BK princess insert questions

[Blue Vomit]

Maybe you should consider coaching your wife in a gentle manner regarding loading the stove. If you had a couple selective splits ready to lift in the side door when needed it might not be too big a deal. You do have some nice fireplace gloves, right?

We went from an insert to the Jotul F600 woodstove and it was such a huge upgrade I'd hate to return to an insert. For me, the constant noise of the fan was a big irritation. It is so much more relaxing to be able to sit in front of the stove and just watch the flames and feel the heat and not be distracted by a fan buzzing away.

The wife aspect is non-negotiable. It is my gift to her.

I am curious, what insert did you have before the F600? I do have concerns about the fan noise but I am at the point now where I am willing to sacrifice looks and a little noise for performance and convenience.
Thanks for the suggestions. keep em coming.

 

[Tenn Dave]

Thanks for the input, Mellow's suggestion made me triple check. The PH wont fit on my raised hearth or in my fireplace or any combination of the two. Im not trying to rebuild my hearth.

I can certainly understand that. No point in having to do anymore work than necessary when there are other good choices out there. Good luck in your search.

 

[webby3650]

I'm not a big fan of inserts, so I can't speak about them. But the BK King or Lopi Cap Cod stoves would be a good choice to sit in front of the fireplace. Also consider the Woodstock Progress Hybrid which has burn times of at least 14 - 16 hours and can handle 22 inch splits.

The King and Cape Cod don't have reversible flue collars. It would take one huge fireplace to fit one in there.

 

[mellow]

I for sure can understand you not wanting to rebuild the hearth, I am looking at doing the same thing if I get the new woodstock stove once it leaves beta testing. I have an insert and want to move to free standing, you don't realize how much you have to turn up the volume on the tv if it is in the same room and that same white noise in the background does get on my nerves, especially after a nice quiet* summer.

*As quiet as it can get with a 5 year old and 2 year old running around.

 

[jeff_t]

Good pic. Thanks for thinking of us. Do you think that the debris was light enough to be blown away from the front of the cat? I may have to give it a puff or two just to be sure.

What a crappy job on the stove collar. Looks like it isn't even round near the bottom of the photo and also looks like the cutout in the stove top is too small. My double wall pipe adapter actually enters the firebox.

It was really piled up there with the bypass open. I actually vacuumed some of that out before I closed it. Then I grabbed a flashlight so I could see what I was doing, before I damaged the cat. The bypass sticks out into the flue opening, so it really catches the stuff. This is a King, with an 8" pipe. Yours may be different, so it may be a good idea to take the pipe off and look, at least once.

My stove adapter doesn't fit all the way in, but it is hidden by the convection deck. If it was visible, I woud get a die grinder out and clean things up so it fit better. Pretty sloppy welds in there, for sure.

 

[Tenn Dave]

The King and Cape Cod don't have reversible flue collars. It would take one huge fireplace to fit one in there.

good point - I was just impressed by all the good feedback members have given them, and I really like the way the Cape Cod looks and it's low pollution.

 

[webby3650]

It was really piled up there with the bypass open. I actually vacuumed some of that out before I closed it. Then I grabbed a flashlight so I could see what I was doing, before I damaged the cat. The bypass sticks out into the flue opening, so it really catches the stuff. This is a King, with an 8" pipe. Yours may be different, so it may be a good idea to take the pipe off and look, at least once.

My stove adapter doesn't fit all the way in, but it is hidden by the convection deck. If it was visible, I woud get a die grinder out and clean things up so it fit better. Pretty sloppy welds in there, for sure.

The flue collar on the Princess insert comes off the stove at an angle. So creosote build up on the insert isn't an issue like it is on the stove.

 

[Highbeam]

That's not a crappy flue collar. That's what most look like, very normal.

That is a crappy flue collar. Note the weld that drifts in and out, the non-round collar, the undersized cutout. It might be normal in your experience but it is still crappy. I had to take a grinder to my flue collar to smooth the welds down and allow the tapered appliance adapter to fit but it was not nearly this bad.

Of my last four stoves it is not normal to have such poor fabrication. That's pathetic. How does it even seal when the stove collar is out of round with that notch?

 

[rdust]

I don't like inserts in general but if you must put one in, the BK is about the only option.

The BK princess has allowed me to fill the stove with my local junk wood like red alder, cottonwood, and willow, and then return 24 hours later to reload. Dependable 24 hour cycles. It is rated for 30+ and with better wood I believe it. So nobody, including the wife, spends much time loading the stove. This long burn also makes for an even temperature in the home instead of peaks and valleys normally associated with short burn times of other stoves.

Worth noting is that wood length must be pretty short like 16" to fill this puppy north to south.

The long/even burn times still make me shake my head since it just doesn't seem possible. The stoves aren't perfect but they burn pretty nice. I've said it before I didn't think it would be possible for it to live up to the hearth.com hype but it actually exceeded my expectations.

 

[jeff_t]

That is a crappy flue collar. Note the weld that drifts in and out, the non-round collar, the undersized cutout. It might be normal in your experience but it is still crappy. I had to take a grinder to my flue collar to smooth the welds down and allow the tapered appliance adapter to fit but it was not nearly this bad.

Of my last four stoves it is not normal to have such poor fabrication. That's pathetic. How does it even seal when the stove collar is out of round with that notch?

You do realize the pic is taken at an angle? There is nothing out of round. It seals just fine.

I agree that there are plenty of janky looking welds. The stove was built in 2006. My sister's stove was built in'05, and had a bad weld along the whole bottom of the door frame. Did they improve on anything when they built yours?

 

[Highbeam]

You do realize the pic is taken at an angle? There is nothing out of round. It seals just fine.

I agree that there are plenty of janky looking welds. The stove was built in 2006. My sister's stove was built in'05, and had a bad weld along the whole bottom of the door frame. Did they improve on anything when they built yours?

At the bottom of the photo is there not a step in the "ring" that makes up the collar. You can see it in the shadow too. It looks like a spiral where the loose ends don't attach. Is that just an illusion?

 

[jeff_t]

At the bottom of the photo is there not a step in the "ring" that makes up the collar. You can see it in the shadow too. It looks like a spiral where the loose ends don't attach. Is that just an illusion?

There is a step where the ends of the collar are welded together, but it is only on the top. Inside and outside are pretty smooth and round. It is pretty crappy looking, but it is all hidden when put together.

 

[Nick Mystic]

Sorry for the delay in responding. My insert was a no name pre-EPA jobbie that came with the house when we bought it. The fan was a bit quirky in that when the stove started heating up rapidly the fan would start making a loud buzzing sound, which was actually a nice auditory warning for me to go see what was happening with the insert. However, even when running normally most insert owners will tell you the fans make a fair amount of noise unless they are on their lowest setting. I had to run ours as high as possible to pump the heat out and even then I couldn't warm up the bedroom that sat just off the living room where the stove was situated.