature (not the room). The hinges squeal a bit when opening the door. It''s tricky to know the best lubricant. The stove does tick a lot as it changes temperature but one gets used to that. Integrating a thermometer to the stove design would have been sensible. Our flue is not accessible. The firebricks are fragile and have cracked and tend to break when moved as the flue is swept. However, they have NOT progressively disintegrated and I have a spare set ready but I am still waiting for the need to install them. There is a small plate on the bottom for adaptation to smokeless areas. All it seems to do is to allow the air intake minimum setting to be increased. In winter, I don''t want the output to go too low so it is easy to slide the plate partly or fully out of the way and that makes the easy to set minimum setting a bit higher and appropriate for cold weather.
We use the stove in winter as our main source of heat and it is on 24/7 from November to March. It is nice having one area that is toasty warm in a big house. I source my own wood from the locality without too much difficulty (I have never bought any). So I have a chainsaw and hydraulic splitter and various places to store it.
We love our Chesney''s Beaumont 5kW wood burner.We bought it back in October, when we were doing repairs and alterations to our lounge. We thought this model would look nice and that we would
use it maybe 5 or 6 times each winter (similar to the open fire that this replaced). But we soon discovered that the Beaumont is so easy to light and so clean to use, that we are using it 4, 5 or 6 evenings a week!I light it by putting a flat piece of timber (say 200 x 80 x 15mm) on the floor of the fire box, and a split log right at the back, but resting on the edge of the flat piece. I break off a small piece of fire lighter (maybe 50 x 30 x 20mm) and put it on top of the flat timber, but touching the split log, then lay maybe 5 or 6 short pieces of kindling on top of the fire lighter. Light the fire lighter, shut the door, and pull the regulator control all the way out. That''s all there is to it. Just remember to add more wood and adjust the regulator before the fire burns itself out.We quickly discovered that the glass stays reasonably clean if we avoid allowing any timber from touching or getting too close to the glass. Keep the wood to the back of the fire.Our lounge is roughly 4.2 x 4.2 x 2.4m high. After the fire has been burning for about 60 to 90 minutes, we normally have to open the lounge door to allow some of our lovely heat to spread around the rest of the house. A smaller wood burner with a lower output power rating would probably be fine, but I think you want to be able to use reasonably sized logs, and the Beaumont has a single wide door with an opening up to approx 350mm. A higher power burner (above 5kW) probably needs a proper air inlet, so I think you would need a much larger room to justify.The fire came with a kinky pair of black Chesney''s gloves. You need these because the door handle gets very hot, but they are also useful for placing wood onto an already hot file. You really need to place the wood on the fire, not throw it on, because you don''t want to break the fire bricks and you want the wood away from the glass, and stable so it wont roll forwards as it burns.Kiln dried wood: I just don''t get this. We keep most of our firewood outside, so what is the point in buying the kiln dried stuff? Within a month or 2, the moisture level of any stored wood is going to stabilise to its local environment. But please let me know if I''ve missed something.Spare parts are readily available.
I've recently had the Beaumont 5 professionally installed so thought I would share my thoughts and review. The stove has a relatively small firebox, being the same as the Salisbury 5 but don
't let that fool you, it gives off some serious heat! So I literally read all the ways to start a fire, watched the on line videos but it's been so easy. I cured the paint as per the guidelines by three burns increasing in temperature, the door open a little to prevent the rope sticking to the paint...the fumes take about three or four burns to go and you need to ventilate the room well. The air wash system works really well..just make sure the logs are at the back of the fire, and the ash base begins to build. I used fire lighters, kiln dried kindling and wood for the first five burns or so but now use locally sourced seasoned wood. Whatever you use the burn and flames are fantastic and once the stove is up to temperature you get loads of heat and burn through a log every 50 minutes or so. So far I can't fault this stove but its early days. Five stars so far.
Stove expert replied:
Good comments, stove performing well.
