WhatStove?

Review of Westfire 21 standard stove

westfire21

R W KIDD 15 years ago

Insufficient information in manual for the beginner! No reference diagram in manual. Lack of air controls unless you consider "door open" as a control. Seems to be ultra sensitive to downdraughts resulting in smoke appearing out of every opening there is. Have seen cheaper stoves, definitely not so good looking, but ultra controllable and much easier to get going.

Stove expert replied: sounds like a chimney problem as opposed to a stove problem. An efficient stove like a Westfire has fairly heavy baffling compared to the older box type stoves - which send a lot more of the heat straight up the chimney! This means that these stoves need to be placed on a chimney that draws well and consistently. The chimney draw is also needed to suck the preheated air into the firebox. So the thing to take away from this is that if you are going to install a modern stove make sure your chimney draws well. One way to help ensure this is to line and insulate your chimney and to have a pressure test performed by the installer. Making sure that the chimney has sufficient height and the addition of an antidowndraught cowl can help to reduce the incidence of downdraught.

Overall rating:

3 flames

Build Quality 5 flames (avg 4.7)
Quality of finish 5 flames (avg 4.8)
Value for money 4 flames (avg 4.3)
Ease of use 2 flames (avg 4)
Ease of lighting 3 flames (avg 3.8)
Firebox size 3 flames (avg 3.7)
How well does the airwash work 2 flames (avg 3.5)
Controllability 2 flames (avg 3.8)
Handle operation 5 flames (avg 4.7)
How likely are you to buy it again? 2 flames (avg 4)
What is your overall satisfaction? 3 flames (avg 4.3)