First Post and I've come for advice on the Varde Aura 11

[kah22]

I've been looking at buying a multi-burner stove and a short time back I saw one which I thought 'that's for me'. But as always life is not that simple!

The stove I was looking at was the Varde Aura 11 described in the literature as a wood burning stove and certainly all the reading I've done on it says like wise.

I emailed the retailer (large operation and a good reputation) just to clarify this point with him his salesman got back to me stating that:

just went down and checked and it's defiantly a multi fuel one, it has a grate and ash pan which wood burning stove's generally don't have.

I emailed him again (I was offered a good price on the stove and it will suite me down to the ground) and told him what I picked up on the internet, that the Aura 11 was for wood burning only. He replied

‘what you have read is correct but I have sold several of these stove now and all for multi fuel and have seen them burn coal and other fuel without any damage to the stove. its all about managing your load levels that you don't over fire your stove. Most of the time it is difficult to get wood with the correct moisture content and if you were to buy the kindle dried wood they can be expensive and don't last long in the stove.
kevin the stove companies always put this in as a disclaimer but I can assure you this stove is fine for multi fuel.

On the face of it the salesman does seem to be pushing a bit and possibly slanting the information. To be fair to him I did contact other retailers some said wood only others said fine to burn smokeless fuel. One retailer I contacted replied:

Thank you for your enquiry, the Varde range are only tested with wood, so the efficiency and output ratings are stated for burning that type of fuel. However they do have the shaker grate and ash pan which make it possible to burn other fuels.

So two questions. Does the fact that a stove has a shaker grate mean it is capable of burning coal?

The most important question though is: will the Aura 11 burn solid fuel? I really like it and if it did I would buy.

I must say that I’m slowly drifting towards a wood burner but would like the ability to burn some solid fuel

Newbi Kevin

 

[begreen]

Welcome. I don't know this stove, but I can see why the confusion. FYI, multifuel stoves are much more common in Europe than in the US. Grates and ashpans are not uncommon in pure wood burning stoves. Look at Jotul and Morso stoves for example. However, the grate style for a wood only stove will be different. Coal burns hotter and usually requires a method to shake down ash and clinkers. This requires a much beefier grate system that usually is connected to a shaft in order to shake the coal bed. Coal also requires air under the fire bed, where as wood is over the fire bed.

What is confusing is that while the Varde Aura 11 does have these features, the manual only refers to wood burning. I would therefore go by the manual and only burn wood or at least call Varde in Denmark and get their approval before burning coal.

For more information download the manual from here:
http://www.vardestoves.com/technical-information/