Full Independent review of the Clearview Pioneer 400

This is a full independent review of the Clearview Pioneer range, we test the stoves real world performance in:
Clean glass
Fuel economy
Ease of lighting
And controlling
I also give my views and a bit of background information. The videos are designed to be quick with only the "must know" information, they are independent and I'm not paid to make them.
If you would like any further information please feel free to drop me a comment or you check out the manufacturers page here:
www.clearviews...
I also produce a short video that shows how to remove all the innards of the stove and put them back, check it out at the end of the video or you can see the link here:
• Servicing & Maintainin...

[@jb7052]

I love your analogy about an older and well maintained car being better than a new electric car every three years. That’s what I keep telling people. What really is best for the environment!

[@TheTortoise]

There’s lots of misinformation about green issues. I think we all want the best, but there are some very different routes out there.

[@johnwoody9505]

These stoves ar so easy to light, I never bother about keeping them in all night. On the odd occasion when I've wanted this, I just get up in the night and put on another large log. Our first wood burner was a Clearview 8kw medium canopy version, we bought it 31 years ago, it is used all the time during winter. We have had to buy two new baffle plates over the years but have also welded up them a few times, that is the only thing ever to have gone wrong, they are so sturdy and work extremely well. I don't really like the company but love their products.

[@danabbott85]

Best stove ever made I’d put this side by side to any modern eco model and see what comes out the most efficient in terms of wood being used and heat given off. Clearviews are workhorses they will run constantly with no issue at all 20 year old stoves still in excellent condition The heat retention is spot on they hold residual heat hours after they go out and will light up again so easily Great piece of kit

[@TheTortoise]

They are great. However to be fair a modern stove will chew it up for breakfast on efficiency and therefore heat given, per log. They’re certainly great, but everything has its niche, it’s pros and cons.

[@SA-bx9cp]

Great video, I have the 500 version and a relative newbie to wood burning, but after a few months of trial and error it works really well and looks as good as new after 10 years. Your points were spot on. The instructions say to leave that air slider open a tad all the time to give even greater protection against smokey glass, so not sure how important that is really.

[@Lee-70ish]

Had the 400 for 11years. The biggest selling point for me apart from being very easy to light it's a steel cased stove not cast iron. This means it get to temperature 50% quicker than cast. Overnight? 6 lumps of smokeless and in the morning chuck on a log fully open the vents and away it goes in 5 minutes. Light from cold ? One piece of eco wood wool firelighter one stick of kindling and two logs open the vents fully. Light wool crack the door for 60 seconds then close fire goes nuts in a few minutes . Working temp in 15

[@jasonmoore3557]

My grandmother had this stove for years and ran it on hardwood only. She had no problems with running it through the night. A little kindling and a log first thing in the morning with the vents fully open and it was away in minutes. It is a shame that Clearview hasn't modernised the design to be in line with standards of today. Still a fantastic stove 👍

[@MegaSweep1]

Anyone who's been in this trade for a while loves the clearview stoves,great review and you got this one spot on,would love to see what you make of the woodwarm phoenix range of stoves the 6kw fireblaze is the sweet one in the range as the firebox has good depth ,I heat my house with the phoenix firebug the 8kw model and these stoves have no equal

[@TheTortoise]

Thanks for the suggestion, I am looking at Woodwarm so I will focus on your suggested model. I’m currently completely rejigging one of the fireplaces to allow inset installations, so they will start finding their way through once I get sorted.

[@roccowelte7442]

3:22 different colored socks ! 😀

[@jameskyle380]

I have the now discontinued Woodwarm Fireview 4.5KW stove. I live on a narrowboat and the stove I purchased 10 years ago. Only last year I replaced the fireboards and door rope seals. Baffle plate, riddling grate and glass all original, only baffle has a bit of wear/distortion the last few years, but still good. Has continual winter use, lit 24/7 using smokeless coal. Apart from the boat, the stove was my 2nd best purchase. I have the 8,000btu backboiler in standard steel and use it to heat 2 gravity fed radiators in the bathroom and bedroom. So far backboiler in stove still leak free, even with the harsh environments of the firebox.

[@TheTortoise]

Good to hear things are working well. We love a success story!

[@capbin146]

Glad you came to that conclusion. Shame about the efficiency but I do love mine so far. Thanks

[@TheTortoise]

It’s a lovely old thing for certain. I wouldn’t worry about the efficiency, the stove works well and there are always other compromises with high efficiency stoves.

[@petermilburn1214]

My clearview 650 runs my central heating, I find wood very expensive and it doesn't last very long compared to coal. Its good but I preferred my old coal fired room heater and backboiler simply because you had more control. Unfortunately we couldn't find a replacement and had a multi fuel stove installed.

[@TheTortoise]

It’s worth knowing that the reason you’re not a fan of wood burning is because you’ve had coal and multi-fuel stoves. Burning wood on one of those is like taking a tractor on the road and saying it’s not very good at driving on the road, it’s too big, slow and difficult to manoeuvre. If you had a wood stove, then you’d have a very different experience when wood burning. The difference sounds minor (both have 4 wheels and a steering wheel, and yet a Ferrari and a tractor are very very different), but a good wood focused stove can be left for over 10 hours and still be going and ready to crack on again.

[@themysteriousstranger9605]

Hi Gabriel, you mentioned potentially removing the grate within the Pioneer 400 to improve fuel economy. Would this have any real world effect on efficiency? I really like this stove but would prefer ‘wood only’ for their efficiency. If this can be improved by removing the grate it makes it far more appealing! Cheers!

[@TheTortoise]

If you intend to do that then you’re essentially describing the Dean Forge Croft stove. The Croft is basically a Clearview without a grate, it’s excellent and definitely has a big affect on real world fuel economy.

[@DrRock2009]

I’ve had one of those over 10 years- works great, but the handle with its tiny Allen key grub school isn’t great. Also the rope needs replacing frequently.

[@fasalwalayat1052]

Can you review the Clock Blithfield Multi Fuel 5kW stove please.

[@TheTortoise]

Definitely on the list! Everyone is struggling with stock at the moment, so sadly my videos are currently not a priority for most manufacturers. We’ll get there.

[@offshoretinker]

Bollocks on the legality. I've had the exact same stove for 20 years. The glass DOES smoke up no matter how you tend it and the only time you see it sparkly clear is in the showroom where they MUST clean it every day. They are what they are and I love mine!

[@johnwoody9505]

I've got three clear view stoves in the house, the glass in all of them stays perfectly clean. YOU must be doing something seriously wrong!! Use only properly seasoned wood, two years preferably. Split some logs and check the moisture content is down to or below 15%. Do as the guy says and close the spinner once up tp proper running, NEVER close the downwash air right down. Make sure the door is a perfect airtight fit by adjusting the hinges such that on closing the door, piece of thin paper are trapped between the door and the body of the fire. Make sure that the path of the gases from the outlet of the fire to the top of the chimney are sealed so that no air can get up the flue. If all these things are right and the flue has been correctly fitted correctly and is tall enough the glass should NEVER tar up. John, south Wales.

[@123ChrisG]

@@johnwoody9505that’s rubbish, the glass still needs cleaning regularly. Even the manufacturer will state this. But compared to other stoves it stays cleaner for much longer. For example other stoves glass can go black from one fire.

[@johnwoody9505]

@@123ChrisG Hi Chris, I can only give you my experience with three Clearview stoves we have. I know that most people have dirty glass, we DON'T. I work with the local council as a volunteer in a dept. that fells trees along cycle ways and footpaths. We collect wood from ash trees we fell, we just about always fell in late autumn when the leaves have gone. I transport the straight logs home, log them into pieces 10-18 inches long and split them almost immediately. The split logs are then put into a section of our woodshed out of the rain but with plenty of air to pass through the pieces to season the wood. Most of the wood is burned 12+ months later, the % moisture content as shown by the LIDL fire wood moisture meter would be less that 15%, usually 12%. The burn we have is always clean and produces no smoke on the glass. If you live near Pontypool in South Wale, UK, you are welcome to see our woodturners in action!!! I have seen people using the same wood burner as us with fouled up glass, their wood is wet and useless and will always give smokey glass. I cannot say anymore about this, for us it is simple, good quality wood, split and stacked out of the rain, common ash seasoned down around 12%. Our oldest wood burner is a 26 year old 8kw medium canopy Clearview.

[@jncg2311]

​@@johnwoody9505I tend to agree. We burn only windblown or maintenence felled wood, all species but all of it at least 2 years seasoned. Oak seasoned 3 years if I can but I do have lots of storage space. I still have to burn some wood at 20% if it came down in leaf but 25 years exclusively wood burning for heat means it's second nature to run fires well and I always mix species in the log basket. We're on our second Clearview, the first is still in the house we installed it in when it was the primary source of heat, with a boiler and still in regular use. I clean fly ash and a slight grey haze off the door glass about once every couple of weeks, it looks clearer afterwards but you'd not know it wasn't clean with the fire lit before. The only time I had truly dirty glass in the stove was on return from a spell when friends had been staying at the house. They disregarded basic instructions, ran it with the primary air open, closed down the secondary too far, tried to slumber the fire when they were out and bought sticks for the fire back from walks. They enjoyed it though which was the main thing, and moved to a house they could have a stove in soon afterwards.

[@johnwoody9505]

@@jncg2311 We've only had smokey glass when we've been on holiday and let people stay at our house while we've been away. We left very CLER, CONCISE instructions on how to burn wood cleanly, this doesn't always work, people think they know better, even when they don't have wood burners themselves!! It beggars belief that they think they know how to burn wood from experience gained many years ago of burning coal in open fires!! It is so simple with the correct wood to burn Clearview stoves with clean glass, so easy to do it wrong!! One guy had been around our house many times and seen us burning the wood with no tar on the glass, after 3 days staying at our house he had a lot of tar on the glass, he seemed to think his method would be fine, and would NOT do it the way I explained. I found it so strange he thought he knew better with no actual experience.

[@mphys5370]

Loving the videos, I was wondering if you can recommend a burner thermometer and burner fan?

[@TheTortoise]

I’m in the process of putting together a shop for KZbin, so I will have my own over the course of the next month or so. If you can’t wait, I’m sure there are many others, but none that I use/recommend myself. Thanks a lot.

[@alexandracook9388]

If you wanted a stove to provide almost all your heating in a bungalow, be easy to light and to keep ticking over, and provide economic day and night heating…. Which would you choose…. dean forge croft or the clearview pioneer?

[@TheTortoise]

Good question. The Pioneer definitely has a specialness factor, but the Croft is undeniably cleaner, more efficient and better suited to serious use with wood. They’re both very tough, capable of overnight use and serious use, but if you’re burning wood then the Croft is still the better buy. However the Clearview definitely still wins on: Finish Re-sale value Specialness factor that attracts house buyers, renters or holiday lets It’s also the more satisfying and fun stove to use. It just cannot compete on the more utilitarian, focused tool that the Croft is.

[@alexandracook9388]

@@TheTortoise thank you. That is very helpful. I wish I’d asked you earlier in the process, didn’t occurred to me. I opted for a clearview but have a feeling I should have gone for dean forge really on the grounds I’m not keen on burning coal. But was persuaded by people I should keep fuel options open in case. But either way I’ll be much warmer next winter than last. Your channel have helped me so much, thanks I really appreciate your reviews, especially how consistent you are so I could compare fuel economy. Not had a stove for a long time so will watch all the how to videos next.

[@TheTortoise]

A Clearview is a great stove, so you’ll get on fine. Glad to hear my little channel is of use! 👍

[@garethdavies4854]

Great Video Have you done a video on the Woodward Eco Thinking of getting one. Thanks in advance. Gareth

[@TheTortoise]

I don’t know that stove, who makes it???

[@garethdavies4854]

@@TheTortoise sorry should have typed woodwarm eco 5kw

[@TheTortoise]

@@garethdavies4854 ah, I thought it might have been autocorrect. They’re definitely high on the list, the only trouble is getting one, they have enormous timescales so they’ve had to be left on the back burner for now.

[@dazpower1234]

Your great enjoy watching you

[@TheTortoise]

Thanks so much

[@thejam51]

Hi Gabriel, have you ever come across a ‘Gordin’ stove, do you have an opinions on them and what efficiency is like? Thanks!

[@TheTortoise]

In the car world it would be a bit of a Morgan. Godin stoves are very decorative and expensive, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re the best stoves out there. They won’t be for everyone because it’s a very small manufacturer in the UK market, and servicing etc will therefore be less accessible (just like with Morgan cars). And of course the other issue with small production runs is that there is less testing, less reliability and more cost to maintain. But of course the flip side is that they’re quite special and exclusive and if you like them, then nothing else will do 😆.

[@urszulapiwowarczyk5962]

Hi, did you have a chance to review the Pickering Eco from Town & Country Fires? We try to decide between this and Hunter Allure 5 as a focal point and additional heating in 58 years old semi.

[@TheTortoise]

Given your use, I doubt the more expensive Pickering is necessarily needed, but I think it’s a nice stove. I’ve seen the allure for under £900 so it’s definitely winning on price. Until I review the Pickering I couldn’t say whether it’s worth the extra cost.

[@welditmick]

Sitting by mine right now - It's toasty.

[@bv3bv334]

Why have a 6 inch flue? The bigger Vision has a 6 inch. Thinking of reducing the flue outlet to 5 inch, as my chimney won't take a 6. I reckon 5 inch will be fine. The Clock 5 only has a 5 inch. 6 inch on the stove this size doesn't make sense, apart from in the manufacture process.

[@TheTortoise]

I believe that this stove is allowed to be fitted on 5”. May be worth asking Clearview, but I’m sure (if you buy the DEFRA approved version) it is cleared for 5”?

[@TheTortoise]

To be fair the main advantage with 6” flues is you can benefit from the full range of control that the stove has. If you fit 5” the stove is supposed to be fitted with a DEFRA kit at all times.

[@bv3bv334]

​@@TheTortoise interesting. My flue will only take a 5. How would you go about reducing a 6 to 5 on a Pioneer?

[@TheTortoise]

Worth a chat with Clearview, but I have definitely heard on several occasions that it is possible and legal.

[@bv3bv334]

@@TheTortoise You are spot on 👍 A Pioneer it has to be 👍

[@Zerobob26]

I'd really like it if you'd mentioned certain things as standard in your reviews, such as does the stove spill smoke/flames into the room? Does ash fall out the stove? Can it burn overnight?... and if not, how long CAN it burn on a full load? How long can it burn on in a single load with the DEFRA kit enabled/disabled? What does the stove look like completely shut down with/without the DEFRA kit? Does the glass mist/blacken if you shut it down to a certain point?... and if so will opening up the stove again remove the dirt from the glass? Does the stove have any annoying flaws?... and can these flaws be rectified in some way? Is the burn chamber big enough for bigger logs? Does the riddling grate work properly? Etc. Etc. I can tell you want to keep your videos relatively short, but you're in a unique position to tell people about the reality of these stoves, and it's the sort of tangible insight that people care about, so it'd be great if you could standardise this sort of information across all your reviews.

[@TheTortoise]

Thanks for the ideas. I have started to mention spilling of smoke to the room on reviews as standard, and I quite like the ash spilling idea. However there is an issue with getting too specific with many performance tests, because there are so many variables: Type of fuel (oak and cedar for example) Fuel moisture content Chimney draw Weather and the affect on draw Skill of user Even the diameter of the flue will have an affect. I have tried to standardise things relatively carefully, whilst maintaining a “real world test”, but every occasion gives different results. I have started giving a range of results on the “net of logs test” as this test does achieve varying results. Someone else has suggested a rating out of 10 for each test, which again is a neat idea, but only recently possible, as I needed to of completed a good number of reviews to be able to give a fair rating out of 10 for each test. I do plan on changing the format slightly, so the reviews will take on a slightly new style (certainly by the new year), once I’ve had chance to properly plan it.

[@Zerobob26]

@@TheTortoise Thanks for the reply Gabriel, and I completely take your point about the amount of different variables involved. If accurate measurements aren't really possible, I think what'd go a long way would be a minute-long video within each review showing the stove fully open, then DEFRA kit shut down, then fully shut down, because visuals and controllability are important to a lot of people. Footage of what the stove glass looks like after burning all night, and then after the initial morning burn would also be very useful. Anyway, I hate to sound overly-critical or anything because the channel's great. Really enjoying getting my "stove nerd" on watching your videos and I think you'll massively take off as stoves become more popular during this fuel crisis. Keep up the good work mate!

[@TheTortoise]

@@Zerobob26 no problem at all, the videos are pointless without you watching them so comments are always useful!

[@tash2709]

Hi, what are the costs of installing a log burner please? I have been quoted £2k to £2.5k without the actual log burner. Are some people here in the NW taking the Michael? I dont mind what a job costs, I just need to feel I'm getting an honest price for a proper job but I have no idea where to go.

[@TheTortoise]

Every job is hugely different so it’s impossible to say, it’s like pricing building a wall it depends on tons of things: What quality of materials Into a chimney Fitting a liner Fitting a twin wall system Height of building etc You could get another price to check? All the best though!

[@johnwoody9505]

Why not fit it yourself, fit it conforming to the regs and pay for the council to approve your work.

[@timhowsley2564]

What does the economical score 4.2? mean please

[@TheTortoise]

What do you mean sorry, I don’t remember mentioning a 4.2 score?