Charnwood Stoves - Brand Spotlight

Needless to say that at Direct Stoves Towers, we love all the brands we stock. We’d be mad not to; they all produce incredible stoves that are warm, comforting and a super efficient way of keeping your home warm.

However, some of our brands do have exceptional heritage and great stories that we like to try and share with our customers. One of these brands in Charnwood, and that’s why we’ve put together this brand spotlight article.

The Story Of Charnwood

The Charnwood story really begins on the Isle Of Wight in 1972 when Alfred Wells and two of his sons founded the business AJ Wells & Sons Ltd, which would go on to manufacture Charnwood Stoves.

However, it wasn’t actually until 1974 when a serendipitous combination of the 1973 oil crisis and the spread of Dutch Elm Disease, which killed millions of Dutch Elm trees, caused oil prices to rocket. With the cost of oil shooting up and wood in plentiful supply, AJ Wells & Sons Ltd put its engineering and ironwork expertise into practice to create the ‘Charnwood Beacon Stove’.

Over the next couple of years, the Beacon was marketed heavily and proved to be a roaring success. So successful in fact that a new Charnwood stove was developed - the CH. Launched in 1978, this was an 11Kw stoves that featured double glazed doors and a vitreous enamel exterior - marketing leading innovations at the time.

Another couple of years passed before the next development in the Charnwood range - their first boiler stove called the CHB that would provide enough heat for 6 radiators and for hot water.

Over the next two decades the Charnwood range of stoves expanded rapidly with inset stoves being launched alongside a number of other smaller products that were designed to keep single rooms warm. The ever popular Charnwood Country range was also launched with an airwash system; another useful innovation designed to help keep the interior stove glass clean.

International expansion into Japan, France, South Africa and more also followed while a new home was found for the business on the Isle Of White to accommodate the tremendous growth the brand had seen. There was also a rebrand in which Charnwood launched its new highly recognisable logo.

Throughout this time, and right up to the present day, Charnwood has continued to develop its product range by focusing on creating stoves with a tremendous build quality and innovative features that make them much more manageable than the first Charnwood wood burners of the 1970s.

It was in 2011 that Charnwood launched its fastest selling stove to date - the C-Four. This was the first of the Charnwood C-Series range; a line of products that has grown to become a firm favourite with customers at Direct Stoves. From the C-Four, right up the C-Eight, the largest stove in the range, we love their reliability and sleek designs.

So despite the fact that the Charnwood workforce has grown from 3 to well over 150, and the factory has grown from 1500 sq. ft. to 15,000 sq. ft one thing has remained consistent - the quality of its stoves. We wholly recommend that take a look at the full Charnwood range online at Direct Stoves.

Our Favourite Charnwood Products

Here are some of our favourite products from the Charnwood range:

Charnwood C-Four Blu Ecodesign Ready Wood Stove

As mentioned, the entire C-Series is great but one of our favourite products is the C-Four Blu Ecodesign Wood Stove. It’s DEFRA approved so you can burn wood in smoke control areas and already exceeds the 2022 EU directives for reduced emissions, so it’s futureproof and packed with useful features.

Charnwood Arc 5Kw DEFRA Stove

Another DEFRA approved and Ecodesign ready stove, the Arc 5Kw DEFRA Stove is a phenomenal multifuel burning stove. Not only are there 8 colours to choose from, but its combustion system means it burns exceptionally cleanly so it looks great and is very efficient.

Charnwood Island Two DEFRA Approved Stove

The most popular stove in the Island range, the Island Two DEFRA Approved Stove is easy to use and has a tastefully understated design that means it can fit in perfectly with any room in your house. It’s perfect for medium to large sized rooms, delivering 5-11kW of heat.

Charnwood Country 4 Wood Burning / Multifuel DEFRA Approved Stove

Although this is the smallest model that Charnwood manufacture, the Country 4 Wood Burning / Multifuel DEFRA Approved Stove is still packed with the innovative features that have made Charnwood so popular. Despite a heat output of 4kW, this sturdy, compact and stylishly designed stove is more than capable of heating a small room (and looking great while doing it).

There you have it - the story of Charnwood and some of our favourite products from the brand. If you have any questions around the products in the Charnwood range then don’t hesitate to get in touch with Direct Stoves and we’ll happily help you out.