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Saraelli

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#290473 14-Nov-2021 10:20
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My husband and I are currently building a new house in Mid Canterbury and are researching different brand log burners. It must be a clean air certified log burner that heats around 160sqm and transfers heat via convection (at least predominantly).

There doesn’t seem to be a great number of log burners that work by convection that are the appropriate size for our house. One log burner we are looking at that seems to fit most of the criteria is the Bosca Limit 380. Another plus of this fire is that it’s very efficient (although only has a 6 hour burn time).
http://www.bosca.co.nz/wood-fires/limit-380

My question is this: has anyone had much experience with this brand log burner? It does not seem to be a very widely used brand, and they don’t have a Facebook page or any other for public forum where people can place reviews on their fires. Being such a large investment, this makes me quite nervous, especially given their warranty is only five years.

Otherwise, does anyone have any other recommendations for fires that would fit the above criteria? Particularly less common brands as I have done pretty thorough research on the major brands. Preference goes to cost effectiveness, burn time, and efficiency of the fire.

Thanks in advance!

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Swept
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  #2812668 14-Nov-2021 15:41
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Hey there, Chimney Sweep here that services the Canterbury Region.

Off the bat, I would avoid the Bosca brand.  They look cool etc, but for some reason the firebox starts to crack around the door frame at year 5-6; aka after the warranty expires.  A crack in a firebox is a write-off (unless you get a welder in).  Convection fires are on the way out.


Masport has the biggest range and are in my professional opinion one of the best; they're like a Toyota, simple, does the job, doesn't break down.  Another very good one is Firenzo - bit more niche and more expensive, but they are the Rolls Royce of logfires.


Metro and Woodsman are okay - have built their fires with replacement spare parts in mind for which they make a pretty good killing on (we carry lots of spare Metro and Woodsman parts in our vans).  Their most recent fires have been built a bit better due to all the complaints they get about bricks, airtubes, and baffles wearing out.

Yunca - built in Invercargill, built like brick toilets as they would be.  Avoid the Hobson, has weird issue of cracking on the top plate.

Blazeking is a new one sold by Heat Store, more for the city, but are big and can shut down.

Avoid: Jayline, Kent (yes), Bosca, Ethos, and Pyroclassic (don't get me started).  These brands are either not suited for you, or have been bought and sold and are now made in China, i.e. cheap and crap.  Please trust me on this.

 

Also, when you are getting it installed, please ask your installer for the following things: no revolving cowl (you're in the country, you'll have birds, revolving cowls cannot be bird proofed), ask for an "Anti-Downdraught" (ADD) cowl to stop whistling and blow back from the Nor-Westers and ask for the stainless steel bird netting to be installed (look at M10 for it, about $120).  When the flue is being installed, ensure that they are using maniseal/fire cement at each flue join - this is now a requirement in the building code; don't let them BS you.  This seals the flue and prevents soot from leaking out.

Please speak with a qualified installer (not a builder who can install) as you DO NOT want a too big of a fire in a modern house; fires have to operate at a certain temp for them to work, too big and you'll be sweating your place out, shut it down too much, and I'll be coming in a few times a year to clean it out making $$ from ya.  Get the right sized fire for your house; not the biggest.  Two companies I can recommend for installing: Lifestyles and Log Burner Services.  We know them both, know they do excellent work, and won't BS you.

If you have any questions, send them my way.  I sweep, repair, and install new parts on fires - even remove them or change the colour if it's not your thing, but we don't install (got out of that game awhile ago, just do this full-time).





Canterbury Chimney Sweep

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