Blaze King, not my option

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jrprusak

Member
Nov 16, 2010
80
Fairbanks, Alaska
I am planning on updating my 30 year old Earth Stove WITH a new EPA efficient stove. I was leaning toward a catalytic Blaze King Ultra. A nice large stove with an 8” flue would slide right into place with no modifications.

After checking into catalytic combustor stove and finding out how much babysitting was required to keep the catalytic combustor in operation, I decided it was not for me. I am a “load and go” guy. Once in the morning, and once in the evening.

Maintence and cost of the Cat unit is another negative.

Talking to Blaze King owners, their feeling are the same especially during -10 to -50 temperatures… I like the efficiency idea, but dependability overrides.

I am now looking at non-catalytic, Pacific Energy Classic, unfortunately I have to downsize and reline a 35’ flue…
 
john_alaska said:
I am planning on updating my 30 year old Earth Stove and a new EPA efficient stove. I was leaning toward a catalytic Blaze King Ultra. A nice large stove with an 8” flue would slide right into place with no modifications.

After checking into catalytic combustor stove and finding out how much babysitting was required to keep the catalytic combustor in operation, I decided it was not for me. I am a “load and go” guy. Once in the morning, and once in the evening.

Maintence and cost of the Cat unit is another negative.

Talking to Blaze King owners, their feeling are the same especially during -10 to -50 temperatures… I like the efficiency idea, but dependability overrides.

I am now looking at non-catalytic, Pacific Energy Classic, unfortunately I have to downsize and reline a 35’ flue…


Those are confusing statements.

That said, What about the Equinox? It is an 8" flue. So are a few buck stoves.
 
Opening and closing a single lever once a day is too much babysitting? You are one tough customer!
 
As posted in the other thread. Look at the big Kuma, Country (Lennox) and Hearthstone Equinox stoves. All have 8" collars, all non-cat.
 
Great, I am glad there may be another EPA 8" flue option for me. I will check into the Equinox and the Lennox Country, I am not shur what the Kuma is?? Any other Non-Cat , 8" flue options??
 
john_alaska said:
I am planning on updating my 30 year old Earth Stove WITH a new EPA efficient stove. I was leaning toward a catalytic Blaze King Ultra. A nice large stove with an 8” flue would slide right into place with no modifications.

After checking into catalytic combustor stove and finding out how much babysitting was required to keep the catalytic combustor in operation, I decided it was not for me. I am a “load and go” guy. Once in the morning, and once in the evening.

Maintence and cost of the Cat unit is another negative.

Talking to Blaze King owners, their feeling are the same especially during -10 to -50 temperatures… I like the efficiency idea, but dependability overrides.

I am now looking at non-catalytic, Pacific Energy Classic, unfortunately I have to downsize and reline a 35’ flue…

I'm not sure who gave you that advice, but if you research Blaze King in the posts and reviews here, you'll find the exact opposite of what you've been told. Folks here love the Blaze Kings for their reliability, long burns, versatility, ease of use, and "set it and forget it" convenience. From the reports here, all the other stoves mentioned will require more babysitting, not less.

Welcome, and good luck!
 
I think all the stoves take some baby sitting until you learn the new burner.
 
ill bet you the blaze king requires the least attention. dont know who told you that. the guys with the king models are running 24 hour cycles. right now. i think that would be a load and go stove.
 
So what are theadvantages catalytic combustor over the non-catalytic combustors... EPA ratings on many non-catalytic actually have low emissions.

Last week when I went to look at a Blaze King Parlor that had been in operation for 1 season, I was shocked to see the pipe from the stove to the insulated flue had a 2" thick ring of creosote which left only 2 inches of open flue in the 8” pipe. I never have seen this much creosote build up in my life. Luck it did not catch fire. This was with seasoned wood and monitored temperatures of the Cat unit.

The thermometer to monitor the Cat unit is also poorly located and is a cheap unprotected device. This is a poor design flaw for such a well made stove…

Also talking to several others with the same unit, the maintenance of the cat unit is unrealistic, and the device cannot be remove for proper cleaning without having to replace the expensive gasket every time it is removed…

So convince me otherwise why I need a catalytic combustor. catalytic combustors are actually older technology, but I want to get the best stove for the money…
 
john_alaska said:
So what are theadvantages catalytic combustor over the non-catalytic combustors... EPA ratings on many non-catalytic actually have low emissions.

Last week when I went to look at a Blaze King Parlor that had been in operation for 1 season, I was shocked to see the pipe from the stove to the insulated flue had a 2" thick ring of creosote which left only 2 inches of open flue in the 8” pipe. I never have seen this much creosote build up in my life. Luck it did not catch fire. [1] This was with seasoned wood and monitored temperatures of the Cat unit.

The thermometer to monitor the Cat unit is also poorly located and is a cheap unprotected device. [2]This is a poor design flaw for such a well made stove…

[3]Also talking to several others with the same unit, the maintenance of the cat unit is unrealistic, and the device cannot be remove for proper cleaning without having to replace the expensive gasket every time it is removed

So convince me otherwise why I need a catalytic combustor. catalytic combustors are actually older technology, but I want to get the best stove for the money…

1. I have a hard time believing that.

2. I have never read anyone on here complain about this aspect of the stove. And there are several Blaze King owners on here.

3. Does the Blaze King use special gaskets that are more expensive that other gaskets? I don't own this stove, but I do not see why replacing the gasket would be needed.

I'm not here to tell you to get a Blaze King (I'm not a fan of their looks), I am only saying that the reasons you have listed are either issues no other owner on this forum has had or are issues that are the fault of the operator (wet wood). And since you are in Alaska, I would seriously look at a stove that can throw a lot a heat and offer very long burn times.
 
The negative things you read about cat stoves are unfounded on this site, partly do to the fact that most (all) of the people on this forum know what they are doing, knowledge goes a long way with these new stoves cat or not.
 
BrowningBAR said:
I'm not here to tell you to get a Blaze King (I'm not a fan of their looks), I am only saying that the reasons you have listed are either issues no other owner on this forum has had or are issues that are the fault of the operator (wet wood). And since you are in Alaska, I would seriously look at a stove that can throw a lot a heat and offer very long burn times.

Right, and if you want to use this site's excellent resources to find the best stove for yourself, you'll make the effort to search the posts, reviews, and articles, and learn the advantages of a cat stoves in general and the Blaze King in particular. Experienced burners here love them.
 
if the guy at the stove shop had that much creosote in the pipe he probably burning crappy wood. and hes probably not running it right. and your friends that have the stove if its not working right either for them then they arent doing something right. the cat maintence should only be a couple strokes wiht a paint brush and a vaccum. crap wood or shutting down to fast will ruin the cat. something isnt right if there having problems like that.
 
RenovationGeorge said:
BrowningBAR said:
I'm not here to tell you to get a Blaze King (I'm not a fan of their looks), I am only saying that the reasons you have listed are either issues no other owner on this forum has had or are issues that are the fault of the operator (wet wood). And since you are in Alaska, I would seriously look at a stove that can throw a lot a heat and offer very long burn times.

Right, and if you are truly interested in using this forum's resources to find the best stove, you'll make the effort to search the posts and reviews, and learn the advantages of a cat stoves in general and the Blaze King in particular. Experienced burners here love them.


There are experienced burners here that prefer non-cat stoves. I have both... and a pre-EPA stove. Nothing wrong with choosing one over the other. But I'm only saying not to base the decision based on incorrect information.
 
john_alaska said:
Great, I am glad there may be another EPA 8" flue option for me. I will check into the Equinox and the Lennox Country, I am not shur what the Kuma is?? Any other Non-Cat , 8" flue options??

Here's a link for the Kuma Sequoia. It's a fairly young company out of Idaho. They advertise here on Hearth.com. I haven't seen one of these stoves yet.
http://kumastoves.com/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=15

The Country Canyon I have seen. It is a big and solidly made stove and a good heater. Reports we get for the Equinox are also good.

Looks like the Kuma dealer in Fairbanks also sells Hearthstone and Blaze King. It would be good to discuss the differences with them.
http://www.thewoodway.com/
 
im not downing other stoves either. im just confused where he got the misleading info.
 
Hell I'm still not convinced my new stove is that much better than my old one so choose wisely.
 
John, you're lucky to have a dealer that might have the stoves BeGreen listed under the same roof. I've only been operating my BKK for a few days now, but the ease of operation is considerable compared to my previous stove.
 
24 years on a non-cat BKK.
Last Saturday I hooked up a new BBK-Cat....should have done it sooner!
There is a small learning curve..but its not hard to figure out.
The wife got a little freaked out when she was home alone with it and turned the thermostat up to see the fire.
She was fine till she turned it back down and noticed the cat temp was climbing pretty fast..and the stove was getting warmer instead of cooler.
So she called me.
Told her just to watch the cat temp and if was closing in on the limit just turn the fans on high.
So she watched it some and it never did get out of hand...she didn't need to turn the blowers on...I doubt that you would ever have too..but turning them on will drop the stove pretty fast..5 to 10 mins in my experiments.

Point of me typing this is I had gone over the operation of the stove with her a couple times..but until she ran it herself and panicked some that she realized she had not listened to me well enough.

Other then that if you load on hot coals all you have to do is turn the temp all the way up..open the by-pass after a min or two...open door...load wood..wait at least 10 min or until cat is active on gauge..close by-pass..wait maybe 10 more mins then turn temp where you want it.
Good for at least 12 hours....in this warmer weather I'm getting at least 17 hours on a 2/3 load or less.
I know I could go 24-30 on a full load.
My house is 25 years old ..2500 sq.ft colonial..insulated well with very good windows.

I'm sold on a cat so far.
Almost bought a Lopi Liberty with secondary burn tubes.
From researching them I know you can get a hot fire and a cool light show.
But the burn times are not there.
I heat at least 90% of the time with wood..otherwise I'm using a heat pump then if its below 35 I'm running a electric furnace..costly.

For me the thermostat is what sold me on the BBK Cat...also the large firebox.
If some other cat stove had those two things I would have at least looked at them.
Around here I did not find any.

Sorry so long!
 
Thanks for the recommendations on Non-Cat, with 8” flues, these all look like great stoves and I will have to check them out.

Hearthstone: Equinox
Kuma: Sequoia
Vermont: Defiant
Lennox: Legacy
Lennox: Canyon

Yes the dealer here deal with several of them and I have been doing business with the since 1975. They hear lots of storys too.

As far as the stoves with the catalytic combustors in them, it sounds like there are lots of members here that have had good success with them. I will do more homework on them and give them another thought.

I have been burning wood for over 35 years, 6-8 months a year. I do want to get all the heat I can out of my wood since every year it gets harder to put it up. I do not think I’ll ever see natural gas from the North Slope get to my house in my life time, so I’m sticking with wood.

I'll give the Cat stoves another look, I do want the best... Until them my 30 year old Earth Stove will get a meal 2-4 times a day... thanks guys....
 
All I'm saying is check them out and read some more.
There is only a certain amount of btu's in a load of wood.
The trick is to use most of them...efficiently.
My house stays way more uniform heat wise from the cat BK then the non cat that I had..and I thought that one did a good job..little did I know..lol.
I would burn 15-16 face cords with that one.
I have been told by many who know what they are talking about that i will save at least a 1/3 of my wood with the cat and the thermostat BK.
You swear most of the time in this warmer weather the dang thing is out looking into the glass.
But I have stove temps of around 250-350 on one.
When the thermostat opens the air it goes to flames,and the cat climbs back up in temp.
Then it shuts down all by itself,flame goes away and the stove will get warmer and the cat temps will climb...then level off..this is the efferent part working..burning gasses.
I bet its only doing that maybe once about every 6 hours or so in this warmer weather...I have only seen it do it once.
If at any time you want more heat..just turn the thermostat up.
It really is easy to run after you have had it for a week or less.
No damper to play with..though I left mine in..just could not bring myself to take it out till I use this stove for a season..lol.
If you find any cat stoves with a thermostat I would like to see them.
Good luck with whatever you buy.
 
BeGreen said:
As posted in the other thread. Look at the big Kuma, Country (Lennox) and Hearthstone Equinox stoves. All have 8" collars, all non-cat.


I thought all kumas were cats..going to have to look at that myself. Thanks.
 
Dang, you're right. That got by me. It's a big cat stove.
 
I would like to know what those that have a Blaze King with a catalytic combustor the type of pipe you connected with that goes from the stove to the main flue.

Single Wal?
Double Wall?
Insulated Pipe?
Damper? YES-NO

I am getting conflicting information, even from the dealer?? Thanks
 
They do recommend double wall to help keep temps up.
Some like me use single.
I still have my damper in but they do not recommend you use one..I will probably take it out after the burn season and maybe go to double wall then if I think I need it...it's been open since my install.
Pipe is around 24 years old and still fine.
 
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