Review of The Horton
Great little stove for the money.
Well, just to set the scene!!! I live in a 2 bed, stone walled bungalow in the west of Ireland built in 1939.
As you walk Into the house you come into the main living room. Off this room you have 4 doors, two bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom so the house is fairly compact. For the last few years I have been relying on the open fire to supply the bulk of the heat to the house, also used an electric blow heater as well just to give a quick boost of heat in the room. It became very apparent this winter that I needed a better way of heating this old girl up but keeping cost in mind too. I mean, with the open fire on a bad day I would burn nearly one 20kg bag of coal as well as a few briquettes thrown in for good measure and have the fan heater running too so the electric meter was going crazy!!!! I searched the web high and low, I wanted a stove that would fit into the existing opening so I didn't have to do much messing about with altering the fireplace etc, I found one by Henley but it was out of my budget so the search continued......... I came across a chap selling these imported stoves in county Clare and the price was good. I rang him and asked a bit more about the stove etc and I thought for £250 delivered , sure I might as well give it a crack....... Turned up the following day, I emptied and cleaned the fireplace out, installed a flue lining kit and all associated Gubbins, then I installed the stove and left it around 12 hours before setting a small fire......... The first 2 fires, they burnt off the new @factory residue' from the stove so I kept the room well ventilated until the smells had completely gone. The next few fires after that I gradually increased the fuel load and heat. I find the top and bottom air controls do work well and work almost as soon as they are adjusted, they take a wee bit of tinkering around with until you can set them to how you want the fuel to burn, but I've found the controls very responsive, very handy when I come in after a few pints, I crank the vents open fully and in less then a minute the fire is roaring again to warms me through after walking in from the pub.... The stove is a god send to me, I now use a third of the fuel I was using to heat it, and my electric bill has greatly reduced as I have no need for any electric fans. The open fire was OK if you were close to it but once you moved 3/4 ft away you felt the chilly air in the room whereas the stove heats the room evenly and consistently and uses far less fuel so it's a win win for me. I also leave the doors open at times, especially the bedroom door and the heat just flows through to each room too which is so good, this little stove literally heats the whole house, I love it. I'm waiting on a stove fan to see what it's all about, I do hear fellas raving on about them so I've ordered one, it might just push a little more warm air around the place. All in all though, I'm extremely happy with this small stove, it works far better then I had imagined, the fella has spare glass and inner gubbins if any fail over time which is expected. For the money I paid I can't complain one bit, it's a good solid little room heating stove and suits my needs perfectly. Very happy overall and it's saved me a fortune compared with the old open fire.........Stove expert replied: Great feedback, a stove that has transformed this little property with great fuel savings as well, can't be bad!