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The Tortoise
United Kingdom
Приєднався 10 бер 2019
My family have been manufacturing, designing and selling stoves for generations. I started my own stove company at 21 and enjoyed a lot of success with it, until my wife got ill and I sold my company to care for her and our 3 children. I handed my company to my brothers and father and I now make videos about all things stove related and a few other projects just to keep you entertained. I've no idea whether what I make is of any use or interest to anyone, but I've always wanted to do it. I love making things and stoves are in the blood!
I'm very lucky to have a family with a good reputation in this industry, and I have a wealth of knowledge and experienced built up over generations, which enabled me to help thousands of people get the best product for them. My reviews are independent and as unbiased as I can make them.
Also check out my other channels, which are all about wisdom, success and making things:
2nd channel "And"
3rd channel "The Hare"
Thanks!
Gabriel
I'm very lucky to have a family with a good reputation in this industry, and I have a wealth of knowledge and experienced built up over generations, which enabled me to help thousands of people get the best product for them. My reviews are independent and as unbiased as I can make them.
Also check out my other channels, which are all about wisdom, success and making things:
2nd channel "And"
3rd channel "The Hare"
Thanks!
Gabriel
Stove of the Year 2024
This is our final video for the year. Thanks so much for all your views and support, we look forward to seeing you again in 2025.
If you have any questions or suggestions please drop them in the comments, but otherwise please like the video and share it with anyone who may benefit.
Thank you so much,
Gabriel
If you have any questions or suggestions please drop them in the comments, but otherwise please like the video and share it with anyone who may benefit.
Thank you so much,
Gabriel
Переглядів: 4 445
Відео
Full Review of the Clock Blithfield Compact
Переглядів 2,2 тис.21 день тому
This is a full independent review of the Clock Blithfield Compact, 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 key information, but you are welcome to ask questions in the comments. We are a little independent channel that starte...
Stove News Dec 2024
Переглядів 1,2 тис.21 день тому
This months top stories: Expanding smokeless zones It's Christmas time, there's no need to be afraid If you have your own "stove news" then please send us a message or comment and we will look into it.
First look at the Blithfield Compact
Переглядів 1,4 тис.Місяць тому
Check out the MiniMe of the Clock Blithfield. It looks the part, but we'll start unpacking it, to see how they've adapted the design of one of the best stoves we've tested, and our winner of "Stove of the Year 2023". If you have any questions or suggestions, please just let us know in the comments. Please also feel free to like and share the video, if that is helpful.
Full review of theTortoise Sack trucks by Amy
Переглядів 1,4 тис.Місяць тому
This is a fairly silly video, where I attempted to get Amy's feedback on our new product: TheTortoise Stove SackTrucks. Needless to say it didn't go well, and me and Amy ended up laughing through, what really has become a slightly strange obsession of mine! Check out our other videos on theTortoise SackTrucks, and visit the links in the video to order yours!
Full review of the Clock Blithfield inset
Переглядів 3,5 тис.2 місяці тому
This is a full independent review of the Clock, Blithfield, inset. 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 key information, but you are welcome to ask questions in the comments. We are a little independent channel that starte...
1st look at the Clock Blithfield Inset
Переглядів 1,5 тис.2 місяці тому
1st look at the Clock Blithfield Inset
1st impressions of the stovax County
Переглядів 1,3 тис.2 місяці тому
1st impressions of the stovax County
Full review of the Heta Inspire 55
Переглядів 3,9 тис.2 місяці тому
Full review of the Heta Inspire 55
How to remove the Heta Ambition and Inspire DEFRA kit
Переглядів 8323 місяці тому
How to remove the Heta Ambition and Inspire DEFRA kit
Who is James Archer and his Archer Fires brand?
Переглядів 2 тис.3 місяці тому
Who is James Archer and his Archer Fires brand?
Understanding Distances to combustibles
Переглядів 5 тис.3 місяці тому
Understanding Distances to combustibles
Top 3 stoves for serious/continuous use
Переглядів 2,8 тис.4 місяці тому
Top 3 stoves for serious/continuous use
Full review of the Archer Vulcan L
Переглядів 2,7 тис.4 місяці тому
Full review of the Archer Vulcan L
Full review of the Charlton and Jenrick, Go Eco, BakeChef
Переглядів 2,3 тис.4 місяці тому
Full review of the Charlton and Jenrick, Go Eco, BakeChef
Independent review of the FireMizer
Переглядів 3,1 тис.4 місяці тому
Independent review of the FireMizer
Top 3 stoves for overnight running
Переглядів 1,5 тис.4 місяці тому
Top 3 stoves for overnight running
Full review of the Heta Icon Eclipse
Переглядів 2,1 тис.5 місяців тому
Full review of the Heta Icon Eclipse
Zdravím. Popelník je plný již po dvou dnech nepřetržitého topení. Dřevo suché., bříza. Trochu zklamání a popelník vyndavat po dvou dnech je otravné.To užý bybylo lepší, kdyby kamna měla dno bez roštu a popel by se snáze čistil.
Would you go for this or the Aga Ellesmere?
You sure that smoke isnt just going into the air feed of the stove - I didnt see much coming out of the top. I have an inset wood burner much like this - as well as a free standing unit in another room, and while it is good and can through out good heat, I certainly don't think they are as effective as free standing stoves at convecting heat out.
There is no air feed in the convection box at all, so it’s certainly looping round. That said it will be more dispersed on the way out of the top. I agree on the output side of things, but I guess the impressive thing about these convection systems is the amount they do manage to get into the room (despite the obvious limitations they have).
I agree but you need way more wood for a night then one log we put 5-6 in ours and we have about the same size burner
Hi I'm looking to install a wood burner and have been sent information from the man who sells and installs stoves. I already have quite a big multifuel stove working in my sunroom/kitchen area. This time I Solly want a dedicated wood burning stove for my good Livingroom. He sent me a picture of the Arada M series stove like above, I really like the look of but the part about the handle is a little bit concerning to say the least. I'd like to hear from anyone who is using this stove, or any other information would be much appreciated please.
How did you secure the slate to the wall? Or does the inset stove just hold it up? Also assumed you need to more than insulation to block the cavity around the inset stove. This was a concern as the insets are smaller than the builders opening.
You can’t learn a whole lot from these connections as I must admit I am doing a very quick link up. Insulating around is a sensible solution, but as you say me simply holding the slate up with the stoves frame is definitely not recommended 😅.
Love your passion, it comes across so well and your love for the solid fuel market is unrivalled
Thanks a lot!
What stove is that, the flames look mint👍🦆
That’s a Parkray Aspect stove.
There is a lot of nonsense going on on the Internet. I was absolutely convinced that you were not supposed to burn coal and wood together as it produces sulfuric acid which will damage the stove. I don't remember where I've heard this info but it was saying that the fact that you can burn coal or wood doesn't mean that you can burn them together but I always thought that it made perfect sense to burn them together.
The acid issues won’t necessarily be catastrophic to the stove, but it will certainly damage your glass, flue and chimney, so it’s worth avoiding this issue at most costs. What causes it as actually moisture and burn coal based fuel. So as long as your wood and coal based fuel is dry, then no issues. If it’s damp, then the acids created do cause a number of issues.
Thank you very much for clarifying it, that means that a few very dry small pieces of pine would not be am issue. I am using a Mendip Loxton 5 which I bought - at your warm recommendation a few years ago. It says multifuel but without a bit of stimulation from wood it would eventually stop burning even with the ash tray fully open. Maybe I need one of those barometric dampers, I don't know. Anyway I want to thank you very much for all your lovely videos and I also want to buy the seal rope, silicone, etc from you if you send me the link, cheers
Hi Gabriel, I know you looked at the Stockton 5 a little while back now but do you know if the defra stop is removable on the secondary air? I assume you’d probably be able to modify it to get it to shut all the way down if the airwash assembly can be disassembled.
We recently tested the Stovax County, which is essentially the same stove as the Stockton. From memory it may not be completely simple to remove the DEFRE stop, but may be worth looking at that video: ua-cam.com/video/kMIpNDLIjTY/v-deo.htmlsi=IZQUHLKKPJ9tenzL
Thanks I have watched that video, I just watched it back. We have an old mk1 Stovax Wellington at the moment. It lived in a farm down the road many years ago and it’s been in our home for about 5 years now still chugging along. I’m moving soon and I’m looking for something similar with the same old tough ‘fiddly controls’. It’s funny because we’ve always used drill bits to sort of quantify how far open/closed the vents are, closing the vent down to the size of the drill bit and you really can get it burning exactly how you want it, so I’ve always thought of them as being very easy to control. I’ll mostly likely go for the Stockton or the County, there are plenty of manufacturers making tough stoves but you don’t see any making them this simple anymore. Thanks for the videos they’ve been a great resource. Happy New Year!
Good to hear it’s been serving you well. The new one definitely still has control, and yes toughness galore!
From my point of view the smoke when you reload is incredibly disappointing, it makes my throat hurt as well as being unpleasant. The company isn't interested in responding to this design fault. I wish I hadn't bought it.
That’s a real shame. I do think the spillage is this models biggest weakness. It may be worth speaking to your fitter about removing one of the baffles, as this should improve this issue. It will also lower efficiency, but sometimes that’s a worth while sacrifice.
A very good all round how to and why video. Tx
Here’s hoping 🤞 and I already know the outcome 😂!
That's naughty "already know the outcome" 😂 hurry hurry I'm waiting for the follow up. Stay safe and warm you lucky people
Just had a rope kit off you. Good to put a face to a name.
Thank you very much!
This time next year we could be millionaires Rodney
Good luck 😊
The article is about pm emissions, which is the most harmful parts of a combustion. Not Co2 which is harmless but causes climate change.
I’ve got a Heta Inspire 45 which is multi fuel. Can I put coal and wood on together or not? I’ve heard mixed reviews some saying it creates a nasty acid and some saying it’s perfectly fine.
Great quick video I’ve seen lots of your review recently as I’m deciding between a Clock blithfield compact vs a Arada solution 5 S4 ( or named something like that 🙈😂) do you have any thoughts I’m edging towards the clock but my wife is edging towards the other?
I am a disappointed owner of a charnwood aire 5 which is horrible to use and which has never ran correctly. Customer support doesn't help at all either. I would like to know if this stove is better than the charnwood when it comes to ease of use and combustion stability.
Tell us more about the issue, what’s happening?
Just like everything else, they don’t want you doing anything yourself. They create bull shit rules and regs so they can create courses and charge money for people to sit these courses, then charge tax on the jobs created by these courses. Everything is about lining pockets, nothing to do with safety. It’s embarrassing how incapable the modern man has become and how controlled he allows himself to be. Start doing things yourselves people, start small and build up. Learn, learn, learn. All men should be able to perform maintenance and improvements on their own homes.
What is the make and model of your Burner it's very nice looking?
dose anyone use the heat hero product on these boilers, am think of installing a boiler stove in a property I may buy, it seems pretty poor with one.
It sounds as if it's virtually impossible to put a stove into an upstairs fireplace.
It can be possible, but not always easy. 😬
i feel like stoves need to be either full old school or full modern looking, these ones just look bland to me
Let me give you newbie's a tip, when handling your logs you will notice some are much heavier than other the same size, thos are full of knots resins and will byen longer, setting them aside in a separate stack as overnighters will help keep the stove going all night, also keep the top air vent open just a little as this will help to keep your glass from staining.
Hi Gabriel My wife would like to know if it is machine washable please? Many thanks
I would say not. It’s the sort of thing that will slowly wear out, over months. Rather than something that is generally cleaned and have continued use over years.
Some of our firewood we're using has white mould on it. It burns ok, but is it safe for us to store in the living room before it gets used?
I’ve certainly never worried about it, but I don’t know. It could easily have some nasty spores, but I’ve not had an issue or heard of one.
Is there any danger of it running too hot if burning both wood and coal, especially with the vents shut...i have the 5kw model.
Shutting the vents is intended to slow burning and lower the burning temperature. Obviously over filling a stove can cause issues, but as long as you avoid this, then the vents are mostly about keeping the stove under control, and therefore burning economically and efficiently.
Is there any danger of burner it too hot with wood and cosl and vents closed?
nothing but problems with mine, load of rubbish.
Interesting, let us know what you’ve found. Some issues are blamed on stoves when actually the chimney/draw is the issue, other times there are genuine issues, but the feedback is really useful!
Another great common sense video. Thank you for doing these videos, you deserve a bigger audience.
Thanks a lot, we think so too 😅.
@ from watching your videos I went ahead and rebuilt a chimney stack and got a thermocrete lining in. I have since reconstructed my constructional hearth as a storage heater!!! I dug out what was there then laid down a thermocrete raft with a 200kg central high density concrete centre with pumice concrete edging topped with a 2 inch basalt decorative hearth, also hammered in copper Ts to help conduct heat down. A stovax Elise 680 MF and I am fitting a hot air offtake to distribute the heat to all rooms on the ground floor. Overkill and overengineered but it should be all going in a few weeks.
This is one hell of a project, congratulations! I hope it’s all coming good?
Good practical information Tx
Hi there, I have a flavel Rochester 7, it has a griddle and ash pan if I want to burn wood only would I get away with cutting a 1/4" thick steel plate and insert it on top of the griddle (also my glass has got very fine crazing on it) the fire is just over a year old and not been used much.
The glass crazing is typically caused by smokeless fuel, mixed with moisture. Annoyingly if it happens you can only solve it by replacing the glass, but in the future taking care to only burn dry fuel will help. Thankfully if you switch to just wood, then this issue should never return.
The last time my Dik Geurt i went to the doctor who referred me to urology! Have you any experience of the Lars 1000? A pretty interesting Dik Geurts that one.
😇 I’ll take a look 👀
🤣🤣🤣
In another universe Boris Johnson has a UA-cam channel on stoves! 😂 Great work on the review of the reco heat certainly considering one for my stove Thank you
I have never seen the Boris thing, but I get compared almost daily on UA-cam. I need to reinvent myself 😆
HNY to you. Must take a look at Woodwarm before replacement baffles and bricks bankrupt me on my HH 8KW Multi 🤤
It’s a fantastic thing!
Hi what are the exact differences of the bignut 5 and peanut 8?
Literally 2 small bricks on the sides of the firebox. That is literally it.
@TheTortoise thanks for the reply. So how can they say one is 5kw and the other is 8kw if its literally just 2 bricks. Would the 8kw still be the better option in this case for an open plan downstairs in an old stone house?
I agree that outputs are being manipulated. Overall I think the better buy is the 5, as it’s literally the same stove with 2 bricks (that you can remove), it costs the same and you don’t have to have an air vent fitted (as long as the bricks are fitted 😅).
@@TheTortoise I know it's a little bit more expensive but would the parkray aspect 8 be a better choice?
It’s certainly the better choice if you’re wanting a big output, but not so if you want to avoid air vents 😂.
New to these, and doing research for a cylindrical wood burner stove for our extenstion going up this spring, ready for next winter. Which would you recommend for an easy to control, easy to keen clean black focal point wood stove please? This Woodford Carlton, the Archers Vulcan L or the over the top Scan 67? Or are there any others to look at please?
@15:24 "Innovation/Creativity" = Common sense 😊
My upper fire brick cracked into three pieces so I bonded them together with fire cement. A year later and they're still fine.
Still can't beat a open fire 🔥🔥
Getting a log burner installed in a few weeks and was wondering what wood species would be best in general to use and give the best heat etc. Is Ash a good choice or better to have a mix?
Ash is a great place to start.
@@TheTortoiseI have some Ash already so that would work well. I have a good amount of silver birch and some cherry and sycamore with some other species. Would a mix of those be best or just Ash?
A mix is great. Silver Birch is spectacular, because the bark can be used as a firelighter too. I’d definitely be stripping the bark, as you won’t need kindling or firelighters!
@@TheTortoiseYes Ive heard a mix is good. Not a bad idea stripping the bark as can use it for kindling etc and firelighters.
He may not like 'governments' telling him what to do, but unfortunately 'regulating' is usually the result of cowboy builders and charlatans not caring about the safety of others. Unless you watch this or similar video's about chimney science, then people are vulnerable to cowboy builders. When it comes to safety, then regulation is essential, if you came into my home to quote a stove installation, then you said 'i don't like government telling me how to do things safely', then I would look elswhere. Great video by the way
Sadly, they know nothing about woodstoves
the ash cleaner is a beautiful thought out piece of kit and works
Merry Christmas Tortoise and missis Tortoise and children aww bless is that small baby going to be a stove fitter ? Out of interest , I have seen these ECO stoves , that have all the heat insulation properties built into them …… give off heat for 12 hours and maybe burn again in the evening for the next days heat ? It says that they also have kits to heat water , however in my case I was wondering if the claims they suggest ( 12 hours heat after the fire goes out ? Interesting have a happy new year and keep the videos coming 👍
Can you review the Esse 105? There are absolutely 0 reviews of it anywhere
Masonry heater?