Anyone ever run their BK King model at 100% highest burn the entire time ?

[SmokeyCity]

Im wondering how long it will burn at full tilt

We know it will do 40hrs at lowest

what about highest? anyone ?

 

[bogydave]

Book says #3 is highest setting (Max is full open with no temperature/inlet-air regulation, I use max only with a new load for 10 min +/-)
Wood type would effect burn times too. Birch is best I have.

Had a cold few days around -10°f with high winds (60 mph with gust to 85 mph).
Anyway on 2.5 it worked great, kept us warm, Loaded/stuffed it full as I could around 11pm & still had heat/fire at 9am the next morning.
10 hours. blower at max speed. Down to good bed of coal & some medium chunks on the sides. House was above 70° (2700 sq.f)
Wind amplifies my draft, so when the wind isn't blowing, I've ran it on 3 for a few hours but
the house gets so hot I have to lower it well before it runs out of wood. (blowers turned down too)
No worries about seeing a fire then, glass on the door was clean too. Cat glowing bright orange/yellow.
I was really amazed at how cool the exhaust pipe out the top of the stove too. (hot but nothing like how hot the stove was) This still
amazes me.

So I guess my answer is NO, never needed to run it on 3 for a full load. Nice to know it has more heat (some reserve) if ever needed.
But we toast marsh-mellows in front of the glass with no problem make Smores UMMMM!
Gotta be below zero for that though, or below 10°f with wind. (house gets too hot on the warmer days above 10°f to run that hot for very long)

 

[nate379]

I would melt the drywall off the walls in my house if I ran the stove on #3 for any length of time. Even with -15* temps and 70mph winds my house was 75* with the stove at #1.

 

[ohlongarm]

Keep talking men from Alaska I'm getting psyched my King Ultra arrives this week if it'll keep us warm when its in the low teens we'll be happy,have a menu of red,white,black oak,lots of cherry hickory,some locust and ash about 20 cords put up some in woodshed since 2004,most we ever burnt was 4 cords with a Quadrafire 5700.

 

[joefrompa]

You are heating 2700 square feet to 70+ degrees in negative temperatures with this stove on "medium"? Holy....

 

[bogydave]

You are heating 2700 square feet to 70+ degrees in negative temperatures with this stove on "medium"? Holy....

Yes, but remember my house is also well insulated & built for the climate we live in.
6" walls, 30" of attic insulation, good doors & windows, insulated foundation, & an arctic entry.
The stove is good but having a house well insulated helps allot too.
I also burned 5 cords for 6 months of heat, that is allot of BTUs.

I would consider the BK "king" model "too much" stove for many areas in the lower 48. Never being able to run it hot enough
to keep the glass clean may be an issue. Really dry wood is "key". Like now I'm in the 20s at night, so 1/2 loads, fans off
last all night & thru mid afternoon. (& sometimes house still 77 degrees & have to open windows)

For Blaze King: Princess or Guardian models may be more suited for the milder winter climates in 4 or 5 star homes. But
if you have a house that is not well insulated & breezy when the wind blows, no stove can keep up & keep the whole house warm. Money
would be better spent on an "energy audit" & improvements made from the audit information. It would help in winters & summers if you have
air conditioning. ("more Bang for the buck " so to speak)
**

If you are running the new catalytic stoves in the what I call the "smolder mode" over 50% of the time, you may have too much stove
to get the efficiency & clean burn you are after.
Mine runs cleanest when it's cold out (10°f & colder) , no creosote issues or fires going out. "Smolder mode" over long periods may not be
running them in their efficient range.

 

[joefrompa]

6" Walls? You mean 2x6 construction?

30" of attic insulation? What's that, r60, r90?

My house isn't drafty - its actually decently sealed (except for a few recessed lights and bathroom fans that leak like sieves into the attic space), but it doesn't seem to retain heat well either so I'm guessing the 35 year old insulation in the walls is crap at this stage.

 

[SmokeyCity]

<snip>.... "Smolder mode" over long periods may not be running them in their efficient range.

Anyone have an idea of optimal setting (1,2,3,4 etc) is for the BK king?

 

[bogydave]

6" Walls? You mean 2x6 construction?

30" of attic insulation? What's that, r60, r90?

My house isn't drafty - its actually decently sealed (except for a few recessed lights and bathroom fans that leak like sieves into the attic space), but it doesn't seem to retain heat well either so I'm guessing the 35 year old insulation in the walls is crap at this stage.

Yes 2x6 construction, plywood exterior, wrapped in tyvec then vinyl siding.
Had an "energy audit" to take advantage of some "energy credit" $$ money Alaska was pushing 2 years ago.
I had 18" in the ceiling, audit recommended adding 6" to 12" , so I got 8 bags from Lowes & their blower & added it all.
I now have 30" to 36" in the attic. Got some new energy rated doors. New EPA catalytic wood stove. More insulation on the foundation.
New vinyl windows, Spray foamed door jams & window casings.
Only thing I didn't do yet is upgrade the hot water tank. Recommend going to the "on demand" ones.
Plan to do that this or next year.
Got $$ rebates from State & $$ off federal taxes. Almost paid for the upgrades. + Now it pays me back
with energy $$ cost savings every year from here on out.

PS: State of AK paid for the energy audit on both side, before & after (well after I made the upgrades & the auditor came back & verified it)

 

[bogydave]

<snip>.... "Smolder mode" over long periods may not be running them in their efficient range.

Anyone have an idea of optimal setting (1,2,3,4 etc) is for the BK king?

Each stove system will be a little different & you need to find it for your particular set up.
Stack length, chimney pipe type. How many direction changes. 90°s, 45°s etc.
Then weather conditions effect it too. windy, high press, low pressure, etc.

 

[ohlongarm]

With the King ultra do the side shields keep the heat from being radiated from the sides and only allow for heat to come out the top and front. Also what purpose does the convection deck serve. thanks

 

[SolarAndWood]

Im wondering how long it will burn at full tilt

I find running wide open yields 12 hour continuous burn cycles with good dry large split hardwood. Same load at low burn goes for a weekend.

 

[SmokeyCity]

WOW! that is almost hard to believe, even from a BK super stove.
12 hrs at Full Tilt is really much more than I expected.

No wonder every one who has one loves it.

Im wondering how long it will burn at full tilt

I find running wide open yields 12 hour continuous burn cycles with good dry large split hardwood. Same load at low burn goes for a weekend.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Most of the time it gets stuffed with crap wood for 12 hour burns. The good stuff only comes out when its cold/blowing.

 

[SmokeyCity]

Most of the time it gets stuffed with crap wood for 12 hour burns. The good stuff only comes out when its cold/blowing.

when you say "crap wood" what exactly is that ?

are you buring palates, pine, softwood, 2x4, what ?

 

[SolarAndWood]

Moped wood - Silver maple, elm, tulip, etc. Keeps the house warm but you don't want your fellow hearthers to know you burn it. It is probably 2/3 of what I scrounge, so I set aside the good stuff for when I need it.

Here is what I am talking about, just closed the bypass on this load...

 

[SmokeyCity]

Moped wood - Silver maple, elm, tulip, etc. Keeps the house warm but you don't want your fellow hearthers to know you burn it. It is probably 2/3 of what I scrounge, so I set aside the good stuff for when I need it.

heh dittos - i do the same with ancient (circa 1880) douglass fir rafters from my recently demolished Victorian carriage house.

It ws as big as my house and had 1" pine floors and 1" pine roofing. There was just too much there and I did not have enuf time so I only save the big fir rafters for firewood

 

[joefrompa]

Moped wood - Silver maple, elm, tulip, etc. Keeps the house warm but you don't want your fellow hearthers to know you burn it. It is probably 2/3 of what I scrounge, so I set aside the good stuff for when I need it.

Here is what I am talking about, just closed the bypass on this load...

That picture represents what I would consider to be 2.5-3 loads worth for me....you are getting 12 hours at full tilt with a load like that, or ~30-40 hours at low burn?

 

[SmokeyCity]

Moped wood - Silver maple, elm, tulip, etc. Keeps the house warm but you don't want your fellow hearthers to know you burn it. It is probably 2/3 of what I scrounge, so I set aside the good stuff for when I need it.

Here is what I am talking about, just closed the bypass on this load...

do you get fireshows like the gas jets coming out of the tubes / / aurura borealis waves in the middle of the stove

or just a glowing CAT show

 

[SolarAndWood]

you are getting 12 hours at full tilt with a load like that, or ~30-40 hours at low burn?

That is not a 12 hour full tilt load, it is probably only 40 pounds of wood as best. On the other hand, if you want that to burn for 24 hours, the stove has no problem doing it.

 

[SolarAndWood]

do you get fireshows like the gas jets coming out of the tubes / / aurura borealis waves in the middle of the stove

or just a glowing CAT show

High burn, you get some flame and secondary action in the box. However, nothing like the 30. Medium to low burn, you get cat glow and maybe glowing wood. Low burn, it won't even look like you have a fire.

 

[nate379]

I believe that the 18" of blow in is min code, as that is what I have in my house. I was told it's about R2.5 for every inch, so that gives an R value of around R45.

It's interesting that they recomended adding more. I asked about it and was told that the cost of insulation would be more than the energy saved.

Did get recomendation to insulate boiler piping and add an outdoor reset which I did. Also installed storm doors which helped with air infiltration when it gets windy.

Yes 2x6 construction, plywood exterior, wrapped in tyvec then vinyl siding.
Had an "energy audit" to take advantage of some "energy credit" $$ money Alaska was pushing 2 years ago.
I had 18" in the ceiling, audit recommended adding 6" to 12" , so I got 8 bags from Lowes & their blower & added it all.