insert boiler stoves

superhawk

I'm looking at insert stove and I can't decide over a esse 350gs or a charnwood slx45, has anyone had any experience with either stove?

cranefly

have had the esse 350gs for over a year now and have not looked back since, have oil heating as well as a back up, the esse can heat 13 rads no bother with smokeless coal and peat briquettes, build quality is good made mostly of steel, if you have a good quality clay lined chimney you will not need a flexi flue liner which will need changing every 10 years or so anyway. as that is quite an expense, just clean your chimney every year. and you should be hassle free, on really cold days having the oil on for an hour gets the rads really hot, then we turn off the oil and let the stove take over, keeps all 13 rads hot and a tank of hot water as well, as it is a boiler stove it does take a fair bit of coal, as much as the open fire use to and more, the benefit is having the whole house warm, we chose the esse over other inset stoves really for one reason, and that was because at the time we bought it, it had the highest kilowat rating for the room and the boiler, had a look at the other insets, went with the esse so far so good touch wood.

Mac Taylor

cranefly wrote: »

have had the esse 350gs for over a year now and have not looked back since, have oil heating as well as a back up, the esse can heat 13 rads no bother with smokeless coal and peat briquettes, build quality is good made mostly of steel, if you have a good quality clay lined chimney you will not need a flexi flue liner which will need changing every 10 years or so anyway. as that is quite an expense, just clean your chimney every year. and you should be hassle free, on really cold days having the oil on for an hour gets the rads really hot, then we turn off the oil and let the stove take over, keeps all 13 rads hot and a tank of hot water as well, as it is a boiler stove it does take a fair bit of coal, as much as the open fire use to and more, the benefit is having the whole house warm, we chose the esse over other inset stoves really for one reason, and that was because at the time we bought it, it had the highest kilowat rating for the room and the boiler, had a look at the other insets, went with the esse so far so good touch wood.

Was thinking of putting in an insert stove myself. Do you mind me asking how much would I need to budget for a stove. (similar to Craneflys)Thanks for reply.

cranefly

the esse 350gs we bought last year it cost 1700 euro with the steel door, you can get one with a cast iron door for 1500 euro, we got the stove supplied and fitted for 2400 euro, we already had all the pipe work neccessary in place as we had a fireplace with a backboiler, so to start from scratch it could cost a fair bit, there are a few irish made inserts on the market now that look ok, they dont really have any reviews on them yet, boru chieftain, yola, and firebird boiler stove look to be recent additions, the yola looks good on price, the chieftain looks good on kilowatt power, the firebird has a good name, so in time i might have chosen one of them, the esse has stood the test of time and the reviews on boards and whatstove uk finally made my mind up, hope this helps.

onway

Just wondered if you had considered a Stratford insert stove as I am deciding between these two...

richieburke01

Putting the stove in with no flue liner you run the risk of condensing the flue and it will damage the stove

cranefly

The stratford and the esse were the two i was trying to figure out which to get, stratford was a close second for me, it was a toss up between them, so when i found out one was made in the north of england and the other made in the south, that decided it for me, lancashire all the way.
Although now if i was deciding it might be a different matter, stratford now have a higher killowatt rated insert boiler stove, so that fact alone might have swayed it for me. but i have to say the esse is the best buy i have made.

cranefly

A good chimney is essential for a good draw on the stove, if it is in any way damaged it is best to get a flue liner, that said, in my experience if you have a clay pot chimney in decent shape, and brush it at least once a year, twice is better, then i see no reason for a flue liner, they are a fairly big expense, and they need to be replaced about every ten years or so, but for peace of mind it would not hurt to have a flue liner fitted, maybe only in the back pocket.
A carbon monoxide alarm is a must though, and the check date on the back of them, i just found out mine was out of date, had it over five years. that is something you cannot save money on.