WhatStove?

Review of Westfire 28

Looks great, but air wash is terrible

Simon Sprott 11 years ago

The stove looks great, its well built and very solid. Functionally it works well, it also stores a lot of heat within its mass so the heat output is moderated, and continues well after the fires out.

Its reasonably controllable but difficult to burn low. The output seems MUCH higher than the stated output, in our 4x7m room it takes the temperature up to almost 30 within an hour of lighting.

The only issue with the stove is the air wash - its terrible. Its not even possible to get the fire lit without the window smoking up. If you burn it at a reasonable rate, then an hour after lighting its so black you can't see the flames. If you open the ash box (primary air intake) and the secondary air, and burn it like a blast furnace you can mostly clear the glass, but then it starts to smoke up again if you lower the burn rate. The secondary air just doesn't seem to blow down the window.

Westfire were very unhelpful when it came to trying to resolve this. The flue has just been lined and has a good draw, and we bought kiln dried wood to try to resolve the issue, but it didn't help. That' where Westfires help stopped. I'd have sent the thing back, but the flue was aligned on the wall specifically for it.

Tip: When lighting leave the door slightly ajar to prevent condensation on the glass.

Stove expert replied: Disappointing to hear that you did not get the help from the manufacturer as would be expected, did you get help from the supplier who should be your first port of call?

Overall rating:

3 flames

Build Quality 5 flames (avg 5)
Quality of finish 5 flames (avg 5)
Value for money 3 flames (avg 3)
Ease of use 2 flames (avg 2)
Ease of lighting 4 flames (avg 4)
Firebox size 5 flames (avg 5)
How well does the airwash work 1 flames (avg 1)
Controllability 4 flames (avg 4)
Handle operation 5 flames (avg 5)
How likely are you to buy it again? 1 flames (avg 1)
What is your overall satisfaction? 2 flames (avg 2)