Blaze King Ashford 20

That's good to know. My in laws love my Ashford 30. They said it's too bad that it wouldn't work in their house as it's too big for them. I told them you were working on the Ashford 20. I'll have to let them know.

Too bad about the midnight blue enamel but I have a 30 in brown enamel and I love it. It's a really gorgeous stove and it came along at exactly the right time because my wife would not go for any of the other Blaze Kings (or any other steel box stove).

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Parallax said:

Too bad about the midnight blue enamel but I have a 30 in brown enamel and I love it. It's a really gorgeous stove and it came along at exactly the right time because my wife would not go for any of the other Blaze Kings (or any other steel box stove).

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I agree that for many of us, form is equally as important as function - maybe more so. Had the enamel 30 been available when I was buying a stove, I might of given it a second look. I was looking for something that would compliment the furnishings of the rest of the room and deliver good performance/burn times. I am very happy with my Woodstock Progress choice - and I also think the 20/30 is a step in the right direction for BK.

It's great that there are many good stoves out there. I have friends in Pennsylvania who have a Woodstock Progress. They love it. Seems like Woodstock has made more of a market impact in the east and Blaze King more in the west, at least so far.

Parallax said:

It's great that there are many good stoves out there. I have friends in Pennsylvania who have a Woodstock Progress. They love it. Seems like Woodstock has made more of a market impact in the east and Blaze King more in the west, at least so far.

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Both Woodstock and BK are industry leaders who make great products. It just all depends on what your needs are: if you're looking for a fine performing stove with long burn times that will also serve as a good looking piece of furniture, then check out Woodstock. If you need a good stove with ultra long burn times and great control, look no further then BK. With Woodstock you deal direct with the manufacturer and the customer service is fabulous; with BK you have a local dealer network.

Tenn Dave said:

Both Woodstock and BK are industry leaders who make great products. It just all depends on what your needs are: if you're looking for a fine performing stove with long burn times that will also serve as a good looking piece of furniture, then check out Woodstock. If you need a good stove with ultra long burn times and great control, look no further then BK. With Woodstock you deal direct with the manufacturer and the customer service is fabulous; with BK you have a local dealer network.

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True. I'd only add that, with the Ashford, Blaze King has now got a stove that's really good looking. I love showing ours off. It's a beautiful focal point in our family room. Also, dealing directly with Blaze King is easy. BKVP, who posts here, was extremely helpful in resolving issues. I've not dealt with Woodstock but I've certainly heard of their great reputation for customer service. I wonder if not having to deal with a middleman saves money. Does Woodstock pocket the difference or pass it along to the customer?

quote="Parallax, post: 1783176, member: 30634"]True. I'd only add that, with the Ashford, Blaze King has now got a stove that's really good looking. I love showing ours off. It's a beautiful focal point in our family room. Also, dealing directly with Blaze King is easy. BKVP, who posts here, was extremely helpful in resolving issues. I've not dealt with Woodstock but I've certainly heard of their great reputation for customer service. I wonder if not having to deal with a middleman saves money. Does Woodstock pocket the difference or pass it along to the customer?[/quote]

I guess the other way you could have stated your question is: if Woodstock were to go to a 'middleman' distribution network (dealers), would they have to raise prices to maintain profitability? We will never know the answer to such a question unless each company opens their books and shows us their profit margins. And yes I agree with you, the Ashford is much better looking then the rest of the BK line.

Yeah, the Ashford is one of the better looking stoves out there. Not necessarily the very nicest looking but more than nice enough. Combine it with Blaze King performance and it's kind of hard to beat. Really glad the stove came out when it did. Really good timing for us.

As I recall, Woodstocks were once sold through a middleman. Any historians care to comment?

In my opinion, I would rather research and buy a product that was so good that I did not need to care about dealer or manufacturer support. My Stihl chainsaw has never been back to the dealer, my BK has never had a failure either. It's great that these companies are available and have such great reputations but it is not a deal breaker either way.

Oh and I think BK is doing a better job of making nice looking stoves, how's woodstock doing on those burn times?

My Stihl is a SOB to start sometimes. Of course I've never known a chain saw that wasn't hard to start sometimes. Come to think of it, chain saws are jerks!

Highbeam said:

As I recall, Woodstocks were once sold through a middleman. Any historians care to comment?

In my opinion, I would rather research and buy a product that was so good that I did not need to care about dealer or manufacturer support. My Stihl chainsaw has never been back to the dealer, my BK has never had a failure either. It's great that these companies are available and have such great reputations but it is not a deal breaker either way.

Oh and I think BK is doing a better job of making nice looking stoves, how's woodstock doing on those burn times?

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Woodstock did in fact sell through dealer networks at one time.

Cool, I think the 20 is suited for a lot of homes that the 30 is just too much stove for. For us as it is the Republic is supposed to be too big, and it's smaller than the 30's. Finally saw them in person (sirocco and ashford) a week ago when we drove past our "closest" dealer in Avon. A little chunkier than I expected, somehow-I really thought the sirocco looked more like our Republic than it does. Probably won't replace the republic with one soon but it's something we would consider.

Woodstock makes darn nice looking stoves, but the side loading door/clearances and hearth pad r-value requirements make it a total no go for us.

Parallax said:

My Stihl is a SOB to start sometimes. Of course I've never known a chain saw that wasn't hard to start sometimes. Come to think of it, chain saws are jerks!

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You should buy an echo.........

eclecticcottage said:

Cool, I think the 20 is suited for a lot of homes that the 30 is just too much stove for. For us as it is the Republic is supposed to be too big, and it's smaller than the 30's. Finally saw them in person (sirocco and ashford) a week ago when we drove past our "closest" dealer in Avon. A little chunkier than I expected, somehow-I really thought the sirocco looked more like our Republic than it does. Probably won't replace the republic with one soon but it's something we would consider.

Woodstock makes darn nice looking stoves, but the side loading door/clearances and hearth pad r-value requirements make it a total no go for us.

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Low output from the 20 is actually higher btu than low output from the 30. 50% longer burn time for the 30 as well. Physical size of the 20 is the only apparent advantage if your stove room is just too small.

Highbeam said:

As I recall, Woodstocks were once sold through a middleman. Any historians care to comment?

In my opinion, I would rather research and buy a product that was so good that I did not need to care about dealer or manufacturer support. My Stihl chainsaw has never been back to the dealer, my BK has never had a failure either. It's great that these companies are available and have such great reputations but it is not a deal breaker either way.

Oh and I think BK is doing a better job of making nice looking stoves, how's woodstock doing on those burn times?

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I get 16+ hours with my Progress burning good dry 4 year old oak and hickory. I usually fill it 75% full ( 5 or 6 splits depending on size). However, being retired, 12 hours works best for my schedule. I like to load it up late in the morning after the news and my second cup of coffee, and again in the evening about an hour before I go to bed. The Ideal Steel stove gets longer burn times then the Progress on the same type wood. One Beta Tester got a 24 hour burn using super dry pallet oak pieces packed real tight. I have never packed my Progress completely full and real tight, but I'm sure it would not go 24 hours. These stoves certainly don't burn as long as the BKs, but they put out huge amounts of heat and a beautiful fire show.

Tenn Dave said:

These stoves certainly don't burn as long as the BKs, but they put out huge amounts of heat and a beautiful fire show.

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Absolutely, and they are quite attractive too. If emissions are your thing, they seem to be doing real well to win the ultra low emissions award. Using some of their engineering genius to extend the burn time to at least half of what the BKs can do would be time well spent I'd think.

But back to the topic. Has anybody preordered an ashford 20 for this season?

Highbeam said:

Absolutely, and they are quite attractive too. If emissions are your thing, they seem to be doing real well to win the ultra low emissions award. Using some of their engineering genius to extend the burn time to at least half of what the BKs can do would be time well spent I'd think.

But back to the topic. Has anybody preordered an ashford 20 for this season?

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I think the true benchmark burn time for most people is being able to get comfortable 'overnight' and 'long workday' burns. If I'm away most of the day, or awake from a good nights sleep and still have heat and enough of a fire to get a restart, that's all that matters to me. Actually, I really enjoy interacting with my stove; it's part of the wood burning experience for me. But I would not be happy waking up to a cold house or coming home from a long day out, and having to start from scratch to build a fire in a cold house. But once again, each person has their own priorities, and BK owners have every right to brag about super long burn times. If I weren't a Woodstock owner, I would probably be a BK Ashford owner.

Parallax said:

Yeah, the Ashford is one of the better looking stoves out there. Not necessarily the very nicest looking but more than nice enough. Combine it with Blaze King performance and it's kind of hard to beat. Really glad the stove came out when it did. Really good timing for us.

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Of all the stoves pictures I've shown to SWMBO, the Ashford is the only one (so far - haven't tried showing her any Woodstock stoves yet) that she said looked good enough to pass her muster. And even then it has to be the high gloss enamel. Sigh.

Are we married to the same woman?