I do think I will be fine, just remember if you think you want a radiant stove vs a convective one they are out there (many of them) just keep asking and you will get the answeres you need. By the way I did not have to load the Nashua that often, my house seems to heat farily easily.wkpoor said:
A little more heat from the BKK?
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If I can jump in, S&W, do you have a stove top thermo., and where did you locate it for accurate readings? I'm here for a bit 'cause the highways are shut down so I'm stuck at work until the plows clear the roads. LOTS of snow today.
I'm not at home to measure but the whole stove is about 36" wide by 30" deep. Not counting legs I would guess 24" tall firebox. I put maybe average 6 good size pieces in it everytime. I know it weighs 500lbs. Thats the only spec I can be accurate about hehehehe. It always burns them fully down to ash. I heat from the basement up total 3 floors. However 2nd and 3rd are open plan. The basement gets so warm the tile floor in the master bath is warm to my feet in the morning and even the cold side water lines warm at first. That a lot of radiant heat!SolarAndWood said:
wkpoor said:
So, the inside of the firebox on a BKK is 24" wide x 15" high and you can load 18" splits in it. However, you can load the firebox all the way up every time. Not sure how this compares to your 6 good size pieces. The bigger question though is how much of this potential heat ends up in your house versus your neighborhood. If I load 24" wide x 15" high x 18" deep with good dry hardwood, I don't get less than a 12 hour burn burning wide open. I heated 2000 sq ft on a windy upstate NY ridge last winter and I am in the middle of a major remodel with no backup heat. No siding, no drywall, and a wall of windows held in with 4 screws and fiberglass stuffed around them. Just went through 8 or 9 cord doing it. This is a typical load when its cold and blowing out.
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I'll reply but I know this thread is getting off track here.SolarAndWood said:
It looks like you are stacking them in tighter than me. As for the heating the outside thing, I've mentioned this before, and I don't understand it myself, but with a stove top temp 500-600 degrees I can rest my hand on the stove pipe momentarily 2 feet above the stove and the temp on the pipe will only be about 150 degrees. I do have good draft (35' chimney) but I'm figuring the 8"-6" adapter is acting like a damper trapping the heat in the stove.
You don't normally have to pack the stove like that. I normally just put 3-4 splits which is about 75% full. Keep in mind I have the Princess as well so my stove packed right full would be maybe a 1/2 load in the King?
I find with it packed all the way full the sides don't burn all that well and when I go to reload I have to pull those in the middle. Without packing it full it seems to burn the full load.
I just took this pic, had just loaded the stove for the night about 5 mins prior. What I have in there will leave plenty of coals when I get home in the morning around 9AM... ~14hrs from now.
I find with it packed all the way full the sides don't burn all that well and when I go to reload I have to pull those in the middle. Without packing it full it seems to burn the full load.
I just took this pic, had just loaded the stove for the night about 5 mins prior. What I have in there will leave plenty of coals when I get home in the morning around 9AM... ~14hrs from now.
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All depends on how you want to do it. If I loaded 75% of what I do now, I would have to load the stove a third more times per season.
NATE379 said:
14 hours is DAMN good, 'cause I know there ain't no hardwoods in that stove. I'm guessing either birch or spruce.
Here's my take on what you need to consider/do with your stove and it's settings.
Based on my limited experience with my Woodstock Keystone which has a cat, I am finding I have a multiple personality stove and I think all cat stoves likely are the same in the following regards:
1. I can damper it down and rely on the cat for heat as it burns smoke coming off the smoldering wood. No real firebox heat, except for the stove top where the cat sets near.
2. I can open the damper up and still get heat from the cat, but now the entire stove starts radiating heat - so now I have a stove with two heat sources, the cat/stove top and the stove sides (and more heat on the stove top) as more than smoke is burning.
The real purpose of the cat is to scrub the smoke out of your exhaust and coming along with the ride is free additional heat - but not the primary source of heat for a woodstove. Burning logs/splits are the fuel for big heat gains - not the cat by itself.
Also, for there to be convective heat, there must be radiant heat imparted into the surrounding air. If your firebox sides are not getting hot enough, you are not going to get much convection - cat or not.
So my advice is to open-up the damper and get the firebox hot and coupled with the additional heat of your cat, you ought to warm things up quite a bit. Burn times may suffer some, but there is a trade-off between long burn times and useful heat.
BTW, just for kicks, I opened the damper on my Keystone to the mid damper setting, #2, and just about roasted us out of the house. Our living room, where the Keystone sets had the thermometer on 86 degrees, and the kitchen and bedroom next to the LR at over 73 degrees in a very drafty house. A little warm for me, but perfect for my Wife
Knowing all the above, I know what to do when the outside temperatures really take a plunge.
Good luck,
Bill
Based on my limited experience with my Woodstock Keystone which has a cat, I am finding I have a multiple personality stove and I think all cat stoves likely are the same in the following regards:
1. I can damper it down and rely on the cat for heat as it burns smoke coming off the smoldering wood. No real firebox heat, except for the stove top where the cat sets near.
2. I can open the damper up and still get heat from the cat, but now the entire stove starts radiating heat - so now I have a stove with two heat sources, the cat/stove top and the stove sides (and more heat on the stove top) as more than smoke is burning.
The real purpose of the cat is to scrub the smoke out of your exhaust and coming along with the ride is free additional heat - but not the primary source of heat for a woodstove. Burning logs/splits are the fuel for big heat gains - not the cat by itself.
Also, for there to be convective heat, there must be radiant heat imparted into the surrounding air. If your firebox sides are not getting hot enough, you are not going to get much convection - cat or not.
So my advice is to open-up the damper and get the firebox hot and coupled with the additional heat of your cat, you ought to warm things up quite a bit. Burn times may suffer some, but there is a trade-off between long burn times and useful heat.
BTW, just for kicks, I opened the damper on my Keystone to the mid damper setting, #2, and just about roasted us out of the house. Our living room, where the Keystone sets had the thermometer on 86 degrees, and the kitchen and bedroom next to the LR at over 73 degrees in a very drafty house. A little warm for me, but perfect for my Wife
Knowing all the above, I know what to do when the outside temperatures really take a plunge.Good luck,
Bill
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