Quality Without Compromise

Hello and welcome, in today’s Blog I will be taking a close look at the Stockton 5 wood burning and multifuel stoves, which are made by Stovax Ltd who are based in Exeter.

Originally brought to the market in July 2006, The Stovax Stockton 5 became an instant hit due to its clean styling which is suited to almost any room setting, and its high specification and efficiency levels.

A “mark 2” version of the Stovax Stockton 5 was brought out in August 2012 with some small but impressive changes to keep up with new technological improvements. These improvements included a better external riddling system for the multifuel grate, improved door handle mechanism and door hinges, and an accessible “Tertiary” air slider situated underneath the stove. The Tertiary air control is particularly useful as it helps with both the initial lighting of the stove, and to quickly bring the stove up to the recommended running temperature.

The Stockton is available as either a wood burning only or multifuel (smokeless coal & wood) stove. The main difference between the two versions is that the Multifuel stove features a cast iron grate and steel ashpan, this grate is to allow air to pass through underneath the coal to stoke the fire and keep the fuel burning well, whereas the additional ashpan helps with cleaning the stove out due to the extra ash produced by the smokeless coal.

The wood burning only model is void of any grate or ashpan and is designed instead to allow the maximum amount of logs to be loaded within (See image comparison below).

Complete Control…

One of the most impressive features of the Stovax Stockton 5 is in its controllability. Primary and Airwash air control sliders are fitted onto the front door of the stove, with an additional Secondary or “Tertiary” air control lever tucked underneath the stove towards the front.

The primary air control lever is positioned towards the bottom of the door just under the glass, this control draws in air through a vent and up through the grate in the multifuel version to stoke the coals or logs, and in the wood only version it forces air straight into and around the logs to feed the fire with oxygen and increase the heat produced.

The airwash slider control is designed to help keep the glass panel clean, and like many other stove models on the market features an on and off setting. However unlike many other stove models the Stockton 5 airwash also incorporates a “boost” setting which increases the amount of air flow applied through the vent directly on to the glass.

And finally the Secondary air lever which is positioned underneath the stove is operated by positioning back and forth, pulling this lever toward you opens up a large vent on the underside of the stove increasing the flow of air into the inner firebox dramatically. This setting is excellent in aiding both the initial lighting of the stove and in bringing the stove up to the required optimum burning temperature quickly.

Another important feature with the Stockton 5 multifuel version is that it includes an external riddling system. This system consists of a solid tubular bar that sits neatly at the front left of the stove, and protrudes through inside the stove chamber connecting to the multifuel grate via a small bar.

The inner multifuel grate consists of two parts, an outer fixed square piece and a smaller round section that connects to the stoves riddling arm. When operated from the outside the riddling arm causes the inner round grate section to rotate back and forth moving the logs or coal and knocking off a layer of ash to expose the red hot fuel beneath ready for refueling.

Continuing with the inside of the stove, the Stockton 5 also contains what is called a “Cleanburn Chamber” to the rear of the firebox. This impressive piece of kit is designed to draw air into the stove through a series of small holes, as the air enters the firebox it swirls creating a vortex effect within the burner which in turn helps to burn off gases that would otherwise be sent straight up the chimney. This affect not only improves the efficiency of the stove, but also improves the cleanliness.

Multifuel Vs Wood…

The Stovax Stockton 5 can be purchased as either a pure wood burning only stove or as the more popular “multifuel” version which allows the use of both wood and smokeless coal.

Customers often ask us which of the two options available is the best, and the honest answer is that it depends on what you value the most from your stove. It may seem obvious to most that if you plan to only ever burn logs then the wood burning only version is the way for you, and vice versa should you intend to burn either a mixture of logs and coal, or just purely coal on its own then the multifuel version is a must. Personally I do not see it as quite that simple.

The wood burning only variant does not include a grate and ash pan which means that you have the maximum amount of space within your firebox to burn a good sized log. You will also find that when used properly the stove will burn your well-seasoned logs down to a very minimal amount of ash as opposed to the large amount of ash left over after burning smokeless coal, which is the reasoning behind the lack of an ashpan for cleaning with the wood only version.

The only slight inconvenience with the wood burning only option is that inevitably after a few burns you will be left with a pile of ash that will require removing, and unless you invest in a specialist vacuum cleaner for the task such as the “Ash-Vac” you will need to do this by hand, which can be both messy and time consuming.

Should you instead opt for the multifuel version of the Stockton 5 stove, you will then receive both an ashpan and multifuel grate packaged within the stove as standard. This grate and pan system make life very easy when it comes to cleaning, and involves merely brushing the ash through from the top of the grate down into the pan once burning has finished and the ashes are cooled.

The multifuel grates only downside is that it reduces the inner firebox chamber size which means a slight restriction on the amount of logs that can be placed inside at any one time when compared to the wood burning only version.

Defra Approval…

If you are located within a “Smoke Controlled Area” such as London you will need to ensure that the wood burning or multifuel stove that you purchase is Defra approved. Thankfully both the wood burning and multifuel versions of the Stovax Stockton 5 can be purchased with an additional kit which converts the stove to meet the requirements.

These kits are supplied separately to the stove and can be retro fitted post installation, they are designed with ease of fitting in mind although it is advisable to have the kit fitted by your chosen Hetas registered engineer as part of the stove installation process.

And so ends my personal review of the Stovax Stockton 5 wood burning and multifuel stove, I hope that the information above is of some help to anyone contemplating purchasing this fantastic stove and should anyone have any questions that I have not answered in the review please comment below and I will reply as thoroughly as I can.

The Stovax Stockton 5 wood burning stove only can be found on our website.

If you have any questions and would prefer to speak to a human why not visit our Essex based showroom where we have the Stovax Stockton 5 on display or alternatively call our sales helpline on 01621 772221 (Option 1).

If however you have decided to purchase this or any other Stovax stove recently, or if you already own a Stockton 5 stove I would love to hear your impartial views in the comments section below.

Well that’s it from me, in the next blog I will be discussing the Stovax Professional XQ twin wall flue system, which is used when no conventional chimney stack is present. These stainless steel flue systems have proven increasing popular in recent years with the increase in modern, free-standing stoves and a lack of usable chimney stacks in more modern houses and apartments.

Thanks for looking, any and all comments/likes/shares are gratefully received!

Chris