Eureka Freestanding Discovery Solitaire

Brilliant heater – After much research..we purchased the Eureka "onyx" inbuilt model wood fire 10 years ago. We heat a room 9 x 11metres with 11 foot ceilings. It burns non stop through long winter months and keeps the room so warm..never running at more than a third capacity. It also heats 2 other adjoining rooms when needed. We have not needed to repair or… Read more

replace anything on fire as yet. This fire is amazing in that it will easily burn all night and is easy to load the wood.

Best thing we have ever bought and have had friends also buy after seeing ours. Love it.

No warranty – Have damage to firebox.They told me that I have to fix myself???Thoigjt this would be under warranty but am very disappointed it isn’t.i now have to fix myself which will involve heating the front ash pan and trying to straighten it which will not be an easy job.I have only ever burnt good hardwood.  Show details

Great heater – This company has been around a long time. I purchased the Solitaire about 25 years ago 1992. $3,300 installed I see it has not gone up much in price in 25 years and still same design. It works very well, spare parts always available, I have only replaced fire bricks twice and sacrificial plate once. It looks really good as well. I think it will… Read more

last another 25 years.

In winter it runs non stop for about 6 months as I live in snowy mountains.

Learning to love it – I've had a solitaire now for 15 years I've changed my opinion of it . it requires a technique to heat , where you leave the door ajar so it can draft . Once its going its very good Show details

Easily the best wood fire out of 11 we looked at – It’s the biggest heater with the biggest firebox on the market. The door opening is 555mm wide and 265mm high. That means a whole lot less wood splitting. Many logs we collect fit straight into the wood heater door, while many other wood heaters would need those to be split into 4, 5, or 6 pieces. When speaking to our friends about wood… Read more ·  4

heaters they all tended to say that the biggest headache about wood fires is cutting and splitting the wood, so this heater really appealed to us.

A big firebox also means long burning times. I would usually load the heater at 6pm and it would still be burning at lunch time the following day. In speaking to people in the industry, there are only 2 wood heaters that burn for more than 18 hours, and this is one of them. Long burning times also means racks of washing can dry in front of the heater overnight, so our power bill was a lot lower since we weren’t using the dryer or the air conditioner. In fact, our last power bill for the winter quarter showed we had used 35% less electricity and had to pay 25% less money (after electricity price rises).

A big firebox also means you can control the temperature 2 ways; with the air intake slide and the size of the fuel you load. Big bits of wood have less surface area so they burn cooler. Small bits of wood burn hotter.

The availability of spare parts means the heater doesn’t have to be thrown away when things break or wear out. Glass doors, steel panels, baffle plates, and fans are all available through Eureka heating. On some heaters, when the top panel rusts through, the heater goes in the bin.

The 3 speed fan blows air between the top cover and the top plate so the heater can warm a room quickly when you get home. We used to have the fire going 24 hours a day with the vent off when we were out and the vent on for more heat when we came home.

If you make sure you install a large tiled hearth (such as 1200mm x 1200mm), there is enough room in front of the heater to stand the next load of logs. This pre-heats the logs and enables them to ignite faster and get you warmer faster too. It also means your chimney produces a lot less smoke. The intake fan at the bottom will also suck up any steam given off by the logs as they pre-heat; this is a unique feature as many heaters have their intake at the back with the fan.

The heater measures 820mm tall, 880mm wide, 640mm deep so make sure you plan where you want to put it before you buy it because it isn't a cute little girl's fireplace.

Having a big firebox also means getting wood is less of a problem for people with a bit of up and go either. We have about 16 tonnes of firewood on our front lawn, which is enough to burn 24 hours a day for 8 months and more is on the way. We set up an arrangement with a few local tree loppers, and we also took old shipping pallets from factories that didn't need them anymore. With a bit of thinking (and less time numbing your brain in front of the TV) getting firewood is really easy. Big firebox, plenty of heat, long burning times, and low chimney emissions. Parts can be expensive if you break something like the glass.