When you buy a new wood-burning stove, it will normally be covered by a guarantee. The nature of the guarantee varies between different stove manufacturers.
What is covered by a stove guarantee?
Usually, the stove guarantee will cover only the stove body itself. So, if the main construction of the stove starts to fall apart or deteriorate in any way, it would ordinarily be covered by the guarantee.
What is NOT covered by a stove guarantee?
Stove guarantees tend not to cover consumable parts. These are parts like the firebricks, stove rope and ashpans. The internal parts of a stove are expected to succumb to wear and tear over time. Since the way in which the stove is operated has a major impact on how quickly that wear and tear takes effect, these parts are usually not under guarantee.
You can make a comparison with a new car: if there’s a major mechanical fault with the car when it’s under warranty, the manufacturer will pick up the bill. But if you do handbrake turns and doughnuts on the forecourt, then ask them to cover the cost of your new tyres, they probably won’t be so obliging!
Length of a woodburner guarantee
Often – thought not always – there is a correlation between the length of wood-burning stove guarantee and the initial purchase price of that stove.
Guarantees start at three years for some cheaper models. For more expensive appliances, particularly those costing close to or more than £1,000, there is sometimes a lifetime guarantee (again, limited to the stove body).
A nice example of a good middle ground is the Mazona range. All Mazona stoves are covered by a five-year guarantee on the stove body. Considering they are among the stoves we sell with the lowest purchase price, the guarantee is on par with that of pricier appliances.
And tellingly, though only anecdotally, we don’t get many customers contacted us to take up the guarantee on a Mazona stove.
