Woodford Pankhurst review:

Woodford Pankhurst review:

The Pankhurst stoves are simple wood burning stoves that are made from thick steel and a smart cast iron door. They come in 3 sizes:

Small (4-5kw)

Medium (5kw)

Large (8kw)

They all have a big single door dominated by glass, and smart handle that has a nice feel and clunk.

 

Lighting: 6/10

This stove is wood only, so does need some good general technique for lighting, but as we know wood stoves will repay you for your efforts with good fuel economy. 

 

Cleanness: 8/10

This stove runs at 78.5% efficiency, and obviously it has the approvals from DEFRA and Eco-Design. In terms of cleanness this stove performed really well, it ran overnight capably and even after 2 weeks of putting the stove through its paces, I didn't need to clean the stove, nor did I need to remove the DEFRA kit to achieve what I wanted. Hence its high score of 8/10.

 

Controls: 8/10

These stoves come with a glove, but don't need a tool as there is no ash-pan or riddling grate. It has a single air control, which for me was nicely balanced between clean burning and the practical utility of keeping a stove lit for longer periods. This is the real magic of a fully "wood focused" stove, because you can achieve very cleaning burning without destroying the practicality that many of us want from a stove.

The handle is nicely made, but it does get hot so the included glove is certainly a must. And thankfully during our testing there was no spillage issues, which is a big plus.

 

Economy: 8/10

This stove ran for 10-13 hours on a single net of kiln dried logs. I was able to run the stove overnight with relative ease, and the stove was toughly and simply built, so spares use should be kept to a minimum, and the purchase price of one of these is simply superb. So the overall economy of this stove is well deserving of its 8/10.

 

What I thought:

I'm a fan of this stove. It's a jump in fit and finish for Woodford, and is proof of a real progression in the knowledge and effort that is being put into their stoves. These stoves are cheap and often bought online, so from an ongoing spares and service point of view there are some disadvantages, but to fair as I've mentioned the stove is solid and simple so there is very little to ever cause you any issue in the first place. 

If you're after something affordable, well executed simple, focused on wood, efficient, clean and capable of some long burn times, the this is certainly worth a look.

 

 

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