Wood Burning Stoves by RAIS, Advice/Recommendations.

Unable to directly comment on this brand but we have a Jotul and can only repeat the guidance we had at the time.

a) Buy a good one and it will last for ever. Ours now over 15 years old and genuinely 'as new'. There were definitely cheaper around at the time that appeared as good but I wonder if they'd have been so good.

b) sort out your chimney/draft and any room issues etc properly first. Get it swept regularly

d) get an experienced fitter to advice on the size/model and to install it properly. Some of these stoves give u serious heat and can overwhelm a smaller room for example.

e) burn good fuel, either properly dry logs or the recycled wood briquettes (which we have used this winter). This will give you good performance and help keep the stove and chimney clean of creosote build up etc.

Sorry if that is stuff you already know!

What Bruce said but, in addition, go for a dual fuel burner and cast iron is preferable, and safer, than steel, especially if you have children/grandchildren.

Bruce's advice is good, and I would emphasise the need to get a proper fitter and one who is HETAS registered so they can give you the necessary certificate without having to negotiate building regs approval. 

I don't know the make you are considering - mine is a Clearview, made in England. Apart from being dual fuel, as recommended by Steve, it has a very efficient air flow over the window so after 14(?) years the glass is still clear. It is steel with a cast iron door, I think, and they explain why they use steel rather than cast iron. Do also check issues around smokeless zones - I think some stoves are registered for use in smokeless zones and others are not. A good quality stove properly fitted, with well seasoned logs should burn virtually the entire log with very little ash.

My experience was that I spent more on the fitting than on the stove itself (in a typical Victorian brick terraced house) but that did require some reconfiguring of the fireplace, which had had a gas fire. I certainly think it is worth making sure it is done well at the beginning as I have found that it has run trouble free and very efficiently since installation - and the sweep recently said there was virtually nothing in the chimney.

Another one for Jotul here. Extraordinary!

Thanks for the comments, will certainly take these into account when the survey is conducted.

This particular manufacturer RAIS of Denmark (Swiss owned) seems to have a good reputation, it is a radiator/convector and has a secondary outer skin which cooler air is drawn in at the bottom and exits hot at the top, even the handle remains cool (I have 10 and 5 year olds, the 10 yo fuels his Grandads wood burner). They are very efficient and clean burning (lower consumption of wood and certainly lower particulates than most manufacturers on comparable quality fuel), I guess they all say that don't they? While I don't think they are cast, they seem to be at the forefront of technology and can be used in low energy homes.

The one i'm looking at (RINA) is along the lines of the Jotul contemporary stoves, with a taller combustion chamber. 

WBR

Guy

The only thing I would add to the above is not to cut corners to reduce the price - get it done properly and check the installer before hand.  Getting it wrong can be extremely dangerous both in risk of poisoning and fire and it's better to spend a bit more and be safe.  Your installer should be able and willing to offer you advice from installation to fuel and if they don't I'd go somewhere else

Thanks DayJay, they are a HETAS (and corgi registered to blank off my old gas fire) installer and have seen their work on friends and family installations, so i have no qualms there. Cost is not an issue (please don't take that the wrong way) certainly when it comes to safety. The installer only do quality stoves for this reason.

The one we want is quite contemporary, and functionally similar to stoves at half the price, I guess it is me thinking it's style over substance, if I'm to pay more for looks, I want the quality too and the cosmetics to remain intact over the years.

Good, a good friend of mine died from carbon monoxide poisoning, his wife was eight months pregnant at the time, I also have some responsibilities for gas installers so I tend to be a little paranoid on this issue.

We installed two British-made  Firebelly stoves (FB1 & FB2) when we built our house 8 years ago.  They are absolutely brilliant and kick out Huge amounts of heat.  At the time they were significantly less expensive than Jotul.  Dry hardwood is the key to high effectivess.

Do you live in a smoke free area (most are nowadays).

we looked at the time at a stove like borders Nick but they didn't comply with the smoke free zone regs (they may do now).

we opted for a esse stove,british made with a nice big picture window.I done all the work myself up to the point the stove was fitted  and signed off.This was done by a hetas certified installer.

Best thing we have bought.

scott