Reviews

I fitted my wood burning stove last year. Since the first time that it was lit the room would fill with smoke. It was so bad that all of the windows had to be opened and the room vacated. It was also very difficult to light taking 2 or 3 attempts. In an effort to resolve the problem I added another length of twin wall piping to no avail.
 
I did a bit of investigation on the internet and came upon your product. It looked to be just the job and with the money back guarantee where could I go wrong.
 
Well the WindKat arrived and I fitted it straight away which was simplicity itself. I lit the fire (first time) and there was no smoke in the room at all. You could see it in the fire but it wasn't escaping. As well as curing the smoke and lighting problems it also seems to make the fire burn more efficiently. Previously it would blaze away getting through the fuel at a rate of knots.
 
I am a bit of a sceptic and wanted to be sure that this was not a one off. I am extremely happy to report that it was not - since then I have had several fires and encountered none of the previous problems.
 
In conclusion, I am extremely happy with the product and would recommend it without hesitation - it does what it says on the can!
 
Many thanks
 
Mr Stone

The Windkat you supplied has been fitted for two weeks now, and as I expected the results have been extraordinary! For the first time since the house was built in 1974 there is no longer any sign of downdraughts from the chimney, even in the highest winds. Fires burn much better and much more consistently since the updraught is also consistent.

Given the ovality of the chimney pot, I made up a clamping system from stainless steel, as we discussed, and that made fitting the cowl a five minute job, tightening two screws. It also means that removing it for any reason would also be a five minute job. The clamp deals easily with the ovality of the pot.

Over a number of years I had tries several different sorts of cowls, none of which were cheap, and none of which worked. I could have saved some money by buying one of yours in the beginning!

Thanks for your untiring help with this project. I would happily recommend a Windkat to anyone with a downdraught problem, and I will do so.

I wanted to update you on the chimney cowl I purchased from you. In short, it worked. I’ve had an oil stove installed in the house for about 8 years, and this is the first winter it worked correctly. Prior to installing the cowl we could only turn the stove up to about 40 percent of maximum before it would start becoming unstable, we had tried several different cowls.  My house is old by North American standards(circa.1884), with little insulation, and large about 3500 square feet. When the furnace is used to heat the house it uses about 300-400 litres of oil a week, thankfully as bad as the weather was this winter we only uses the furnace for about 10 days, typically we use it for two months. The cowl paid for itself in a season.

The quality of workmanship and materials is high. I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone. 

As wood a burner novice I knew little or nothing of the complexities of wood burning stoves and their various accessories, but it was clear from my research the choice of cowl was just as important as the choice of the stove itself. As the research progressed it also became very clear I was spoilt for choice in terms of both design and price when it came to the cowl. Aware southwest England is particularly prone to strong winds and gales in the winter months, I was keen to ensure the chosen cowl should have a proven track record when it came to coping  with down-draught problems. It was also important to get it right first time if I were to avoid return visits to the top of our chimney! The Windkat appeared to fit the bill, albeit at a premium price.
Our wood burner, a Hwam 3110, was installed just before Christmas together with a Windkat 150 plug-in and the initial results were excellent with plenty of draw in the stove itself. The next test would be how well it coped with down-draughts and the answer was to come sooner than expected on Boxing Day evening, when the west country experienced some very strong winds. Whilst the weather outside remained rough there was absolutely no indication of this within the stove, which continued to draw in exactly the same manner as it had done on calm days. Even when the stove was opened to refuel there was no evidence of any down-draught whatsoever.
Thus far the Windkat has performed very well and I would happily recommend this chimney cowl to any potential customers. No, it wasn’t the cheapest cowl on the market, but it’s well made from quality materials and 'Does exactly what is says on the tin’. Hopefully the Windkat will also prove to be a wise longterm investment.

Thank you & kind regards,

It is some time since I installed your wonderful Windkat Chimney Cowl (April this year) but we have only recently had to start heating the home (the log burner is our only source of heating). Please find attached two pictures, one showing the fire burning with flue temperature gauge and heat powered fans and the second one taken within a minute showing how clean the burn is!
We used to have trouble with slow burning and large amounts of smoke along with our downdraft. We now have very clean burning with no problems getting things started or keeping them going. As you can see (or not) there is almost no smoke visible demonstrating how efficient how log burner has become. We are using between 2/3 and 1/2 the amount of wood we were using before your cowl was fitted and only need to empty the ash pan every four or five days instead of daily (another demonstration of how the efficiency has been improved!).
I have to say I was nervous spending the amount I did on a cowl but have absolutely NO regrets whatsoever.
Bloody brilliant!

Thanks again,

Being one of life's skeptics, I was dubious about this product to say the least (especially at the price), but having researched and read lots of reviews, it seemed the best option for our downdraft issue (smoke filled room almost every time we lit the stove - my wife banned me from using it!).
Yes, there are much cheaper options on the market (which I must confess I have never tried) but none of them offered the full package of low maintenance (no moving parts), easy to install (although managed to get our builder to do it for free!), works in all conditions (windy and still), etc. I'm delighted to say I have tested the cowl in various weather conditions, and have yet to find any that cause the downdraft and resulting smoking. This appears to be science at it's best, so in my opinion merits the steep price tag - I would recommend this product to anyone having downdraft/draw issues with their wood burning stove. Now I'm allowed to light the stove whenever I want!

Having suffered from smoked filled rooms in many houses in spite of receiving entirely useless  "expert advice" along the way, at our present house (where we suffered the same problem)  we decided to fit a Windkat and it has transformed our lives and probably extended them too! I would recommend the Windkat to anyone with fire smoke problems.

"the plug in windkat that I ordered  earlier on this year [2013] to use on my chimney flue,  is working well and has stopped all the downdraught, also it has improved the performance of our stove by increasing the heat output with a consistent regular burn, allowing the fuel on the fire to burn slower, but yet generates a high heat output,  and no smoke enters the room when opening the stove doors."

It is now 3 months since installation and it has been in constant use during that time. It has been subjected to a variety of weather conditions, some quite servere with gale force winds and heavy rain from all sectors. It has performed well during all of these conditions without any trace of fumes from downdrafts. Other forms of cowls which I have previously had installed have failed to cope with all of these types of conditions as effectively as the Windkat has done. There has only been one occasion when there was a small trace of a smell of oil fumes but only for a very short time.  The weather conditions on this occasion were very still with a mist. These are quite unusual in this location. The smell cleared very quickly and wasn't a problem. Atmospheric pressure was the likely cause, I think. I am very satisfied with the performance of the cowl which since its installation has made our lives a lot more tolerable than they have been in this regard for some time. May I take this opportunity of thanking you for your help and wish you a very happy Christmas. Kind regards,

Dear Windkat,  I am writing following the purchase of a Windkat Chimney Cowl in October 2012.  I have delayed contacting you until the Windkat had been in place for a while and we had experienced high wind conditions. All I can say is this is probably one of the best products we have ever bought, we are 100% satisfied - the Windkat has made a huge difference to our quality of life !   We have an open coal fire in our lounge and have suffered terribly from down draught resulting in a smoke filled house.   Last year we had to give up lighting the fire when it was windy as it was such a liability - constantly having to endure very unpleasant  plumes of acrid smoke filling our living room.   We turned to the Windkat in desperation.  It is an expensive product and a big initial outlay but we we felt reassured by the 60 day guarantee and having read the positive feedback from previous customers we went ahead and bought one. From the first day we installed it we have been totally smoke free, it is just fantastic, I can honestly say it's the only product that has fully lived up to what it promises. We are 100% delighted with it, thank you Windkat for a wonderful product.  Regards,

Hello!  It's a long time since I last contacted you, when you supplied a "Windkat Cowl" to fit a specific flue diameter for my boat  I have used this ever since with different lengths of chimney above the roof level. It is very successful  A attach a statement to this e-mail (Click here to open statement PDF)  I am delighted with the product and over a 12-month period I believe that this has reduced my Red Diesel fuel consumption in my Diesel fire with back boiler  One of the Best Products I have even come across!  Many thanks,

Hello,   I recently spoke to you regarding the 60 day money back offer when purchasing a windkat and explained my situation.  You were very helpful and believed this should help my situation.  I just wanted to write to you with some feedback on it.   I installed it 2 weeks ago and have been waiting for some wind, fearing it may be a calm spring and I may have to wait until autumn!  However one day last week and again today it's pretty windy here and I have to say I'm seriously impressed with the Windkat.  My situation is that we have a house with a rear extension added and the twinwall flue runs up the back wall of the main house (so out the top of the extension) and sits up about 1m above the guttering and well below the ridge line of the house.  Since installing we have had some serious downdraft issues.  The first time we became aware of the issue was on a very windy day and it caused the (charnwood country 6) fire which has closed doors on to pop slightly open and smoke into the room, the fire was on relatively low (no big flames) and the downdraft was so strong it did blow the doors ajar and allow the stove to smoke into the room.  I tried heating the fire up to counteract the effects (get some flames going) and the result of a strong gust was that flames shot out of the air vents at the bottom of the fire about 5 inches long, which was incredibly alarming!  Since this we have had to be careful when we use it but sometimes the wind picks up quickly once a fire is already on and we have had problems with smoking even in relatively modest winds.   I believe the issue is caused by unstable air because the flue ends below the ridge line.   The smoke can be seen to blow one way and then another, to rise and then suddenly fall and I could see it eddy around on the main roof when viewed from the garden, so we are pretty sure it's caused by turbulence from the main roof.   We had the fire in a  main chimney previously and had no issues as it exists above the ridge line.  Our options were to try and anti-downdraft cowl, extend it higher requiring guy ropes into the main roof for stability and a long flue or to route it in through the main house, into the loft space and out of the roof on the ridge, most of which would be cheap or desirable.  We tried a Euro cowl anti-downdraft and this did help in more modest winds but on windier days, it didn't make any difference.  With trepidation we tried the expensive looking Windkat because it got excellent reviews and money-back offer if it didn't work, something which no other cowl offered.   I fitted it myself and I'm not exactly handy!  We had the round 6" plug-in one which basically just slots in the top.  Our flue has clips that lock around each section but the windkat didn't have the same fitting to lock it in, so I applied the heatproof silicone and slotted it in and then locked the clip around tightly to give it comes extra grip/security, it's a good fit.  It's made a remarkable difference, it now suffers no downdraft at all on windy days! Last week I woke up to hear the roaring of the wind in the big tress and rush downstairs to try it out, it was pretty windy but I couldn't feel any wind coming down the flue, I light the fire and it took a little while to get going because I had rushed it in my enthusiasm!  This made for a great test because it smoked slowly into life and this is the time the flue would have had most issues before, it was cold and not running fast.    10 out of 10 for solving a savage downdraft that cause our fire doors to pop-open in the wind and fire to shoot out the air vents in a gust!  it's completely solved the problem.    With thanks,

I just wanted to let you know how delighted we are with the cowl that we purchased from you.  Having spent the last 3 winters being smoked out and permanently smelling of smoke (embarrassing for the children at school) we ordered your Windkat cowl. We had been experiencing problems when the wind changed direction and at times the draught coming down the chimney was so strong that we couldn't even light the fire, it was blowing out the flame.  From the first time we lit the fire we noticed the difference. The fire drew immediately with a whoosh and we didn't experience any of the difficulties we had previously had to struggle with to get the fire started. Once going, it was apparent that the fire was burning alot better, the glass window in the door was clear, previously it had been black, and the flames were moving in a different way. Even when the wind wasn't blowing in the problematic direction, the fire has been burning better and more efficiently and has been easy to light. The true test came when we experienced very strong winds. Being high up on the side of the hill we are very exposed to the wind which during this period were very squally (this again usually caused problems). The fire was again easy to light and with baited breath we waited for the house to fill with smoke. Luckily, it didn't happen.   I am now a very happy lady. My house no longer stinks, my windows aren't permanently black and my children don't smell of bonfire!

I've installed the Windkat and have it up an running on what is a very windy and blustery day (Beaufort 2+) and I have to say we are amazed at how effective it is. I added 1m of Scheidel flue prior to installing the Windkat and even though I had the Scheidel anti-down draught terminal, there was little or no improvement.  The Windkat is truly amazing and there's nothing out there in the market that will touch it. I'd like to leave some feedback on your website if that's ok as other prospective buyers need to stop looking elsewhere and invest in a Windkat.  Thanks for all your help and time.

the cowl arrived on the 21st and I put it up yesterday. So far so good, fingers crossed for surviving a northerly wind. Many thanks again for your help and Happy Christmas

What we are finding with the Windkat is that – whatever the wind speed or direction – it is as though there is a constant-speed fan up the chimney. Nothing seems to faze it including burning coal dust from the bottom of the bunker.  Thus so far, so good.  Best Regards

Just a quick note to let you know that the Windkat does indeed do what it says on the tin, i.e. cures, or certainly alleviates, problems with downdrafts. It was not all plain sailing in our case, as we still had problems with smoke after the cowl was first installed, which made me wonder whether we had been wise to part with ?225! However, it transpired that the damper on the back of the stove (an antique French one) had jammed shut, which was causing the problem. I eventually managed to dismantle the stove and, on the advice of a guy who imports similar stoves, I removed the damper. When I next lit the stove we had no smoke whatsoever, which was amazing as the chimney was stone cold. I’ve lit it every day since and we’ve been smoke-free, so well done the windkat! Many thanks

I delayed in replying back to you since we have bought the Windcat in April. We have read all the good reviews but wanted to check out ourselves before coming back to you.  The verdict, it is an excellent product. On Madeira the wind is quite unique, coming down the mountain, blowing down your chimney. We are ex South Africans and believe me, we know how to build chimneys for bbq’s but normal rules does not apply here. It was desperation that we have ordered one of the Windkat Cowls. We have added a new bbq room to our house and with all the smoke coming down the chimney it was rendered useless for all practical reasons except on windless days. Since we have added the Windkat our problem is solved, we can use the room 365 days a year, even in the worst storms.  Thanks again for a great product that really works.  Best regards

The Windkat was installed last Sunday & the fire hasn’t belched since & has been far more stable in its draw & makes for a far more efficient fire. Saves on dusting so making more time for the kids so all good. Thanks

Dear Windkat Cowls the Windkat for my son in Norway arrived safely. Our cowl is performing well and oil smells in the kitchen are a thing of the past. Many thanks for your help and all best wishes for The New Year.

The cowl arrived yesterday lunchtime and was very easy to install. Initial indications are very promising – it has made quite a change to the downdraught. We have so far only installed it in the exisiting set up but this far are very pleased. We are going to monitor it over a few days and add extra pipe if needed -

As you were successful in helping me with my Aga smoking problem I wish to purchase another Windkat Cowl 150 base plate model. Regards

We have now installed our Windkat and note that if we are not satisfied, we can return it within 28 days for a refund. However, we will not be doing so, as it works brilliantly and has released us from a life of dust and misery

I am lost for words! It has arrived! I ordered on Thursday at 3pm and it arrived before midday on Monday. Thank you so much for your prompt and friendly service.

Just a quick note to thank you for a great piece of kit. My kitchen flooded with smoke on windy days for 2 years and I hated the fire. Your Windkat has without doubt changed all of that! Thx

The product arrived quickly and I paid a local chimney sweep to install it. It took him about 20 minutes start-to-finish to mount it in place. Since it was fitted, my woodburner roars into life and burns much better. Windkat is simple, but very clever.

As soon as I fitted the Windkat my downdraught problems were over. My stove and fire came to life and no matter how windy it has been my fire has been burning efficiently. I highly recommend the Windkat thank you for all your help.

The cowl arrived well within the week and was simplicity itself to fit. Since then, our wood-burner has been running superbly in gusty SW-ly winds which would previously have filled the house with smoke as soon as the first match was struck. Thanks to you, we look forward to a warm, snug (and cheaper) winter this year!