Ecco stove

...just taken the plunge and ordered an Ecco Stove!

Our old stove in our very old house is way past due for replacement and have been trawling the net for hours to find the right stove for us...came across the Ecco Stove range.

These are not cheap! But I love the idea behind them and if it works as sold then is 100% the best choice for us and will be worth the extra investment but it has been a leap of faith as I haven't been able to find a single review for one, just a few people doubting the manufacturer's claims.

Simply, they are classed as a masonry heater but are constructed from silicone carbide so essentially a mass heater and wood burning stove in one unit.

We expect delivery and install before the end of October so will update the post once it's in and we're burning.

Stuart

Just had a photo of the built stove sent to me...it's ready for shipping! Perfect timing for this winter.

If you dont mind me asking .... er how much was it ?

I'm very interested to hear what you think of it.


David, this looks like the E580 model to me.  Their site says it costs £2,870 ($3260 euros / $3650) heats 6 rooms / 140 sq m (1500 sq ft), and weighs 270 kg (595 lbs).

I would be very interested in how you fare with the ecco stove. I've been looking at them for a while but haven't taken the leap yet (will have to do something eventually, the old stove won't last forever).

Charli

Hi guys!

Steven is spot on with the prices David, I can't remember exactly to the pound but including shipping to Italy and of course the dreaded VAT we've paid almost 3.5k.

Not an inconsierable sum but after visiting the manufacturer this summer just outside Birmingham and seeing one in action and talking in depth with the boss there I was sold and wanted nothing else.

I will definitely report back once we've got it installed Charli.

In the house we bought which is stone built and about 300 years old there is only an old wood burner in the main living room, no other heating of any sort.

We can easily get the roomn it's in to 21-22 degrees but can't sit too close to the stove then which is difficult in our room which is only 6m square, the rest of the rooms in the house stay at around 13 degrees as the heat just doesn't move around the house so if this thing works it will be worth every extra penny!!

Imagine the savings compared to putting in and running central heating!

The similar situation makes it even more interesting! Old house, we have an old woodburner but the room it is in can be 26 degrees and everywhere else in the house is still 14.

Just outside Birmingham is really close to me, I could perhaps visit- sounds like they were helpful.

Well Charli if it does work for us then you had better get yourself down the showroom because it should do the same.

I sent them the plans for the house layout and they sent it back with expected temperatures for each room marked on, really helpful!

well...it arrived, all 250kg of it!

fortunately it is in kit form which made getting it into the house pretty easy.

took me a couple of hours to put together and the attached picture is of its first firing as per instructions.

early days but so far very happy!

the operation is simple, bearing in mind it has primary, secondary and tertiary air the latter two are pre set and can't be adjusted, just the primary air is adjusted by opening and closing the ash drawer.

The Autumn here is still mild so it's not getting a good workout, just lit of an evening so I'll be able to report back once the real cold stuff bites but so far it appears the heat does indeed travel around the house and all rooms seem a couple of degrees Warmer but like I said, once we've had some really cold stuff I will be able to tell just how well this works as we have thermometers in each room so have last year's temps to compare against.

I hope you are getting along well with the E580 Stuart. Our E678 has now been fired most days back in the UK and I have to say I was looking forward to the cold so I could act on my pyromaniac urges! Looking forward to getting the mulled wine out again this Christmas.

Hi Pete,

Loving it so far, haven't hit proper winter temps yet, only had one frost so far!

Ease of operation is great, to have primary, secondary and tertiary air but only one control is great!

It certainly holds its heat for a number of hours after the fire goes out which has to be helping, we now can feel the warmth on the landing which we never did with the old stove so already an improvement!

Will report back once the winter has bitten deeply!

Good to hear Stuart, I am still baffled with how well the heat is dispersed from the Ecco Stove. The longer you fire the stove the further it will push the heat, I find the key when it is really cold is to keep it ticking over at 150°c surface temperature by adding one or two logs every couple of hours although most days even with our primitive insulation level a couple of fires a day is normally enough. Looking forward to hearing how you get on.

have to say Pete our 580 takes a bit of firing to get to 150 on the stove top!

Think maybe a bit of finnessing with loading may help?

Easy to light from cold, piece of cake when warm, seems the stove material absorbs so much heat it needs a good burn to get beyond 150.

By comparison our old cast iron lump would sail past 150 in 15 minutes but the second we let it go out the room was cold where as now it's a very gentle cooling over the next few hours, using much less wood too!

Stuart Smith wrote:have to say Pete our 580 takes a bit of firing to get to 150 on the stove top!

Think maybe a bit of finnessing with loading may help?

Easy to light from cold, piece of cake when warm, seems the stove material absorbs so much heat it needs a good burn to get beyond 150.

By comparison our old cast iron lump would sail past 150 in 15 minutes but the second we let it go out the room was cold where as now it's a very gentle cooling over the next few hours, using much less wood too!

Hi Stuart,

Sorry for the delay. It usually takes about 4 split logs (depending on density) and about 1.5 hours burn time to get to minimum best temperature of 150°c . You are quite right that the material is highly heat absorbent which is why Silicon Carbide was used in the construction. Don't be afraid to take it up towards 200°c if it gets cold or using it more continuously should you find you have high heat loss. The mastery usually comes down to what batch loads you use to get the temperature you require, so nice and simple. Once you use the stove on a daily basis the lighting process is easier as there will still be some warmth in the stove and likely the flue.

If you close the ashpan up as soon as the fire is underway you will get a longer burn time but less initial heat delivery to the room. Leaving the ashcan open about 3-10mm will deliver more immediate heat to the room if it is cold.

I am sure you will be an Ecco Stove master before long but do shout if your not sure.

Regards

Pete

so as Spring is here and the wood burning season almost over here I thought I'd post a quick update for those interested in how this winter has been with our ecco stove 580.

First thing to say is that we have saved a huge amount of wood over our old cast iron stove, on the days where we have lit the fire in the morning and kept it going until bedtime, we have used the same amount of wood that we would have in just the evening with the old stove, for that alone we're happy.

As for the temperatures, all rooms did get a couple of degrees warmer with the ecco stove running, so the claims that the heat does move around are true!! We could have our old stove raging so hot that we couldn't sit near it but none of that heat ever got upstairs.

Also our old stove would become cold very very quickly once it had gone out whereas the heat stayed in the ecco stove for a good few hours afterwards, clearly all the while cooling but when touched in the morning after being out for 7 hours the stove material would be a little over room temperature still, this HAS to be a huge help to kick out heat over night or when we've been out of an evening.

I'm sure we'd have better performance from the bigger models as they are measured to retain heat for much longer than the little 580 due to the extra mass but anything bigger would be too big for our house.

So, not a cheap stove but we're more than happy with the extra expense which will soon pay for itself in wood savings.

Stuart and Pete, one year on now, could you update us of your experiences of the Eccostove?
I'm quite interested in the E580, and may go look at them (in Studley, nr Birmingham UK) on Friday.

I'm particularly interested in the propagation of heat to other rooms and their claim of just a 1-1.5C drop to the next room.

Thanks in advance and hello everyone! (first post on permies)

Hi Andy,

We've just got to that time of year when we need to start using our E580 again.

I have to say that after thinking long and hard about our purchase due to the cost of these stoves that we've nnever looked back.

As for the 1-1.5 degree drop in adjacent rooms we don't find we get quite that performance aand it depends on the layout of your house too of course but I can tell that compared to our old cast iron stove all other rooms in the house are about three degrees warmer with the E580 and our wood consumption hhas reduced by about two thirds if not more.

I think the bigger stoves retain heat for much longer than the smaller E580 due to all that extra mass, but for our house the E580 is as big as is practicable and still retains heat ffor hours, in fact the moment we let our old stove drop in temperature, even before we let it go out we would feel the cold, often with the E580 we let it burn out some time before going to bed as the temp only slowly lowers.

Hope this helps you make your decision, if you want more info just ask.

Stuary

Thanks for the info Stuart, it is indeed helpful.
We're passing quite close to The Heat Store / Landy Vent / Eccostove on Friday and are planning to call in to see the E580 and others.

Stuart Smith wrote:

Hope this helps you make your decision, if you want more info just ask.

Stuary

Hi Stuart

Would you be able to PM me please!
I would like to ask you a bit more about the ecco stove but not on the thread.

Hi a newbie here, I am in the process of researching the Ecco stove, our house is 200 years old with fair amount of insulation, it constructed using flint stone is double glazed and is currently heated by a combination of oil central heating, fan convector heaters and a metal wood burning stove which is hardly ever lit as its burns logs like they are going out of fashion and is far too hot to sit near for any length of time. So the Ecco stove looks like the ideal product , especially if it does what is claimed and makes the central heating redundant , I would just like to gather any thoughts on the product, over and above what has already been written on this forum.