2015-2016 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)

I relit the stove Sunday evening, its still going today, its been showers with temps sitting in the upper 30's, damp and raw. It looks like the stove will go dormant again until Friday, then another storm with a chance of snow is forecasted to hit this weekend, to sum it up, typical spring weather here, just like my 401-k, up and down.

Re loaded my King Ultra last night and after I started it I still had the stove door open slightly while the wood was getting a good burn going. The room was pretty hot so I opened a window and WOW did the stove ever start burning fast. I could actually feel the cool air rushing into the stove.

My question is how can the little 4 in. cold air duct possibly supply that much air into the stove?

I am also using a flexible cold air duct to supply the stove and I have been reading that these ducts restrict the airflow depending how stretched the duct is and how many bends are in the duct.
Has anyone experimented with different ducts ie. flexible vs solid and noticed any performance changes with the stove?

sequoia said:

How do you all prep your stove for the long boring summer? Any concern about moisture and how to avoid rusting inside?

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I cap off the top of the liner to prevent warm, humid air from being drawn down and condensing inside the stove.

begreen said:

A long pipe run and/or multiple bends or elbows will increase air resistance in the OAK. Sometimes it is necessary to go up a size or two in order to compensate.

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I only have a 6 ft. run with one 90 bend so not to bad. The way I was looking at it I have a 8 in. chimney that will flow lots of air being fed with a 4 in. pipe that could never match the flow rate of the 8 in.
Would it be worth while to upsize to a 5 or 6 in. cold air pipe and how would this effect the stoves performance?
I guess the high air flow is only required for initial start of the stove and then the air requirement would drop off considerably for long burn times.

Turbinetodd said:

I only have a 6 ft. run with one 90 bend so not to bad. The way I was looking at it I have a 8 in. chimney that will flow lots of air being fed with a 4 in. pipe that could never match the flow rate of the 8 in.
Would it be worth while to upsize to a 5 or 6 in. cold air pipe and how would this effect the stoves performance?
I guess the high air flow is only required for initial start of the stove and then the air requirement would drop off considerably for long burn times.

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The cold air coming in is much more dense than the hot exhaust leaving the stove so it doesn't need much intake capacity. You also ought to consider that most of the time the stove is run on very low settings with an intake opening about the size of a dime. Way smaller than intake or flue.

4" is plenty big for intake.

Only doing night fires now. Shop stove is seeing more action lately.

Cold front coming threw tonight, I'll be lighting the princess up and keeping her going for at least a week according to the weather forecasters

I just lit my princess and sat down to watch her take off, I think the most enjoyable time is when you flip the by-pass closed and watch how the fire behavior totally changes.

Lit mine last night. Couldn't stand waking up to the sound of the electric furnace running any longer. Looking like the stove will be going cold again by Tuesday though.

26 this morning. We have 2-3 months left of burning season. Crazy how you guys with such cold winters come out of the heating season so early.

I didn't light a fire last night for the first time since September I think. It got colder than it was supposed to last night; 18 outside and only 64 in. A little too chilly for me.

Highbeam said:

26 this morning. We have 2-3 months left of burning season. Crazy how you guys with such cold winters come out of the heating season so early.

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I usually go till late April-early May. I've had a few days off this season but have been loading one load a day for a while. I think some people just give up earlier and let another heat source carry the lighter loads. I heat with wood so when it's 50 outside I still need fires to keep this place warm. Until I can carry the inside temps without a fire I will load the stove.

rdust said:

I usually go till late April-early May. I've had a few days off this season but have been loading one load a day for a while. I think some people just give up earlier and let another heat source carry the lighter loads. I heat with wood so when it's 50 outside I still need fires to keep this place warm. Until I can carry the inside temps without a fire I will load the stove.

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Same with me. If we are cold, I don't even consider using the LP furnace. I just lit a fire and it's 50 outside. I didn't have one last night and regretted it this morning. It did give me a chance to clean the chimney after work though. Not much came out; 2 cords since the last sweep.

rdust said:

I usually go till late April-early May. I've had a few days off this season but have been loading one load a day for a while. I think some people just give up earlier and let another heat source carry the lighter loads. I heat with wood so when it's 50 outside I still need fires to keep this place warm. Until I can carry the inside temps without a fire I will load the stove.

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Not really the case here. Been hitting upper 60's and even 70's during the day. We have had a crazy warm winter and to top it all off it is supposed to snow Sunday....the first day of Spring!

With my past stoves I wouldn't hesitate to build a quick fire for the cool nights but this dang Blaze King thing don't know when to stop!

Yeah, I know, I don't HAVE to load it full but with nightly low's around 45 and warm, sunny days it's about time to wrap it up and just let the money sucking furnace stretch its legs a little!

Just a quick reminder about the thread to post pictures of your pet(s) in front of your Blaze King to the Blaze King Prizes thread. Deadline approaching soon.....

tarzan said:

Yeah, I know, I don't HAVE to load it full but with nightly low's around 45 and warm, sunny days it's about time to wrap it up and just let the money sucking furnace stretch its legs a little!

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The BK can run a part load but it still seems to last forever when it's warm out. The dang thermostat that we all love slows down the burn rate even more when the house doesn't need much heat. My shoulder season routine is to light one fire a day, full load, but if the house is mid 70s already then I don't start that day's fire. Yes, the house will cool into the mid 60s when I skip a day but then I can recover the following day. The house temp cycles more in the shoulder season when you use wood heat with any stove, BK is no exception.

Frost on the roofs again this morning. Also frost on the lawn that I mowed last night.

Got the princess going, another damp cold weekend in store here, snow tonight & Saturday, Sunday is sunny, breezy with temps near 40.
Last weeks freeze killed a lot of my early growing flowers, lost a ton of bleeding hearts, tulips, daffodils, and these cool looking purple things. Also the forsythia hedge row was in full bloom, now all the yellow is turning brown. Dam cold.
I want to start racking the lawn out, picking up sticks and applying a weed and feed but winter is just not ready to give up.

I can join this thread now but won't be burning til next fall. Purchased a used BK Princess insert , picking up next week.

Anyone here try burning Russian Olive wood?

Usernamemustbeunique said:

Anyone here try burning Russian Olive wood?

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I've burnt about a cord of 2 year old splits this year. Throws good heat but I think it smells bad.

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Well the house was dipping into the 60s so I loaded 7 smaller splits at 7:00AM just to keep the chicken brooder warm and to dry a few blue jeans. Years ago I had to place a fence around the stove area to keep the dogs from snitching pieces of wood and found it doubles as a dandy winter indoor clothesline.11 hours later the stove top is still 200. The room maxed out at 78F. Truly amazing turn-down.

kennyp2339 said:

Got the princess going, another damp cold weekend in store here, snow tonight & Saturday, Sunday is sunny, breezy with temps near 40.
Last weeks freeze killed a lot of my early growing flowers, lost a ton of bleeding hearts, tulips, daffodils, and these cool looking purple things. Also the forsythia hedge row was in full bloom, now all the yellow is turning brown. Dam cold.
I want to start racking the lawn out, picking up sticks and applying a weed and feed but winter is just not ready to give up.

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7.5" out my front door on Monday.. crazy ass April.

Cool looking purple things sounds like crocuses.

After burning nearly a whole season in my Ashford, it has no fly ash buildup on/in the cat at all.