WhatStove?

Review of Tiger Plus stove

This Tiger roars in all the right ways!

Chris James 12 years ago

Never had a stove before so didn’t know anything about them. Did my research thoroughly and was drawn to this Tiger by its dimensions (shallow and compact enough to meet building reg. re distance to top/sides of fireplace etc), shape (landscape as opposed portrait which suited the fireplace I was planning) and price £369 or so.

Since getting it I’ve had no regrets. It burns like a furnace and I can heat my 5 bed detached house comfortably with it…..with the lounge doors open the heat travels up the stairs and heats the bedrooms as well as the down stairs. I light it just before lunch and use about half a bag of coal a day (which costs about £6.50 a bag) so I think I’m getting value for money as the gas central heating is now off all day and night plus we have a homely fire to sit in front of and jealous neighbours!

I find it controllable even with a really strong draw as I keep the vent open only marginally once I’ve got it going.

The firebox is smaller than expected in light of its external dimensions and I found I was feeding it wood quite frequently (every 30 mins or so to keep it going – it burnt better with a full fire box as per the instructions) but since switching to coal I’ve found this much easier to manage and top it up every 3 hours or so. I have tried the over night burn and I had smouldering embers in the morning about 9 hours later but I think anthracite would have enabled me to have a longer burn as I use very cheap coal.

It’s easy to light with toilet rolls, newspaper, kindling and soft wood but have found hard wood a challenge unless I’m adding it at the end of the night to the dying coal for a last blast before bed time.

I’d definitely recommend this stove to anybody, even a novice like me, but please bear in mind I have nothing to compare it to as it is my first.

I’ve just bought myself a chainsaw and have the biggest pile of free logs from the local tree surgeon to chop…roll on next winter!

Stove expert replied: House hold coal should not be used in a closed appliance due to it having a longer flame than smokeless fuels, it can shorten the life of internal components, prevent the airwash from working effectively and is not recommended so will invalidate the warranty!! Suggest you change to a smokeless fuel that is not petroleum based.

Overall rating:

4 flames

Build Quality 4 flames (avg 3.4)
Quality of finish 4 flames (avg 3.9)
Value for money 5 flames (avg 4.2)
Ease of use 5 flames (avg 4)
Ease of lighting 5 flames (avg 4.1)
Firebox size 2 flames (avg 3.4)
How well does the airwash work 4 flames (avg 3.5)
Controllability 3 flames (avg 3.5)
Handle operation 5 flames (avg 3.5)
How likely are you to buy it again? 5 flames (avg 3.8)
What is your overall satisfaction? 4 flames (avg 3.7)