Kent Calisto
16 reviews
Lousy – I bought a large Kent Calisto - after installation, over $3,500. Perhaps the worst buy ever? The fan sets up vibrations throughout the heater that make it unuseable, unless I want to choose noise over cold. I went back to the shop, Central West Heaters, who told me the motor might need to be tightened - 'a common problem'. The motor is… Read more
inaccessible though, partly because the whole steel casing is held together with cheap wood screws. The heads of the screws shear off. It's got 'made in China' written all over it. The fire bricks inside started breaking in the first week. They're just not up to the task. The ones that broke first were those at the back, underneath the 'brick retainer', a cheaply-made bracket of angle-steel that sits along the top of the bricks. This whole retainer bowed upward in the first decent fire, placing all the weight on the bricks under the point of the bow. The shop wasn't interested. It seems a shame that a company with a decent reputation should be going under. But they deserve it, if they're going to charge people so much money for such an inferior product.
Waste of money – After having a Coonara for 30+years we decided to install a Kent Calisto and have regretted that decision ever since. Door does not seal properly, fan is super noisy and does nothing to heat the place up . Our home is cold and im angry that we have spent good money and got nothing in return. I have tried to find an e mail adress so that i can… Read more
communicate directly with Kent but alas there is none to be found. I can put my hand on top of the fire at any stage of the day and it is hardly warm. I want the company to contact me and try and sort this garbage out because im not going to let it go away-you can be assured of that. The place where i purchased the heater from were exceptional in their dealings with us so we have no issue with them.
Very disappointed – Every time the door is opened ash and smoke pour from it covering everything in dust and the smell off smoke in the lounge room and hallways Show details
Bricks keep breaking – Smells really bad and toxic when it gets super hot. So expect that when you break it in for the first week or two. The bricks struggle to last a season. So far it has cost me $300 in the past 12 months replacing bricks. I am trying to be gentle with them, but they seem to just be bad quality. The "top" brick (not sure why there isn't just metal… Read more
there instead of a massive, fragile brick) was just replaced last season and is already brittle and scraping away with my fingernail. It cost $150 to replace and I had to buy the metal housing as well just to replace the brick that seemed designed from factory to break exactly after the warranty ends. This is not built to the standard of Kent fireplaces I have seen and used from the 80s and 90s. Disappointing. I really wish I didn't buy this overpriced Chinese junk.
Unresponsive after sales support – I have rated this 1 star due to the after sales service. We purchased our wood heater (Calienta) three years ago, First year, the rope seal disintegrated, the door handle stuck and we could not open the heater and the air flow would not move. This was fixed under the one year warranty by the store that sold it to us. Second year, again the rope… Read more
seal disintegrated and again the store kindly repaired. Third year, once more the rope seal disintegrated to the point that the glass is no longer safe. Also the door handle broke in half. We emailed the company who asked us to send photo's of the issues we had, which we did. After waiting over a week for a response, we emailed again, to be told the person that was dealing with this had been away sick and would get back to us soon. After another length of time, we emailed again to ask that they could at least acknowledge receipt of the email that "THEY" requested. To this date we have heard nothing. I am not sure why they asked us to go to the bother of taking photo's and forwarding by email, if they do not even have the common curtesy to acknowledge receipt of our emails. I Have sent a final email telling them how rude they are not to respond and still no reply. *** Update**** after writing this I was contacted by email by the people who ignored me and asked to resend all the documentation originally asked for, which I did. This was on the 31st May and despite requesting a response on the 7th June, I have again heard nothing?
Good value – Just purchased this heater in the medium size. We looked around and in our opinion was the best value for money as others where double the price. Heats up well! Show details
Perfect size for our needs – This is the small model and it suits our room perfectly. It did take me a week to learn how to get the best output as we have never had a wood heater. It is very efficient and will slow burn for hours if you learn to use the vent control. We luv this heater. Show details
Great heater. Kent Calisto small – This is a great heater. New Calisto small model has rubber on the Door handle that stops it from heating up. Heats room really well and looks amazing. We just love it. Show details
Don't make 'em like they used to – Burns through a lot more wood than old heater but struggles to heat living room. Door handle jams - almost from start. Fan is noisy like old AC in a cheap motel. Brochure says proudly 'Made for Australia' but made in China. Show details
Meets our needs – Nearly didn’t buy the Calisto large because of the negative reviews. Had it for a week and very pleased with its heating capacity. We have a large area and it heats well. Sure the handles get very hot but we use gloves with the wood so no problem. Show details
Kent Fairlight – We installed this fairlight heater while renovating an old open fire. We paid the extra money to purchase a kent as they were ment to be a reputable brand. We are extremely disappointed with this heater. The fans are not sized correctly and are always on hight too try and warm our small living area. We hoped that it would heat our house but we… Read more
still need to leave our electric heater on so we dont freeze. This is our third place with a wood heater and this is by far the worst heater we have had . If I had my time again I wouldn't even look at the range. Saying all that they do look good if that's what your after.
Disappointing – I recently installed the new Kent Callisto medium size fire and to say I’m disappointed is an understatement. The fire is noisy constantly whistling the handles are untouchable when you try to restock the fire if it’s been lit previously.Also the heat output you claim that it heats up to 300sq meters is absolutely not even close even with the fan… Read more
on you cannot feel any heat the fire itself gets really hot but unless you are standing next to the fire you can’t feel the heat and the fan is absolutely useless as it doesn’t push any heat out. I have emailed customer services twice with no reply and tried to leave a review on there site but was blocked from doing so.
Great heater – We replaced our old Kent wood fire with a Calisto Medium sized one. We find it heats up our space nicely. We are getting a little older now so we chose it because of the wood storage area. The only thing is the handle gets a little hot but we just use a glove. We could be happier with it. Show details
Find out how Kent Calisto compares to other Wood Heaters
Know better, choose better.
Does not heat – Our experience is exactly the same is the previous one. Heater itself become scolding hot. Fan is useless and if you are not directly on top of the heater you are cold. The manufacturer tried to blame every part of our home, wood, flu, roof height and so on as a reason why it wouldn’t heat our home. Outcome- they are refunding the heater. Yep it looks good but is hopeless. Don’t buy one. Show details
Worst wood heater ever – To put bluntly I wished I kept my old 37 year old wood heater. Yes it looks good but that is where it stops! Makes a huge mess, coals constantly fall out, ash is always built up on the window and yes I'm using jarrah wood. It doesn't pump out any heat. The handle is way too hot to touch, I have more burns in my carpet from the last 3 months than I… Read more
have had in the last 25 years!. This fireplace is hazardous, useless and poorly designed. Funnily enough I could not put a review on the Kent website!!
Looks great, Poor performance – Brought this wood fire mainly because we wanted a modern design, and it does look great. Unfortunately that’s where the praises stop. It’s heating ability is terrible. We wanted one with a fan to help push the air around, however when the fan is on the highest setting you can’t feel it even when you’re directly in front of it. The door and air… Read more
handles also get so hot you need a towel or glove to open them. Very cheaply made. Would not recommend. We will have to waste more money now and buy a different one or freeze. Tried to leave review on Kent’s page, but they don’t accept bad feedback apparently.
Extra Information
ProductReview.com.au has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence our content moderation policies in any way, though ProductReview.com.au may earn commissions for products/services purchased via affiliate links.