Provence Gas Stove/Heater [See Mod Note Post 14]

sam_boooko

Hi,
I bought a Provence gas stove from Woodies at the weekend for €300. When i got it home the starter didn't work, when I manually lit it, it worked fine on settings 2 and 3. However on setting 1 it seemed the flame was finding it difficult to catch (althought it did light, it sounded like a draught was blowing on the flame) and was quite noisy. I brough it back to Woodies who gave me a replacement. When I got this one home, the starter worked fine, however this time only the piolt light ignites on setting 1, while the whole burner lights up fine on setting 2 and 3. When I switch back to setting 1 the burner goes out leaving only the pilot light on. I only want the heater to supplement my central heating so I'm only really looking for a lower heat output. I was wondering what other people have found with this stove. Do you get the burner working on setting 1, if not I think it will use a lot of gas if I can only go down to setting 2!!
Thanks,
sam

Red Alert

Is this unflued? How did you fit it to the gas? I presume it's natural gas, so I'm guessing an RGI-installer would set the gas pressures and test the flame-failure parts.

sam_boooko

Hi,
This is a flueless stove run off bottled gas. Its kinda a new twist on a superser, really.

kodak

Not to sure on the setting but make sure you have good ventilation. My Friend had one and I used to get head aches when it was on for a while..

Could just be me but I think there is definite fumes off them.. I installed a digital carbon monoxide alarm for them but I never knew if it emitted any as they sold it on!!

Would advise you on getting an carbon monoxide alarm if you don't have one!

If you think it's faulty i'd bring it back and

A. Buy an electric radiator and a countdown timer (so it's not left on all the time, probably cheaper than gas + cost of the Provence )

B. Buy a bigger rad if the room is still cold when central heating is on..

Anyway I'm a little biased on them so don't mind me too much, but be carefull!

Red Alert

I'd say it's possibly insufficient ventilation as well, given that it cuts out on the low settings.

(Personally the only unflued heaters I can tolerate are the suspendend vacuum gas tubes or direct-fired warm-air units which are usually in bigger buildings like shops or warehouses.)

sam_boooko

Hey, guys this is actually nothing got to do with the ventilation (old house, loads of underfloor vents!!:D). This issue is with the heater itself, I was just wondering what was other peoples experience with them. I called a service technician from the manufacturers (Universial Innovations) who initially claimed that there must be a problem with the heater and that he would organise a replacement. However, the next day he suddenly made a U-turn claming that he had forgotton that they had made a change to the regulator and that only the pilot light ignited on setting 1, while the burner ignites and is regulated from settings 2 to 3. I was wondering if anyone out there has one of these and is this how it works for them. This guys story seemed a bit fishy to me!!!

apache6

I have one of these and yes only the pilot light functions on setting 1, you can run fire at 2 or 3.
Hope this Helps.
Regards Kevin:)

busy.mom

Hi. We have one of these for the past 3 years and it works on all three settings ie setting 1 is not just for lighting it. I'd bring it back ... again!!

tarmachead

Hi there, I bought a Provence heater also about three years ago. I have experienced all 3 issues expressed in this post. 1 - Smell off the heater making me light headed 2 - Having to make several attempts to switch it on every time as it won't catch light immediately 3 - the heater won't work on setting 1.

I am actually on my second heater, having had to send the first one back due to the strong smell of gas coming from it every time I switched it on. They replaced the first one without any questions or proof of purchase, just a straight swap for a new one which they delivered.

Firstly I was very happy with the customer service, but also slightly suspicious that they didn't ask me any questions regarding the swap (almost as if they knew this was a standard problem).

My replacement heater still has a smell but far less than the first, so I never went back to them with the issue, as I'm not really sure what is actually acceptable.

Can any one tell me, is a noticeable smell of gas from these heaters standard, and should I be concerned with the light headed feeling I get once its on for a little while?
Thanks!!

Daisy M

We purchased one of these over 4 years ago after a year we had to seek a replacement as the ignition stopped working. The replacement model was slightly different than the first model we had. On setting 1 there is no heat just the pilot light on. There is a smell of gas it needs to be used in a large room with goos ventillation. Recently as we are using the room more we have purchased a dimplex heater as I find if the stove is on for long periods it gets stuffy and makes me feel dopey. The stove is an excellent source of heat and warms the room fast and is worth its weight in gold when there is a power cut, but I think having it on for a couple of hours at a time is enough, thats why we chose to get a dimplex as I dont want to have to turn on the oil every time we turn off the stove when the weather is colder.
Get a gas alarm which will go off if there is a gas leak and also a carbon monoxide alarm.

norz_old

hi everyone, if any of you are still using your provence gas stove, then i would urge you to STOP. last nite my father lit the stove in the sitting room and just after lighting it went up in flames. the flames were coming out the top of it and he had to drag it outside as fast as possible befor the gas tank caught fire and exploded, he managed to get it out into the garden and poured water on it fast to quench the fire. he burned his hand pretty badly and he and mother got an awful awful fright. he was lucky he only burned his hand, it could have been a lot lot worse but thank god it wasnt. there is obviouslysomething wrong with these stoves as most who posted had problems, similar to the ones the parents had at the start.
sorry to be the bearer of this, norz.

sammey1

Hi I bought a provence gas heater 2 yrs ago even though it worked fine
it did have an awful smell of gas from it, now I noticed the walls and ceiling are gone black like theres soot coming from it,also when I clean the the body of it the cloth is black,I sent the company an email but they did not reply to it,Has anyone had similar problem with this. I hate to think what we are inhaling.:mad:

norz_old

we got a full refund with a few "i will take legal action" e mails, but they are still refusing to accept responsibility for what happened:mad:
the e mail i used was info@uig.biz. in fairness they replied fairly quick to reply but again i think that was the nature of my e mail, i defwouldnt be using this stove if there is a smell of it, do u have a carbon monoxide alarm???

KoolKid

Mod note:
Please stick to the facts if your posting experiences with this product.
Also lets keep it to personal experience. No friend of a friend storys.

norz_old

KoolKid wrote: »

Mod note:
Please stick to the facts if your posting experiences with this product.
Also lets keep it to personal experience. No friend of a friend storys.

what exactly have i said thats not factual? and as for "friends of friend" stories....it was my father?????????

KoolKid

Relax your self there. If there was anything wrong with your posts they would have been deleted already. This is simply a guideline going forward after getting some legal advice on this thread.
However discussing moderator decisions on thread is not permitted. As you are new here I'll let that go .In future send a PM.

Daisy M

Hi norz your post is worrying. Do you mind me asking how long ye have had the stove for? Personally I think you should consider reporting this to the appropriate health and safety department.

To the poster who mentioned the walls been black ect that too is worrying. I have this particular one almost 4 years and do not have any of that. However I dont really use it much in the last 2 years as I find it very fumey. Its good to give an instant blast to a cold room but does get very smelly. I am now considering getting an electric stove instead.

norz_old

they got the first stove in dec 2010 and thisone had similar problems to other posters, pilot light not working, smell of gas etc. they contacted the store they bought it in, and the store sent it back to uig, who sent down a replacement one in late jan 2011. this had been working okay until the fire, which happened in early december last year. it has been reported to the store, again where they bought it, but dad didnt want the hassle of reporting it or taking it any further once he got his money back, they are counting their lucky stars that it wasnt a whole lot worse.

sammey1

Hi norz went to woodies and they said ring the company,when I said I had contacted them twice they then rang them for me,got the maintence dept they said it needed cleaning, fair enough but I did that took out the coals and hoovered them,they said they would email me to show me how to clean it, apperently you have to get under it to clean the outlet hose, that was
12.30 this morning and I'm still waiting for it,I dont mind cleaning it if I knew
how but its the pits when they dont do what they say,

Billy Bunting

It's quite rediculous that a service department expect Joe public to service their GAS appliances and issues service instructions by email.

norz_old

Billy Bunting wrote: »

It's quite rediculous that a service department expect Joe public to service their GAS appliances and issues service instructions by email.

i completely agree, i wouldnt service anything in my house, especially not gas, in my opinion, this is unacceptable, what stance are woodies taking on this?
are manufacturers guarantees not rendered null and void if products are serviced by untrained individuals????
sammie1 i wouldnt go cleaning it yourself. ive private mailed you also.

Billy Bunting

From their own user manual...........

Technical and servicing information:
This appliance is designed for indoor use only using Butane gas at a supply
pressure of 28-30 millibar and must be serviced by a fully qualified and competent CORGI registered engineer in accordance with the instructions included. Please read all accompanying documentation carefully

norz_old

Billy Bunting wrote: »

From their own user manual...........

does "servicing" include cleaning i wonder? i know for an oil burner cleaning is included in service costs, so is a gas stove the same?
i still wouldnt be fiddling around with it.....

Billy Bunting

I imagine the give away word here would be "competent", when does Joe public actually think they are competent enough to play with a GAS appliance. Rather like giving a child a loaded gun IMHO.

Gas appliances should be serviced annually by a RGI.

sammey1

Billy Bunting wrote: »

I imagine the give away word here would be "competent", when does Joe public actually think they are competent enough to play with a GAS appliance. Rather like giving a child a loaded gun IMHO.

Gas appliances should be serviced annually by a RGI.

They said it was just the fuel line that was clogged and it was simple to clean it, its still under guarantee,you would imagine servicing comes under that heading

GILLY B

I have had my Provence heater over three years now, it has been serviced twice. The last time it went for a service was because it had created soot all over my kitchen!!! They said that it may have been because the coals were broken and soot was collecting around them (and it had started burning on a yellow flame...should be blue!) So after the coals were replaced, when the heater was returned to me, I could smell the gas much more than before. I was told to leave it on 2 flame for 10 mins before turning it up to 3. Still smelly...... and have been feeling a bit light headed....
tonight I turned it down to 1 flame while I went to neighbours for a while only to return and my carbon monoxide alarm is going off!!
Are these heaters really safe????? I daren't go to sleep now for fear of NOT waking up in the morning....have opened all windows and doors... anyone else had problems???

Daisy M

GILLY B wrote: »

I have had my Provence heater over three years now, it has been serviced twice. The last time it went for a service was because it had created soot all over my kitchen!!! They said that it may have been because the coals were broken and soot was collecting around them (and it had started burning on a yellow flame...should be blue!) So after the coals were replaced, when the heater was returned to me, I could smell the gas much more than before. I was told to leave it on 2 flame for 10 mins before turning it up to 3. Still smelly...... and have been feeling a bit light headed....
tonight I turned it down to 1 flame while I went to neighbours for a while only to return and my carbon monoxide alarm is going off!!
Are these heaters really safe????? I daren't go to sleep now for fear of NOT waking up in the morning....have opened all windows and doors... anyone else had problems???

I would never leave it on while out. Contact the makers it sounds bad that the alarm went off. I only rarely use ours now like in the case of a power cut or extreme cold weather, this thread has frightened me. I had to get a replacement stove after a year as switch went and I find the new one smells more fumey and I think uses more gas. I would only ever use it for an hour here and there, havent used it in 10 months.

sunnyheart

hi there,
I have this same gas heater too. The smell off it is over powering. I was so worried about the heater that i went out and bought a carbon monoxide detector. I decided not to use it again.
Interesting article in the independent last thursday, a lady wrote into their consumer section complaining about a gas heater that emits excessive smells. She had it over a year but obviously only used it during the winter so the problem was not realised for some months. The brand was not mentioned.

I can not find the article now, which is a pity.

People mentioned headaches, surely this is not normal. Wonder if many more people have lost confidence in it? 300 euro waste of money

twirlagig

Sorry for dragging up an old post but I'm just wondering does anybody have any more recent info about these? Has anyone bought one of these lately and if so, how are you finding it?
Bit tempted to get one.
TIA all

CiDeRmAn

I have one and I'm having problems with it, as it is producing soot, and the coals are broken.
I've ordered the latter and, in terms of the former, I'm going to follow the instructions for cleaning it.
Most Super Sers never seem to get any maintenance at all, but the Provence seems to need it from time to time.
Here's the Provence manual, which includes a contact number for replacement parts and their prices, including shipping
Provence Manual
Here's the Provence maintenance manual, it seems pretty comprahensive too
Provence maintenance manual, please don't blow yourself up!

nolaigin

Hi, I'm completely new to Boards and came here looking for reviews on the Provence gas heater. They all seem to be terrible! Is there anybody out there who has had a good experience with this stove (which I really like the look of, but don't want to get if it's dangerous)? If not, can anybody suggest a bottle gas stove that will look better than a Superser in a living room, please? I want something that will provide instant heat, but don't want to get a heater that will push up the household bills, as these are shared, and it wouldn't be fair to the others. I've asked about getting a separate meter but it's crazily expensive to get one for just one product. Any ideas, please?