TheĀ FB 5kw stove is a very simple British designed and made stove that is made to burn wood. Firebelly are a small almost bespoke manufacturer that makes interesting designs and will paint any of them almost any colour you suggest. It's made from steel, it's Simple, tough enough, exclusive and a little bit special.
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Lighting the stove: 7/10
The stove is easy to light, its baffling system is free flowing and easy to get a draw going. It's so free flowing I find it amazing that they've managed to get the stove through all these modern tests, but it does mean that anyone can pick this up and work things out nice and easily.
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Cleanness: 4/10
Well I'm told that this stove passes all requirements, but the wording on Firebelly's website is at least interesting. It does same that all their stoves are CE approved, but of course since leaving the EU the requirement now is CA approval. It then also says:
"The entire Firebelly range is ready for the Governments Clean Air Regulations."
It doesn't say what they are, DEFRA, eco-design etc, but it says it's ready. I have heard that there is a loop hole around these regs for smaller manufacturers, which enables them to make their stoves despite not complying due to the size of their company. I've no idea what the requirements are, but I'm really pleasedĀ to hear that there is a system whereby creativity is notĀ completely stamped out with a rule book making it impossible for anyone to give something a go.Ā
This stove would run fairly clean on the glass, but itĀ wasn't exceptional. The efficiency isn't advertised, so I'm not sure what that is. I really can't help but smile though that something real is still allowed to exist. In a world of misleading figures created to push everyone down the same rabbit hole, Firebelly have abandoned the rabbit hole entirely and seem to have constructed a treehouse out of the wet and mud, and in 18 different colours.
Fair play š
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Controls & Controllability: 5/10
The handle is a machined lump of stainless steel, so is the tool which operates it. They're not particularly beautifully finished, but they work and they seem a bit fun. The whole stove feels fun, the controllability isn't superb, but its good enough and you just enjoy using it. The actual air controls are controlled by the butt of the tool and I've never seen any other stove like it (you'll need to watch the video to know what I mean), but again it's fun, different and interesting.
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Fuel economy & Burn time: 6/10
This stove behaves like many others before this obsession with efficiency figures took over. It's not as good as modern stoves, not as clean or controllable, but it's easy. There is nothing getting in the way of the users enjoyment, no smoke spilling into the room or struggle lighting, but you do notice it's short comings when you try and extract all the function you can out of it. Its burn time wasn't bad and general fuel economy too, but you can tell that there is more of the heat you're generating being lost up the chimney. Again I still enjoyed using the extra fuel, because it's fun, percentage point hunting was never the purpose of this stove. It's designed to be exclusive, interesting, fun and engaging.
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Who's it for:
Sorry for yet another car analogy but this stove is a Morgan car. If you don't know, Morgan is a British car manufacturer that makes just a few cars a year, they're highly customisable, very exclusive and costly and believe it or not, the chases is still made of wood. Firebelly like Morgan is making things for enjoyment rather than function, no one commutes with a Morgan and if you're looking for a serious heater then the Firebelly is the wrong thing. If however you are looking for something customisable, bespoke, interesting and special; as a finishing touch or as a back up and focal point, then this stove should be top of the list.
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