I love my blaze king!

I don't know about the inserts, but the stove blowers are not all that powerfull at all... at least mine aren't.

Wet1 said:

I don't know about the inserts, but the stove blowers are not all that powerfull at all... at least mine aren't.

Click to expand...

I guess I find that really odd...I mean there are two blowers for cripes sakes!

Wonder why?mmmmm

The one thing I will say about the insert is that he is heating 3000 sq ft to 72°F on the main level and 68°F upstairs.

He has been burning walnut that was cut 3 years ago and just split last week(small splits). getting 8 to 12 hr burn times. he runs the stove at medium to medium high and then the last 3 hrs on high.

I scored some White Ash for him yesterday from my neighbor, so we will see how that goes.

Him and his wife love the BK. After a $700 gas bill last January they decided to take the plunge.

They probably don't want to over cool the cat with too much air across the deck. I've tried to overfire the stove with the fans on and I don't think its possible while with the fans off I think it would be pretty easy.

Wet1 said:

I don't know about the inserts, but the stove blowers are not all that powerfull at all... at least mine aren't.

Click to expand...

I have been using the blower on the BK insert now that the temps are below 32. Seems to work just fine. You can sit across the living room and feel the heat with the blower on high. Its been about 8 above 0 today with blowing winds. House is in about 74 degrees but right after a reload, the temp bumps up to 80 degrees with the blower on high. Been burning sugar maple and it seems to be working OK.

I also have been leaving the bypass open for a longer time and it seems to be keeping the glass cleaner. Maybe that is a good idea to burn out the moisture in the wood, what do you think?

I also am liking that this insert makes heat when the wood coals up. Its going - degrees tonight so I am gonna break out the red oak I have.

I better test my furnace to make sure it still works...lol...

Lanning said:

I better test my furnace to make sure it still works...lol...

Click to expand...

probably not necessary

Just wondering…. My buddy bought a BK insert an his blower is really quiet and doesnt push out the heat like I though it would. Is this common?

I know my Englander blower seems like its 2 to 3 times more cfms..??

Click to expand...

I have nothing to compare it to except my old pellet stove, its definately is quiet and pushes out enough air for me, it does as well as my pellet stove did and much quieter.

It sounds like the blowers on the inserts are not only more quiet (probably because they are "buried" behind the insert), but possibly more powerful as well compared to the blowers on the free standing stoves.

The blower on my Princess insert is way, way more powerful than that on my Avalon Olympic. I bet it moves 3 or 4 times as much air. It's also louder on the higher settings, but you aren't going to move a lot of air without making some noise.

SolarAndWood said:

Lanning said:

You could burn this thing 24/7 if you wanted to, but I would run out of seasoned dry wood if I did.

Click to expand...

That gets lost in a lot of the how much wood do you burn discussions. With these stoves, it is possible/practical to eliminate fossil fuels in a reasonable sized house. But, for every 200 gallons of heating oil or 300 gallons of propane you were using, you just consumed a cord of dry dense hardwood. Half again more if you are burning low density stuff.

Click to expand...

I'm a bit confused by this. I figured that by this time of year most wood burners would be burning 24/7? It's even more confusing when you can get 10-12 hr burns without much trouble in the princess and 16-24hrs with full loads in the king because those burn times would make it extremely user friendly to do so right?.

53flyer said:

SolarAndWood said:

Lanning said:

You could burn this thing 24/7 if you wanted to, but I would run out of seasoned dry wood if I did.

Click to expand...

That gets lost in a lot of the how much wood do you burn discussions. With these stoves, it is possible/practical to eliminate fossil fuels in a reasonable sized house. But, for every 200 gallons of heating oil or 300 gallons of propane you were using, you just consumed a cord of dry dense hardwood. Half again more if you are burning low density stuff.

Click to expand...

I'm a bit confused by this. I figured that by this time of year most wood burners would be burning 24/7? It's even more confusing when you can get 10-12 hr burns without much trouble in the princess and 16-24hrs with full loads in the king because those burn times would make it extremely user friendly to do so right?.

Click to expand...

You could run a poll and find out, but my guess is relatively few heat with wood exclusively and maybe half here burn 24/7. As for the burn time, it really depends on how much heat you need. It is 20 right now here and blowing 20-30 with gusts above 50. My 24 hour mild weather burn isn't going to keep the house warm in these conditions. I have been on 12 hour burns for a couple weeks now. I could do 18 hours, but then timing the reloads is inconvenient. At some point I will need to start burning the denser wood to get 12 hour burns that keep the house warm and will have to do denser wood with 8 hour burns when conditions are more extreme. To all you folks that actually experience extreme conditions, I mean relatively extreme for upstate NY.

if you really wanna move some hot air around get yoruself some greenbay packer fans and have them sit in your house and talk football.

Ray

greythorn3 said:

if you really wanna move some hot air around get yoruself some greenbay packer fans and have them sit in your house and talk football.

Ray

Click to expand...

Classic.

greythorn3 said:

if you really wanna move some hot air around get yoruself some greenbay packer fans and have them sit in your house and talk football.

Ray

Click to expand...

Ha....I tried that the other night but at -7 degrees without wind chill I still needed to run the 600cfm fan on my BBF. That was even after beating the Ravens Monday night. LOL

I have not turned on my HVAC system since I installed my BKP over a month ago.
Seriously. And I do NOT like a chilly house. But yes, I am going through wood
a LOT quicker.

As far as the comment about "I doubt many of us keep our houses chillier with wood,
than we did with conventional HVAC" (paraphrasing), I'm sure that's true; I know it is
for me. But offsetting that may be that my house is heated far less uniformly with
the wood. The great room area (dining/living/kitchen) is a LOT warmer. But the
bedrooms are a LOT cooler. Which is exactly how I like it.

"You could run a poll and find out, but my guess is relatively few heat with wood exclusively and maybe half here burn 24/7."

I think you'd be surprised. We have not used any heat other than woodheat since putting in the stove 2.5 years ago, been burning 24/7. Oh, I admit that when we are prohibited from burning that I run the electric space heaters but that is not by choice. I think you will find that many if not most folks on this site burn as primary heat.

I think HB is right. There was a poll on here not all that long ago and the vast majority did all or almost all of their heating with their stove(s). Now keep in mind this is an enthusiast site and I would think the high numbers shown here probably are not a reflection of the general population of wood stove owners.

The more I burn with my new insert, the better I am getting at knowing how to use it. Kinda figure out how it likes to be fed to keep the house warm. In these colder temps the wind really seems to pull the heat out of the house more than the cold.
Sure has been fun being on the forum and learning how to heat your house with wood!

Wet1 said:

I think HB is right. There was a poll on here not all that long ago and the vast majority did all or almost all of their heating with their stove(s). Now keep in mind this is an enthusiast site and I would think the high numbers shown here probably are not a reflection of the general population of wood stove owners.

Click to expand...

How many of the 18,000+ members voted and was it an unbiased sample?

I certainly may be off in my assessment. My assumption is based on the anecdotal evidence of the posts going by and the fundamental problems of wood burning: its hard work, requires planning and its very easy to stop burning and turn the thermostat up.

That said, as a relative newbie of 4 years, I am hooked and will never go back to propane or anything else even when I reinstall central heat in the house at some point to satisfy c of o requirements.

SolarAndWood said:

That said, as a relative newbie of 4 years, I am hooked and will never go back to propane or anything else even when I reinstall central heat in the house at some point to satisfy c of o requirements.

Click to expand...

What's c of o? Thanks

certificate of occupancy.