Full review of the Hunter Herald double door

This is a full independent review of the double door Hunter Herald 5 slim-line, 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 can out the manufacturers page here:
www.hunterstov...

[@osu_slay3r816]

Stopping by to just say thank you for your channel and the valuable information you provide. Purchased a home last year with a 1997 version of the buckstove 74 and had no idea how to properly use it. Thanks to your channel I can efficiently heat my home with my wood stove. Keep up the great work!

[@TheTortoise]

That is awesome! Thanks for the comment!

[@a760541]

We bought, shipped & installed the Herald 14 double door in a wood burning & full back boiler configuration. Excellent stove, good quality & simple to repair or maintain.

[@TheTortoise]

Where did you ship it to?

[@a760541]

Out to belgium (pre Brexit) was about 50% cheaper than ordering through a "middleman" Freighting was 80 quid door to door on a pallet. Post Brexit its no longer viable

[@TheTortoise]

Ah I see, good thing it’s working well for you anyway!

[@paulshaw4382]

Great review and love the double doors a touch of class with a modern edge brilliant 🔥

[@TheTortoise]

Too right, thanks for the message!

[@marting8798]

Parkray Aspect 14 with an external Recoheat would be a good review - for those with large open plan living spaces, windy old farmhouses, or looking for a convecting powerplant (fan vented to other rooms/floors). Some serious big boy output would be great to measure & see!! 🔥🔥🔥🌶

[@TheTortoise]

Yea I’m with you on that. I know it’s in the pipeline for Parkray, but as soon as they get to me with one I’ll be all over that!

[@ashthovex1882]

I love watching these informative videos. Question : do you find that the room/house is still heated enough with the stove placed fully back into the fireplace? Or does one loose a lot of the heat up the chimney? Some fireplaces have the stove placed with 2 legs in and 2 out due to the small space.

[@TheTortoise]

Modern stoves are very effective at driving heat forward, but the affect depends on a lot of factors. The size of the space around the stove, the natural airflow in the room, which stove you have and the type of the stove (inset vs freestanding). Generally you will get more immediate heat from a free standing stove, but in a fireplace you may not actually lose much as the excess heat can go in to the masonry around the stove and this heat does come into the house but it is hugely delayed as the heat comes through both sides of the chimney breast.

[@ashthovex1882]

@@TheTortoise thank you! I’ve just noticed a lot of homes in the UK use freestanding In the existing chimney. Here in the US we mostly have them in the corner or center of the house. Due to the houses being newer builds I suspect.

[@TheTortoise]

Yes we’re constantly trying to update or work around buildings that are very old. Lots of character in these old places, but they aren’t half a pain too 😅.

[@TurnFullCircle]

I want one!...lol.....unfortunately it won't fit in my standard opening...😢.....love you're vids...all the best from a soggy derbyshire.

[@TheTortoise]

I love it up in your neck of the woods, and don’t worry it’s just as dank and dreary here at the moment 🤣

[@TurnFullCircle]

Lol..

[@richardgimblett249]

Hi Gabriel, thanks for the advice to date. Going really well with my chilli penguin for the last few months. Your advice has all been great. My second hand log splitter has given up the ghost so looking for an upgrade. Do you have any suggestions/links to recommendations for log splitters? I have 3 pallet loads for the coming winter but want to continue to stock up. Keep up the good work.👍

[@TheTortoise]

My uncle is a big fan of Prandi axes. He likes really smart (high end) stuff, but I would typically by a standard one with a wooden handle (the composite handles aren’t great).

[@markfoster2947]

Only just discovered your channel, great videos thanks! I am investigating as I currently own a Hunter Herald Slimline Double door that is approx 15 years old. It is only in the last couple of years that we have used it extensively as I now have a great supply of free softwood!!! The stove is currently set up as a multi-fuel with riddling bar etc.... and as you say in another video this takes up a lot of space where logs could go which would be very useful for me when burning mainly softwood, and also means the wood is not burning as long/efficiently as air is coming in the bottom (have to refuel every hour or so currently). I have bought the wood burning conversion kit (new firebricks and grate) for the stove and will be fitting it soon. My question is can i occasionally burn smokeless 'oviods' with it set up as a wood burner? This would be a small shovel or two perhaps once or twice a week when going out and i want to keep the heat going. I never overnight slumber and never need to clean the glass. I burn 90% softwood so feel the stove would be best set up for that purpose but are any problems likely with occasional smokeless fuel as described. I could potentially get a small 'grate' or a 'coalcage' to allow the air to circulate to be used on these few occasions if that was necessary? I realise the smokeless won't burn as efficiently (showing as more waste) but also wondered if smokeless coal on the bottom of the stove might be too hot??? Any advice would be MASSIVELY appreciated as you obviously know what you are talking about!!!! Thanks for reading and hopefully responding as could be a question that others are looking to answer?

[@TheTortoise]

Smokeless fuel interestingly doesn’t get anywhere near as hot as wood. So burning in the stove is no issue at all, but as you say it doesn’t tend to burn very well and often ends up just going out. Having said that, this stove (with some practice) should burn so much more frugally with wood (once you’ve set it up), that the smokeless usage is normally rendered irrelevant. I would get a Hunter damper if you don’t already have one, and I would suggest that some hard wood for those occasional long burns will do everything you’re currently wanting to achieve.

[@markfoster2947]

thanks so much for the comprehensive answer. The main reason for asking about smokeless fuel is because i have 10 bags in my stock, but then i also have hardwood logs as well, both bought before i managed to get a very good supply of free dry softwood! I will certainly investigate with the hardwood logs as a means of extending the burn when going out, into the night etc... and will experiment a little with the smokeless but sell it if it doesn't burn well (concerns about damge to flue if it's not burning properly). Regarding the Hunter damper, if this goes into the flue above the woodburner i don't believe i have enough room for this in my set up but will invetigate further. If it's an addition to the stove itself that a diyer can fit i would be interested to hear more. SO MANY THANKS for your reply, i'll be doing the conversion to a wood burner tomorrow and am now confident it will much better suit my requirements!!!

[@TheTortoise]

The Damper fits in the collar of the stove itself, so as long as the flue comes out of the top, it should work fine. And yes it can be retro fitted by you, if you’re feeling practical. 😆👍😊

[@markfoster2947]

well i completed fitting the conversion kit to 'wood burner only' yesterday!! The difference in volume for wood is amazing and it definitely seems to be burning hotter and more efficiently. This could make a great video of a conversion of an exisiting previously used stove as getting the bolts undone for the riddling bar support proved to be a challenge. As soon as i realised how tight they were I went and bought a 6 sided socket for the bolt head rather then rounding them off with my cheap and cheerful 12 sided conventional socket, I also applied lots and lots of WD40 but it still took a load of time and effort to get them out but it worked, just! There was also a problem with the catch bar provided as part of the kit which was too wide for my stove, i contacted Hunter who, to be fair, came back straight away but asked for photos and measurements etc.. In the meantime as i couldn't really wait i borrowed an angle grinder and managed to carefully trim it to size and i'm happy to say got it right! Adjusting the door closer also needed a load more WD40 but again it all came loose eventually! Thanks for the inspiration to tackle this job, it really is well worth doing for those who mainly burn wood, i should have done it years ago!! Can the flue damper be fitted without taking the stove out?, ie by drilling and fitting with access from inside the stove (my flue comes out the top) I think this possibly may be needed to really extend the burn time and avoid over firing if i fill up with the newly available space as it still burns quite hot even with the vents fully closed. (I need to replace rope and glass seals first so that may help). Thanks for any further advice!!!

[@TheTortoise]

Yea it can be fiddly but definitely worth it. I’ve trimmed the log retainers before too, works fine! The damper should be an easy fit and yes the design is to fit it in situ. You should see the 2 coach bolts on either side of the collar, they are held in place by 2x 13mm bolts.

[@LRDefender1968]

Hi Guys, Nice looking stove but it seems very narrow depth wise 😳 It’s getting into stove season, I’m so excited. I do have a question please, I know how to clean the glass using ash etc but is there a way to keep the external of the stove clean, as in the metal etc? Kind regards Tony

[@TheTortoise]

There are proper stove wipes, but what are you finding on there? If it were just dust then I would typically just stick with a hoover, but let me know and I’ll come back to you.

[@barronsclose]

Can you tell me the best way to load a burning fire and stop ash flying out.. i do it slowly but ash shoots up out the door?

[@TheTortoise]

Interesting. Typically it’s speed of opening that makes the difference. If you’re doing it slowly then it sounds like something external is causing the stir. Do you have an extraction fan in the room, or is there a draught that is causing the stir?

[@gdfggggg]

You keep swapping the fires, that must be a right pain in the arse? As in, different fires in the same spot.

[@TheTortoise]

There’s always a silver lining though, I love doing it! More of a pain for Amy, poor thing. Yesterday I was swapping stoves and a long with the 2 in the fireplace there were 5 more already in the house either on their way in or out 😬 nightmare!

[@kavanobrien6547]

Whiskey time , here comes the stupid questions, let’s say with a small wood burner how many logs would one use each day, having never owned one , I’m trying to work out how many logs I would need to each day which would tell me if I would order a trailer full if that’s how they’re ordered, trying to workout the cost over the winter months, I probably know it’s nearly an impossible question to answer , but nobody said life wood be easy , wood not would did you see that , I know time and place for humour, you must be on your second glass by now , starting from scratch here can you come up with a ballpark scenario please .

[@LRDefender1968]

It’s my first season as well, I’ll be using my stove in the evening and over the weekends, I’m really interested to see how much I use, I’ve been told a good guide for my use is 2 bulk bags, I paid £150 per bag, time will tell how close an estimate it is?

[@LRDefender1968]

Just to add, once the stove is at operating temperature I seem to use 1 large log an hour or so, maybe slightly more?

[@kavanobrien6547]

@@LRDefender1968 Good evening from Devon, thanks for the insight, so £300 pounds, are you hoping that will be sufficient for the winter months? May I ask what stove or wood burner you got and how much ? It’s like anything in life so many choices I’m confused which one not so much best but reliable and will see me out, 65 now so I want one that will last a few years with god’s grace he will give me a few years yet, sorry for asking so much , just trying to make as little mistakes as I can.

[@LRDefender1968]

@@kavanobrien6547 Ask away, it’s the way we learn :)) I purchased a Hampton 5 large solely based on the review the guys did on this awesome channel, there is a wealth of knowledge on here. If you go back through the videos you can watch the review, Gabe really liked it. It’s a 5kw stove with a fabulous large viewing window that runs crystal clear if you maintain operating temperature and it gives off so much heat, I am so happy with my purchase thanks to the guys recommendation on this channel. From memory I think it was about £700 delivered? I’m sure the guys will chip in shortly:)) Regards Tony

[@TheTortoise]

I think “Defender” gave as good of a guess as any of us could. As you said it’s so hugely variable it’s impossible to say anything accurate, but as I say what said by others is quite a helpful guide. However if you’re running hot because the room is cold etc, then you can expect consumption to jump a bit.

[@EddRandomCrap]

🤙🚪🚪