The Stovax Futura is a very modern looking, in this case wood only, 5KW, high efficiency, and beautifully clean lined stove, which has hit the market running!
Its all made in Exeter, England and the new design benefits from many modern ideas, like convection panels to improve heat output, heat shields to minimise distances. You get some really nice gloves, and one of the highlights for me, which was fixtures and fittings. the handle and control particularly are really nicely finished, they look, feel and operate in a really premium way. It comes with a 5 year warranty, and is available in 3 sizes: the 4, the 5 I tested and an 8. Finally they all have direct air too.
Lighting: 9/10
This stove is very quick and easy to light. It's made from steel with outer convection panels, and the heat seems to get through all these layers at a fantastic speed. 10 mintues all told, shut the door, turn the vent down a touch and you're away. Loved it!
Cleanness: 8/10
This stove is A+ efficiency rating, and can run at around 82% efficiency which is nice and high, its also obviously DEFRA and EcoDesign approved.
This stove is really nice and clean. We ran it overnight, shut it down and still it ran clean. You can trip it up, but only if you're either using wet fuel, or deliberately trying to test its boundaries. Overall its not only clean from a facts and figures point of view, the airwash system at no point should it disappoint you!
Controls: 9/10
As I've said, I love the handle, and better still it stayed cool enough to use with a bear hand. The control does get hot, but that is the nature of it being a solid lump of metal. I want to forgive it, because it's such a stand out part of the design and I loved it. Another very key point is if you have any weakness in the wrist or hands that don't work perfectly, then this is the stove for you. As you can see in the video, this stove has the easiest door to open and close with no unnecessary gripping or clamping required. I was happily opening and closing the door with just my little finger.
Oh and the control. It was more than enough for this stove, and won't allow you to get things too far wrong either, so the control really did make this an even easier stove to use.
Economy: 7/10
This stove ran for 11 hours on a net of logs, and it burned beautifully the whole time. I could reliably keep it lit for long periods, relighting after an overnight burn was as easy as chucking some small pieces of wood into it, open the door just ajar and wait 2 minutes. Within 5 minutes, you'd be shutting the door again and readying it for its next long burn.
What I thought:
This stove for me is focused on evening and weekend, intermittent use, but it's capability with longer burns did encourage me that you had further flexibility if you ever wanted it!
I can feel from the stove that it wants to wow you with the flames, and maintain a very clean, and smart look and feel. It's not super controllable for an experienced constant stove user, but if you're like most stove users, this control is easy, lighting is easy, it won't let you go too far wrong, and the look and feel is enjoyable every day you light it.
Plus if it wasn't clear yet, I really love the control and the handle. If you check out the video (below) then you can see one of the last shots where the flames are reflecting in the shine of the handle. I spent a while getting that shot, because it captured for me, what made this stove such a refined, glossy and clean product. Love it!