Blaze King Build Differences - What makes them 'better'?

[Peter B.]

First off, if there has already been a substantive discussion of this, I'd appreciate being pointed to a link.

But to the meat of the matter:

If the Blaze King burn longevity and heat output stories here can be credited as at least true in part, what is it about their design and construction that makes them (apparently) so remarkable... so much (apparently) better than other respected stove brands in these respects?

While I can anticipate a lively thread, I'd really prefer it (good luck, PB) if posters restrict themselves to describing design details they think are significant and/or opinions that can be _substantiated_.

And not to tall tales about 36 hour burns...

Yeah, I could imagine a Chinook in my (distant) future.

What makes it a better bet than a PE Super for example?

Thanks.

Peter B.

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[fire_man]

This is what I think sets the BlazeKings apart:

1. Huge Firebox
2. Thermostat
3. Catalytic Converter

Seems like everyone that has one speaks only good about them.

 

[Hogwildz]

You realize you just opened up a can or worms? All I can say, is don't feed the troll. But too late, already done.
The recently self appointed Blaze King, tube burner, and everything else know it all should be along quite shortly I am sure.
Enjoy. Get your self some popcorn and reading material, its going to be a long winded "best of this and that and how evil and inferior tube burners are" ramble on.
Jackass alert coming up.
Have fun.

 

[bogydave]

I've owned 2 BKs. 1 was a 1982 model, basic woodstove with a blower.
Now a 2010 model with cat & blowers.
I don't have any experience with other stoves, So I can't compare.
I like mine, basement install so the black smokey glass on the sides is not an issue for me. I get good efficient heat.
Handles the house heating as long as it's above -15°f , the furnace don't run.
For 24/7 heating thru the winter, it's working well for my conditions 99% of the time.
I had trouble believing the burn times & heat output even after I used it a few months.
I don't believe now, I know it does. But I'm still amazed by it when compared to the old 1982 model, night & day.
To convince somebody else it operates as well as it does is tough, but I've posted how I burn exactly how long & what loads with no BS.
It's a great stove for my conditions, that's what I know. Haven't touched it since 11PM last night, house still warm, 9° outside.
May not be great for your conditions, that you'll have to decide. Tough to compare unless you use one for a season.

 

[rdust]

This is what I think sets the BlazeKings apart:

1. Huge Firebox
2. Thermostat
3. Catalytic Converter

Seems like everyone that has one speaks only good about them.

This about sums it up for me, the Princess and Chinook aren't huge fireboxes though at 2.8.

Trust me the stoves are far from perfect, the looks aren't the best if you're looking for a room decoration, the door latch is sub par imo and the glass isn't going to stay clean on a slow/long burn. All in all the stove does what "I" want/need. Everyone has their needs and mine was not coming home to a house in the mid to low 60's when it's in the teens after being going 12 hours while working.

When I first started burning wood to heat this joint my wife worked from home so I didn't need a stove to burn forever, we settled on a nice looking(at least I think so) well made Lopi Endeavor. My wife then switched jobs and is now back in an office environment so things changed. We switched stoves and this time got the stove we felt would give us the best chance to come home to a warm house when it was what we consider cold and still allow us to use our 6" chimney. Sure we may have sacrificed some looks and a hypnotic type fire but I now don't worry about having to be around to feed the stove.

There are a lot of stove out there I'd love to burn a fire in, I'll be waiting for Woodstock to release the Progress in a naked form without the stone, if they do that and get a thermostat on it I'll probably buy one to give it a shot. :lol:

 

[Todd]

I wonder if it has to do with that deep fire box? Maybe it influences air circulation in the box and causes a slow top to bottom burn?

 

[HotCoals]

You realize you just opened up a can or worms? All I can say, is don't feed the troll. But too late, already done.
The recently self appointed Blaze King, tube burner, and everything else know it all should be along quite shortly I am sure.
Enjoy. Get your self some popcorn and reading material, its going to be a long winded "best of this and that and how evil and inferior tube burners are" ramble on.
Jackass alert coming up.
Have fun.

T-stat is slow to react..glass setts dirty fairly easy.
I have said that before.
As far as you calling me a jackass..I have no idea why you are doing that.

 

[Hiram Maxim]

This is what I think sets the BlazeKings apart:

1. Huge Firebox
2. Thermostat
3. Catalytic Converter
4. Deep Firebox
5. Chicks Dig them! :coolsmile:

Seems like everyone that has one speaks only good about them.

BIG +!

I really don't feel the need for another stove Brand.....

After hearing about all the long even burns and using less wood I bought one!

Could not be happier!

 

[Hass]

Catalyst and Tstat are my theories...


The stove is able to reduce the air to next to nothing (by the thermostat), and constantly adjusts itself... It seems it is able to keep the catalyst just enough to be active on low. Yet it leaves enough heat going up the chimney to keep creosote from forming from the slight bit of unburned bits... If you look at the way the air enters the Chinook vs Princess/King it enters quite differently if I recall. It seems like a huge amount of engineering goes in to their stoves to make everything work perfectly with each other.
If any other stove were reduced so low, secondaries would go out and it would smolder like a smoke dragon.

Like I posted in a Chinook thread I made a while back, their construction is FAR from perfect though. But it works just fine for what it's made to do.
I don't think the firebox has much to do with it. A lot of stoves have large fireboxes but only get 6-8 hour burns.

 

[fossil]

Let's all just stick to objectively addressing the OP's question, shall we?

 

[SolarAndWood]

T-stat is slow to react..glass setts dirty fairly easy.

Get over it...price of a 7 month burn.

 

[jtb51b]

I don't think they are built better. I personally (from experience) believe they have some serious issues with QC. They DO however have a couple features that have been designed to work together with great success.. I believe that the firebox is designed well, being deep as well as being large, the use of a cat is a good design feature but without the thermostat this would be a mute point. If these 3 things were not used (and designed to be used) together perfectly then these stoves are just another steel box in which to burn wood. Even with the problems with QC that I have been dealt I can easily get longer burns out of this stove than similarly sized stoves that I have worked with in the past. Just my .02..

Jason

 

[HotCoals]

I can turn my t-stat below 1 and it will never open.
That's how I get the 24-30 hour burn times in the shoulder...trust me..the t-stat is not all that.
If you have it set around 2 or a little better it does work ..but when the stove cols considerably the t-stat does not open all that far..so you need to open her up good by hand to burn the coals down good.
It's a big box with the right size cat placed apparently in a optimum place in said big azz box..that is all.
I mean you can put half a tree in this thing..some say 100 lbs!

 

[HotCoals]

T-stat is slow to react..glass setts dirty fairly easy.

Get over it...price of a 7 month burn.

I have said it doesn't bother me.
I just mention it because a poster thought that helped with the long burns...it doesn't.
The hole they have drilled way below the flapper to let air in if the flapper is all the way closed must be just the size for most installations.
I'll tell the whole story about this stove..that said I would not buy a diff one unless something greater is proven.

 

[ohlongarm]

Take it from a novice first year BK burner,I've had 4 woodstoves some had huge fireboxes,quad 5700,Buck 94nc they can't even come close to a BK,if there was a better stove out there for my needs I'd buy it. 12 to 24 hour burns of comforting even heat CAN'T be done by any other stove period in the same league.As for looks, looks good to me I want function we are gone most of the day and I can't be here babysitting a stove feeding it,my King gets fed minimally every 12 hours and usually on partial loads.Now it's getting real cold here tonight and I loaded 84 # of wood in it a rarity for me,I'll see how long it keeps our home at 72*facts are it is what it is.When somebody outdoes the King i'll buy it.

 

[nate379]

I don't think the T Stat is too much a part of it. I shut my stove all the way down so the T Stat isn't doing anything. If I let the stove go on even #1 it would be much too hot in the house. With it shut all the way down it's a nice slow steady heat and I have no trouble keeping my 1400 sq ft house at 75* even in the coldest temps we get.
I actually hate when it's warm outside, over 30 or so cause I have to only do partial loads and even still it's really easy to overheat the house.


I grew up with non air tight stoves and having to put wood every 4-5 hrs. My brother heats his place with one now still. My house would be often cold if I had to do that, and quite frankly I don't think I'd even bother to heat with wood. I am not home 10-12hrs each day, and when I am home usually either sleeping or working in the garage or outside.

I've never thought the Blaze Kings to be ugly. Vistors that come over usually mention something about the nice stove. I do like the looks of the Chinook more though. If it had been available when I bought my stove I probably would have bought it.

 

[Todd]

Less air gives you long burns, the trick is to get it to burn clean enough to pass the EPA test with that tiny amount of air. Maybe they just got lucky but it's more likely that it's great engineering. You would of thunk someone else would of come along by now with something similar.

 

[HotCoals]

Take it from a novice first year BK burner,I've had 4 woodstoves some had huge fireboxes,quad 5700,Buck 94nc they can't even come close to a BK,if there was a better stove out there for my needs I'd buy it. 12 to 24 hour burns of comforting even heat CAN'T be done by any other stove period in the same league.As for looks, looks good to me I want function we are gone most of the day and I can't be here babysitting a stove feeding it,my King gets fed minimally every 12 hours and usually on partial loads.Now it's getting real cold here tonight and I loaded 84 # of wood in it a rarity for me,I'll see how long it keeps our home at 72*facts are it is what it is.When somebody outdoes the King i'll buy it.

84 lbs of wood is close to 590,000 btu's.
Divide your hours into that..if you get 20 hours that would be a avg of 29,500 per hour...you probably will go longer then that.
I usually burn around 14,000 to 17,000 per hour in the shoulder..not sure how much when it its really cold out.

 

[greythorn3]

One piece of advice i can give is, if yoru gonna get a blaze king, dont bother with the princess, go straight for the king. unless you have a tiny house and like a small firebox. i went from king to princess, and hate the small firebox size, its really hard to use the smaller size, even compared to the englander 30.

 

[eclecticcottage]

I actually wonder if the physical design is part of it. I mean, so many people, owners included, mention the looks aren't the best-why else would they continue to build a stove line people (in general) don't like the looks of?

 

[jeff_t]

I actually wonder if the physical design is part of it. I mean, so many people, owners included, mention the looks aren't the best-why else would they continue to build a stove line people (in general) don't like the looks of?

Always thought the same thing.

 

[WoodpileOCD]

I don't have any experience with the BK but I have a stove that is probably as near to it as any. My Buck 91 has about the same size box as the King (4+ cu ft) and is a Cat stove. It doesn't however have a thermostat and I don't think shuts down as low as the BK does. I really wish it would shut down lower because with the air closed as far as it will go, which is where I have been running it virtually all of the time, it still gets too hot in warmer, 40*, weather. If I load it all the way up, I am getting an honest 12 hour burn with decent heat at the end and plenty of coals to reload with NO trouble getting things going again in just a couple minutes. This is with a combination of pine/gum/poplar with a little oak mixed in occasionally. I have yet to load it up totally with oak because most of my oak is barely a year old c/s/s. I do have some that is 2 years and as soon as we get the right weather, I'll load it up to the gills with it and see what happens. I don't expect I'll get anywhere near the 24 hours of the BK users though.

So I think it is a combination of the thermostat and the small amount of air it is able/allowed to run on that gives it such long burn times.

 

[fdegree]

If the Blaze King burn longevity and heat output stories here can be credited as at least true in part...

...And not to tall tales about 36 hour burns...

I know I am not addressing your actual question, but it sounds as if you don't fully believe the claims of the folks on this forum. Perhaps that is understandable...I don't really know because I have never been around wood stoves, at any point in my life, until I bought a BK, a year and a half ago.

Before I purchased the BK, I researched a lot...mostly on this forum. I bought the BK because of the claims...I was looking for something that was not going to require a lot of work and attention from me. Mostly because I'm lazy

.

I am glad I trusted these guys. Based upon my experience so far (1-1/2 seasons), the vast majority of the performance claims seem to be quite accurate.

 

[Hiram Maxim]

One piece of advice i can give is, if yoru gonna get a blaze king, dont bother with the princess, go straight for the king. unless you have a tiny house and like a small firebox. i went from king to princess, and hate the small firebox size, its really hard to use the smaller size, even compared to the englander 30.

+1

My belief is even if you have a small house go big. But I'm always about overkill.

I will add that since installing my Outside Air for combustion my glass stays really clean.

Personally, I could care less about clean glass as once the stove is set, I generally don't even look at it until the next day.

 

[begreen]

But then again, very few folks have a Room of Heat as nice as yours, or as redundantly equipped. Do you use the 30NC much?