As with all things these days the choice is enormous.

I am after a traditional 5Kw unit. They range from £200 to £2000 !

Anyone an expert here? Or know a good reliable value make.

I'm certainly no expert on stoves (other than persuading it to light and cleaning the damn thing out), but we bought an Arrow multifuel stove 14 years ago and it's been as good as gold and still like new. It was pricy then (think around £500) but something we wanted and I'd recommend them as decent quality. Since then I've seen loads of much cheaper versions start being produced that either i didn't notice or weren't made then. First say them in spanish continente store of all places as they go for stoves in a big way over there. These seem to have migrated over here pricewise in places like toolstation. They look cheaper quality but might be worth a look.

If I was buying again I'd make sure it had a 2 stage top so that it first burns the fuel but then passes the smoke over a heated top plate to effectively also burn the smoke - producing almost zero smoke with the result that even wood can be used in a smokeless zone.

bockers we had one installed last winter. Ours is a Stovax - British made. This one - only 4kw but fine for our use:

Stovax

I'd reccomend getting a full Flu liner fitted - Pretty pricey but defintately worth it for safety and maximum efficiency. There are loads of cheap Chinese imports around which are not fully cast iron so watch where you purchase.

Yep, cheers nello, paying a premium for a good stainless steel liner and fitting. In fact that will cost way more than the stove.

Full stainless liner is a must.
Villager have a good name in the UK. Franco/belge are a top make over here as is Godin. Both availiable in the UK i think.

I have a Clearview stove back in the UK which is very good indeed.

Try to aim for the higher priced stoves made from steel and not the cast iron stoves.
What is your chimney like that the flue will be running up? Is it possible to back fill the chimney around the flue, this will keep the heat in the flue and prevent it tarring up.

I installed and serviced wood burning stoves for about three years. Chimney liner is an absolute must as is fitting by a HETAS registered engineer. Check out Euroheat for the best stoves, Stanford/Harmony and Hwam stoves i can highly recommend, very good quality and efficient, well worth the extra money.

Back filling can hold condensation next to the liner and cause corrosion, the air gap between the liner and the flue is usually enough to insulate the liner. I would only back fill if absolutely necessary, sometimes on an external wall with possible down draft problems or short flue.

I bought and fitted a (Danish) Morso cast iron woodburner about 6 years ago.
Fantastic stove that will burn coal aswell.
I fitted a stainless liner and backfilled the chimney cavity .
My advice would be to make sure parts will easily be available in the future as the internal cast iron grate etc. will need replacing every few years and most importantly only burn properly dried logs (get yourself a log moisture meter) I store mine for 18 months before using.
If you burn unseasoned logs the liner WILL become completely blocked with a resinous tar that is not possible to remove by conventional brushes.
I know this as it happened to me ... the very top four feet of the liner was solid with tar and was very difficult and expensive to rectify.
With good logs and a well designed stove I can heat my whole cottage for 'peanuts'.

The fitter is a well respected chimney sweep and Hetas approved. He has stressed the need for a quality ss liner with a 25 year guarantee and proper fitting. So will be paying a premium for a proper instalation. For me that side is sorted.

Just pondering on the stove still. We have a small house and it will be the primary source of heat for the whole house. 5Kw is ample so it boils ... or is that burns... down to price vs quality vs efficiency.

We are looking at traditional types but not too ornate. We live in a cottage so plain functional would be in keeping with the house.

I will just have to continue to trwal through the specs and feedback.

James, thanks, will look into those and thanks too for everyone elses suggestions. Trying to spend no more than £600, not sure that is feasible at present.

I bought a 5kw stove to heat a 5x5m room but found that it wasn't enough - the rated output only appears to be what you get when it is burning furiously so my advice is to get something at least 8kw that can also accommodate a reasonable sized log to burn well into the night. Small logs dont last and you have to saw them up twice-over.
Secondly do not make the mistake of putting your burner inside the bottom of your fireplace. Put it as much as you can into the room. I find that a lot of the radiated heat comes out of (a) the Window at the front and (b) the bottom of the flue so you dont want to lose that.
My other advice is to bear in mind the quality of your room and house insulation. If you have old thin or leaky windows in the room then you can lose 4kw without heating anything up.
I also bought a 20kw burner with a boiler at the back, plumbed it into 6 radiators and 2 towel rails. Loving that I dont have a gas bill or electric heating bill over winter any more.

5kw should be ample in a 5x5 room, what make of stove was it?

Lots of advice on here advocating a liner being an absolute must. I fully appreciate the peace of mind you'd get from doing so as its obviously the default safer option. But unless you have money to burn it is actually worth checking if this is really necessary. And with respect I'd question the fitters opinion as clearly he has a vested interest as that bit of work has by far the highest margin on it. I don't run mine with a liner and as long as chimney is sound there's nothing as far as i know to dictate you must have one. And sorry but i dont follow the efficiency argument in the context given. Obviously knowing the condition of the chimney becomes paramount and also what's going on with the walls above i.e. to check no ones previously breached anything cutting in e.g. sockets etc.
But worth being aware rather than parting with your hard earned cash.

Cue the condemnation of such a reckless suggestion...

I would not condem what you have just posted,as i ran a log burner in the UK for years with just a 1.5 metre flue into my inglenook chimney.

But since living in rural France for the last ten years i have seen many fire damaged houses where folks have not put a flue all the way up and the French insurance will not pay up .Due to the fact that it is often the main source of heating its a big risk without.
Asides that, the burner is much more controlable with the full flue.

You can run a log burner without a liner, (after caring out several different test by a hetas engineer) efficiency however will be greatly reduced. Also the dangers of not lining a flue are simply not worth risking it in my opinion, aside from a safety point of view, the tar, creosote and acids deposited in the chimney can cause irreparable damage to your home. 316 grade stainless liners should cost about £25 a meter. Small price for the peace of mind.

Wonder if that's the rate that you've been quoted Bockers. Hope so.
Appreciate the safety and other concerns, but i was just pointing out that it isn't in fact an absolute must and theres a valid reason its not been made a statutory requirement.

I've been running mine for over 14 years with no problem or damage to the house.

Yep, that's about right. He is opening the top of the cimmney up as it was sealed years ago and will be fitting a blanking plate to stop rubbish coming down from outside the liner. Then there is lining the fireplace with lime and the granite plinth, and all the certification stuff.

I can save a few quid on lower grade liner but not significant enough to be worth it.

I'd advise a multi fuel stove, it soon wears thin feeding the beast with wood when a decent shovel full of coal will burn all night.

After being [cloud9] around by our sweep, who ordered the wrong stove twice it finally arrived today, thats over 3 months, and now the worst of the winter has passed.

And guess what, the glass door is smashed Why are tradespeople so bloody disorganised.

Bloody hell John! That's awful

Sorry for youre probs John.

But thats bad luck.

Fire him.

Bit extreme perhaps, you could always haul him over the coals though.

Whoops wrong type of burning thingy.

For future reference though ^^^he started it!

These guys are who i used to work for, they should be able to get you a new glass, quick and easy job to replace.