2013-2014 Blaze King Performance Thread(everything BK)

[rdust]

24hrs in the life of a Princess! Here is a picture heavy tutorial of the last day+ with the stove. It's the first of the teen type weather so figured I'd make a long/boring post. Blower was run on low once cat was engaged. T-Stat was set on the "n" on normal once dialed down. I tried to detail the load/stove/temps every hour until I went to bed last night. I seen someone request this before so figured I'd give it a shot. Remember this is a 2.85 cubic foot Princess not the King.

Here is the starting coal bed, stove top temp and load of wood(ash, cherry, soft maple, a couple filler pieces of hickory and iron wood) at 8:25 pm last night. The stove is not packed full, no need when shooting for 12 hour burns.



8:48pm cooking along.


Load, stove top, and room temp at 9:30pm.


Load, stove top, and room temp at 10:30 pm.

 

[rdust]

Load and stove top at 11:30 pm.


Secondary flame up around 12am, hard to get a clear picture without the flash.


Stove top temp just before 12:30am.


Stove top temp, coal bed and the coal bed after I broke it up around 7:30am.



Stove top temp and coal bed after burning on high for 5 minutes or so before the morning load. If I didn't have to work I had hours of heat still in the coals and wouldn't have reloaded for a while.

 

[rdust]

Room temp at 7:50 am.


Stove top 8:00am


Tonight at a little after 9:00 pm, stove top, coal bed and room temp.



Stove top temp around 9:45pm after burning coals down for a bit.



Coal bed, and tonights load around 10:15pm.



Stove top temp around 10:30pm and a stove top temp at that point.



Warmer here tonight so won't be running the fans, hoping to get enough out of this load so I won't have to load in the am. If I have to load tomorrow right after work that's fine.

Notice the outdoor temps and just about flat indoor temps over the 24 + hours, I'm heating a 2 story house just under 2K. Indoor temps are taken from the kitchen counter which separates the family room from the kitchen about 18' from the stove. The master bedroom is at the end of the hallway upstairs, temps in there last night were 64 and when I woke up they were 64.(L shaped staircase make moving air up the stairs tough, don't really try anymore) The hallway leading the the stairs where the thermostat is stayed at 70 the full 24 hours.

 

[rdust]

Here was this morning load at 7:45 am, I forgot to add it above and no room now so here it is. Mostly cherry, silver maple and a couple ash splits.

 

[Rickb]

rdust question/comment...

When I load on a good bed of hot coals I usually run it on high till I get the wood fully engulfed then turn it down all the way and engage the cat. Usually only takes about 7-10 minutes total. It seems like I get an added hour or 2 of burn time vs letting it burn on high till the wood is charred. It's hard to tell with the pics. How do you reload? I know with the non cats they need to be pretty hot to get the secondaries going.

Now with a cold stove start-up is totally different.

 

[rdust]

rdust question/comment...

When I load on a good bed of hot coals I usually run it on high till I get the wood fully engulfed then turn it down all the way and engage the cat. Usually only takes about 7-10 minutes total. It seems like I get an added hour or 2 of burn time vs letting it burn on high till the wood is charred. It's hard to tell with the pics. How do you reload? I know with the non cats they need to be pretty hot to get the secondaries going.

Now with a cold stove start-up is totally different.

When loading on a coal bed I usually have the cat engaged in 10-15 minutes and dialed down about 10 minutes later. I don't like to close it down all at one time, I'd rather burn a little extra moisture out of the wood before dialing it down.

 

[PapaDave]

Great job rdust.
How many splits are you using in this kind of weather over the course of a 24 hour period? Your splits seem to be close to what I use.
This is a question that anyone with a BK can answer....I hope.
Trying to get a broad handle on what my usage might be if/when I get a BK.

 

[Highbeam]

When loading on a coal bed I usually have the cat engaged in 10-15 minutes and dialed down about 10 minutes later. I don't like to close it down all at one time, I'd rather burn a little extra moisture out of the wood before dialing it down.

After the reload, the flue temps and the cat temp will go down. As the load burns in, both of these start rising again. As soon as both are rising AND the cat temp is above active you are free to engage the cat and then set the stat to your desired setting.

rdust: I see you are still using the door height adjustment shim ring? So it's a keeper?

 

[Highbeam]

Great job rdust.
How many splits are you using in this kind of weather over the course of a 24 hour period? Your splits seem to be close to what I use.
This is a question that anyone with a BK can answer....I hope.
Trying to get a broad handle on what my usage might be if/when I get a BK.

Less. Much less than doing the same job with a non-cat.

 

[PapaDave]

Well, I knew that HB, but thanks.
I'm looking for a number of splits.
Have you tracked your split usage? I know that everyone's situation is different, but even a rough estimate would be helpful.
"Less" is really rough.

 

[rdust]

Great job rdust.
How many splits are you using in this kind of weather over the course of a 24 hour period? Your splits seem to be close to what I use.
This is a question that anyone with a BK can answer....I hope.
Trying to get a broad handle on what my usage might be if/when I get a BK.

All the splits I've used are pictured above. Last nights load had 9 splits and a little filler piece, these are not what I consider large splits. I didn't load this morning, I'm hoping that load will make it 20+ hours.

On the thermometer pictured above it shows room temp and outdoor temp(sensor on my deck) during the 24 hour period.

 

[rdust]

After the reload, the flue temps and the cat temp will go down. As the load burns in, both of these start rising again. As soon as both are rising AND the cat temp is above active you are free to engage the cat and then set the stat to your desired setting.

rdust: I see you are still using the door height adjustment shim ring? So it's a keeper?

That's about how I run mine. When the cat probe climbs I call it good and close the bypass. I find that I can go down to my normal setting which is the "n" on normal or just slightly lower, once the stove warms up to that set point the flapper closes and the flames go out. When the fan is running on low every hour or so I'll get a 10-15 minute flame up until the stove warms the t-stat back up enough to close the flapper again.

Not sure if the shim made a difference or not. The frame edge lands more centered in the gasket with the shim so I've kept it.

 

[PapaDave]

Thanks rdust for that number.
It's not always easy to see how many splits are in a BK, since they have such big bellies.

 

[rdust]

Thanks rdust for that number.
It's not always easy to see how many splits are in a BK, since they have such big bellies.

The Princess isn't as deep as the King. Mine has probably 3-4 inches of ash in the bottom so you can see all the splits right now. When it's cold and I want more fuel I can shovel a couple inches out and get another row of small filler type splits in. I'm not using any of my nice straight stuff yet that really lets you pack the stove. The only time really packing the stove works out this time of year for me is on the weekends. If I pack it now I end up with too much left in the stove when I need to reload.

 

[alforit]

Room temp at 7:50 am.
View attachment 118757

Stove top 8:00am
View attachment 118758

Tonight at a little after 9:00 pm, stove top, coal bed and room temp.

View attachment 118761 View attachment 118760 View attachment 118759

Stove top temp around 9:45pm after burning coals down for a bit.

View attachment 118762

Coal bed, and tonights load around 10:15pm.

View attachment 118764 View attachment 118763

Stove top temp around 10:30pm and a stove top temp at that point.

View attachment 118766 View attachment 118765

Warmer here tonight so won't be running the fans, hoping to get enough out of this load so I won't have to load in the am. If I have to load tomorrow right after work that's fine.

Notice the outdoor temps and just about flat indoor temps over the 24 + hours, I'm heating a 2 story house just under 2K. Indoor temps are taken from the kitchen counter which separates the family room from the kitchen about 18' from the stove. The master bedroom is at the end of the hallway upstairs, temps in there last night were 64 and when I woke up they were 64.(L shaped staircase make moving air up the stairs tough, don't really try anymore) The hallway leading the the stairs where the thermostat is stayed at 70 the full 24 hours.

Thanks rdust..................That's valuable Real World data that we can all benefit from...................Especially fer dem BK fearin folk

 

[rdust]

Well last nights load may have technically made it 24+ hours but the house cooled off some. Here is last nights load from 10:15pm or so.(also pictured above)



Here is how things looked this morning at 7:50am. Still hard to believe the stove can have that much wood after 9+ hours.


Temps tonight at 7:30pm when I got home.



Temp when I reloaded tonight at nearly 12:00am. I feel asleep while reading with my son, or I would have loaded sooner! Stove room was down to 68* and hallway leading to the stairs with the thermostat was 65*. Not awful for almost 26 hours between loads in November but temps weren't real cold today.(low 30's for highs) Still had enough coals to reload without kindling, would've took a picture of that but didn't think about it until the stove was loaded. I was doing the zombie walk about that point.

 

[jeff_t]

I tried to get a pic of my six split load yesterday morning, but it was blazing to brightly by the time I got the last one wiggled in . My high tech phone has trouble with pics like that.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Running a Blaze King King on a 6" liner; can it be done? Chimney would be about 25' tall.

An 8" line is not an option as the chimney does not allow for it.

 

[rdust]

Running a Blaze King King on a 6" liner; can it be done? Chimney would be about 25' tall.

An 8" line is not an option as the chimney does not allow for it.

Some have done it with success others haven't had as much luck. I think the biggest issue would be smoke spillage, it would probably get up to temp and run fine.

I really think a Princess or their similar sized stoves would serve you well. Dialed down you'd run a stove top temp between 300-400 for 24 hours. Not enough to heat the joint in the heart of winter if you had one stove but with 2 others doing work I think it would be a great fit.

 

[aansorge]

My house is well into the 80s right now. Both stoves are going with the Enerzone shooting down into the basement with its auxillary fan. I'm doing this as family is here and some will be sleeping downstairs. I have the furnace fan running too to help circulate air and it seems to be working.

I have to brag....I have a pretty sweet setup with the king doing the major pulling and the enerzone as backup. The enerzone sure is nice to have when it isn't needed to do all the heating. Going longer between loads than last year when it was my only stove prevents coal buildup and I just give it plenty of time to go through its whole cycle without hurrying it.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Some have done it with success others haven't had as much luck. I think the biggest issue would be smoke spillage, it would probably get up to temp and run fine.

I really think a Princess or their similar sized stoves would serve you well. Dialed down you'd run a stove top temp between 300-400 for 24 hours. Not enough to heat the joint in the heart of winter if you had one stove but with 2 others doing work I think it would be a great fit.

I am just concerned that if I go with the Princess/Ashford that I will end up running it harder than I thought I would which will result in shorter burns. How short? I have no idea.

Right now I am trying to determine what will replace the two VC stoves in the next 2-5 years as I have no plans on replacing the combustion packages when they die.

Living room options (current home of the Defiant):
BK King
BK Princess
BK Ashford
Woodstock Progress
Woodstock Steel

Kitchen (current home of the Encore):
BK Princess Insert
BK Princess
BK Ashford
Woodstock Progress
Woodstock Steel
Englander 30

Additionally, I have thought about a large Pellet add-on boiler to run in the background at a low setting to extend the burn times of the stoves.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Right now I am thinking that I should search out used Kings and pick the next one up that I find and give it a shot. Put a King in the living room and the den and move the 30 into the kitchen.

I don't know. I just don't want to buy a Princess/Ashford/Progress/Steel and realize I underestimated the draftiness of this place and my burn times aren't any better than I have now with my current set up. My burn times aren't bad by any means right now and I have more than enough heat, I just want to increase my convenience by getting usable heat in the 12-15 hour range during cold temps and 20+ during milder temps.

 

[charger4406]

I don't know. I just don't want to buy a Princess/Ashford/Progress/Steel and realize I underestimated the draftiness of this place and my burn times aren't any better than I have now with my current set up. My burn times aren't bad by any means right now and I have more than enough heat, I just want to increase my convenience by getting usable heat in the 12-15 hour range during cold temps and 20+ during milder temps

I loaded my Ashford at 3pm with a mixed load of sugar maple, yellow birch and cherry on a good bed of coals, all rounds under 4",
temps last night 15f, now 20, furthest room from stove 71, stove was set on 2[ medium setting] still some rounds not turned to coal
yet, should not have to load again till afternoon.
My walls are all bare stone on the first level and pretty drafty so should be comparable to your house.
We did run a 6hr load in the F600 last night before bed and that stove was stone cold this morning.

PS wood and coals were not glowing till I opened the damper before opening the door to take the pic,

 

[charger4406]

 

[Todd]

Right now I am thinking that I should search out used Kings and pick the next one up that I find and give it a shot. Put a King in the living room and the den and move the 30 into the kitchen.

I don't know. I just don't want to buy a Princess/Ashford/Progress/Steel and realize I underestimated the draftiness of this place and my burn times aren't any better than I have now with my current set up. My burn times aren't bad by any means right now and I have more than enough heat, I just want to increase my convenience by getting usable heat in the 12-15 hour range during cold temps and 20+ during milder temps.

The Princess would probably be a good replacement for the defiant if you were just looking to increase your burn times during the shoulder season but you would have to run it more like you do the Defiant during the colder months.

The King would probably be a better fit for what you want and extend your colder month burn times. If you find one, I'd try and run 8" as far as you can before choking it down to 6", it may help any smoking issue.