The Hobbit Multi-fuel Stove

Description from The Stove Yard

Small is beautiful, but in the case of the Salamander’s petite cast iron Hobbit Stove we think it’s also beautifully practical too. There’s even a Defra Approved version (The Hobbit SE) so you can legally burn wood in an urban smoke control area. At approximately 460mm (18.1″) high by 302mm (12″) wide the Hobbit can go where very few other stoves will fit and even though it’s actually quite compact it still packs a generous nominal output of 4kW, which is usually plenty of heat for a typical living room. It can even be fitted within a standard fireplace opening if you want to save a much-loved fire surround (but only if it’s non-combustible and suitable for a solid fuel stove) without the need for a great deal of work.

The Hobbit wood burner has many devoted fans who have created some amazing spaces placing the little Hobbit stove centre stage – shepherd huts, tree houses, caravans, garden offices, canal boats and even yurts, so it was no surprise that the Hobbit was recently spotted on TV in an episode of the hit series ‘George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces’. If you’re planning your own amazing space, whether it’s a not so common or garden shed or a cliff top retreat, you still need to make sure that the stove you plan on using has a genuine a CE Certificate and a CPR Declaration of Performance (DoP). That way you can rely on the manufacturer’s quoted safe distances to combustible materials. Rest assured you can do that with the Hobbit as it has been independently CE EN13240 tested by Kiwa GasTec in Cheltenham who also undertook the stringent clean burning Defra Smoke Exemption tests. The Hobbit therefore has a realistic net efficiency of 74.7% (wood) and options include a stove stand / fuel store, a small add-in boiler, a direct / external air kit and for a nautical look, brass or ‘chrome’ galley railing.

To sum up, the Hobbit is a competitively priced basic compact multi fuel stove that looks like a stove should (there’s actually a bit of the Morsø Swift about it, probably its nearest competitor). However, it isn’t crammed with significantly different combustion technology (despite what you may read elsewhere on the internet) but it has a pre-heated air wash system to help keep the glass clean and aid efficiency, so it should do everything that you want it to and, most importantly, it will safely fit into a tight space where other stoves, not even the Swift, just simply wouldn’t get a look in. However, the secondary air control, the one you’ll use most when burning wood is at the rear of the stove, so if you’re using the Hobbit in a confined fireplace opening then you’ll have to leave enough room at the top of the stove to be able to access this safely.

Please note that, being a small stove, the Hobbit only has a 100mm (4″) flue outlet (typically they’re 125mm / 5″). This means that if you are installing this stove in a dwelling you must follow Building Regulations Document J when lining the chimney which means that you’ll have to incorporate an adaptor to increase the flue outlet size to 125mm (5″) for the Defra Approved Hobbit SE model and 150mm (6″) for the standard Hobbit.

The Hobbit stove is on display in The Stove Yard Co Down showroom

• Output to room 4.0kW

• Net efficiency 74.7% (wood)
• • Overall dimensions (mm): H460 W302 D351
• • 100mm (4″) top or rear flue outlet
• • Takes logs up to 180mm (7″) long
• • No air vent required for pre-2008 houses
• • CE EN13240 tested in the United Kingdom
• • Weighs approximately 50kg

The Hobbit Multi-fuel Stove Features

• •Traditional cast iron construction including cast iron side and rear firebricks
• •Primary Air for mineral fuel (smokeless coal) burning
• •External riddler for effective mineral fuel (smokeless coal) burning
• •Pre-heated Secondary Airwash system for clear glass and clean burning (control at back stove)
• •Easy to remove baffle plate so the flue can be swept through the stove