Can the burn rate on the Progress Hybrid be controlled as well as that of the BK Princess? While it may not have a thermostatic control, is there an air setting that consistently gives a surface temperature with the same wood? This notion of set it and walk away is VERY attractive to me.
Need some recommendations based on my concerns
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Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
It's not like you are just going to light a fire and walk away, as you probably know from the Fireview. You always need to establish the load, and get the stove up to temp so that the cat will light shortly after it's engaged (I like to run as little unburned smoke through the cat as possible.) That generally takes me from 20-50 minutes depending on what stove I'm starting and how cold the stove is. You have to observe the entire burn for a while before you will be comfortable predicting what will occur with the load you have in there and the air setting you choose. Loads will tend to burn more vigorously as more wood gets involved, so you have to factor that in if you want to leave half an hour after loading. I think the thermostat would be useful here, cutting the air as more wood gets burning, and also opening up the air as the stove drops out of catalytic operation, thereby burning down the coals automatically for you. I've never used a thermostat, so I'm kind of guessing here. That said, you can certainly run a stove without one and my Woodstocks would easily go ten hours and still be putting out useful heat. If you have a fairly open floor plan, you can pretty much feel the radiant heat off the Woodstocks whenever you are withing sight of them. If you need to move the warm air further, a blower on the stove will help move the air, pulling cooler air back to the stove. If I were to go this route, I'd be looking for the quietest blower I could find, and maybe a big enough stove so that I could run it on low. If your house holds heat pretty well, you may not need the blower often.
I'd think that the thermostat would give a more even output over the duration of the burn, but any stove will put out more heat at the beginning of the burn, when more wood is gassing, and then tail off as the burn progresses and the load coals.
This would be more accurate if it read like this:
I'd think that the thermostat would give a more even output over the duration of the burn, but any stove can put out more heat at the beginning of the burn, when more wood is gassing, and then tail off as the burn progresses and the load coals.
On a low burn my stove puts off pretty much the same heat over the coarse of 7 hours. It will tail off at the very end if I don't reload it.
Thanks for bringing this up. Actually according to their website the Ashford 30 is 2.75 and the Princess is 2.85 cu ft. I don't know why I had it in my head the Ashford was slightly larger capacity than the Princess. Turns out they are about equal.
smokedragon
Minister of Fire
I didn't need you to fix my comment. It was correct. BK stoves are made to run WITH BLOWERS. Doesn't mean they will be a block of ice without it.
Any stove that comes with a blower has been engineered to put out more heat with said blower...... Stoves with blowers have air pockets that heat up. The blower is used to get the heat out of that air pocket.
Any stove will heat without a blower, but those with blowers are going to heat much better with blowers.
I thought the fan kit was optional on all BK stoves. Have you owned and run one?
My understanding is that the blower accelerates convection but doesn't produce more heat. Several freestanding designs convect quite well without a blower.
My understanding is that the blower accelerates convection but doesn't produce more heat. Several freestanding designs convect quite well without a blower.
blueguy
Feeling the Heat
Hmmmm....my BK doesn't have any "air pockets" with non-optional blowers to move the heat. The blowers and convection deck are 100% optional and add versatility to a design that is designed to throw tons of heat without.
weatherguy
Minister of Fire
This comes up every year, the guys with free standers get plenty of heat without a blower, its made to heat well with or without, whether you need one is more of a function of the stoves location and house layout.
weatherguy
Minister of Fire
No the Woodstocks don't burn as long as the BK's, especially the King, both are great companies that make great stoves, I love my Princess but I need a bigger heater with a 6 inch rear vent so I put a deposit on a Woodstock, you wouldn't be disappointed in either stove.
Actually you did....... There are no air pockets on my stove. There is no "required blower". And I have never seen a stove out there that wouldn't heat quicker with a blower. I wont say better because that would be saying it is worse with/out which isnt the case.
So I stand by my edit to your comment. And I would guess most BK owners would agree. If you want to talk about inserts then I would agree with you. There are very few inserts designed to run with out a blower.
I have heard from PE that their inserts are tested and designed to convect well without a blower in the event of a power failure. We get similar reports with Osburns and some other inserts that project well out onto the hearth.
smokedragon
Minister of Fire
The do please tell me where the air passes to get its heat? A blower must have a pocket of heat air to push.
I realize many inserts (including my own) will heat well without a blower. I realize that free standing stoves with blower options will heat well without a blower.
But stoves designed with blowers will heat better with the blower.
Just like stoves designed with 8" flue collars will draw better with 8" pipe than 6" pipe attached to them.
When you add the optional blower you also have to add an optional convection deck. They do not come with the convection deck there fore no "air pockets".
So again..... Not sure where you get that any of the blaze kings other then an insert is "designed" to use a fan. They do work great with the optional fans and the fan kits are "designed" to work with the stove, but not the other way around.
That said this only applies to the king/princess/sirocco. I think the Ashford and Chinook are wraped so they have a convection deck built in. I have not seen either of those stove personally so no working knowledge of them. However I believe webby posted on the ashford and I believe he said something along the lines of he wasn't using any fans and it heated fine. You would need to go back and read his review of the stove.
So again..... Not sure where you get that any of the blaze kings other then an insert is "designed" to use a fan. They do work great with the optional fans and the fan kits are "designed" to work with the stove, but not the other way around.
That said this only applies to the king/princess/sirocco. I think the Ashford and Chinook are wraped so they have a convection deck built in. I have not seen either of those stove personally so no working knowledge of them. However I believe webby posted on the ashford and I believe he said something along the lines of he wasn't using any fans and it heated fine. You would need to go back and read his review of the stove.
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There is no "pocket" of air in most freestanding stoves. Most don't have convection jackets like an insert. The blower air typically goes up the back of the stove (which will convect naturally), then is deflected across the top of the stove. It is blowing across the top hottest part of the stove where the most heat is picked up. That cools the stove top down by about 100F in our stove. But it convects very nicely without the fan, just a bit slower and quieter.
aansorge
Minister of Fire
These "pockets" are not sealed. When the fans are off the heat still spills out.
I run my fans in the cold months and not during the shoulder season. The fans do seem to help draw more heat out of the stove but then the thermostat air inlet thingy opens more to keep the heat up. Burn times go down. Same amount of heat overall, the fans simply accelerate the burn process at equal settings.
I run my fans in the cold months and not during the shoulder season. The fans do seem to help draw more heat out of the stove but then the thermostat air inlet thingy opens more to keep the heat up. Burn times go down. Same amount of heat overall, the fans simply accelerate the burn process at equal settings.
Took my convection deck off my BK Princess yesterday.
I have a convection loop that works very well in my house, coldest room in the house backs up to the stove room.( living loom )
The blowers tends to overheat the stove room and underheat the rest. I can keep a more comfortable even heat with the convected heat. In my opinion i get more Convection heat without the convection deck. I only use the blower to controll the stove room temp. it still works great.
I have a convection loop that works very well in my house, coldest room in the house backs up to the stove room.( living loom )
The blowers tends to overheat the stove room and underheat the rest. I can keep a more comfortable even heat with the convected heat. In my opinion i get more Convection heat without the convection deck. I only use the blower to controll the stove room temp. it still works great.
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