Repair old VC Encore or new Blaze King?

[amccarthy3]

Thanks for the replies - I'm going with the happy wife - If everything lined up would DIY the whole thing but things are busy and my father-in-law is in hospice right now - it would take me 3 times amount of time than paying to get installed this Tuesday - Thanks for the recommendation Ashful but Fireplace and Chimney Pro's in Kintnersville are an hour and half away from us. Just going to bite the bullet move on from the VC and enjoy burning the new stove 24/7. Will post pictures when it's up and running.

 

[amccarthy3]

New Ashford 30.2 first fire - amazing how long the wood lasts! Still learning the thermostat, the flames go out unless open at 4:00 position or more but the temp on the combustor probe stays way above 3/4 in the active zone and no smoke exiting the chimney after the honeycomb is glowing. Thanks for all the advice.

 

[Ashful]

Don't worry if flames go out, BK's are fine burning in "black box" mode. All you care about WRT to lowest useable setting is if cat dips below active temperature. Find that setting on your knob, mark it with tape or Sharpie, and that's your lowest useable setting.

I also marked my knobs with the settings that give me reliable 12-hour and 24-hour burns. Between these two or three marks, you can SWAG any other desired burn interval.

 

[begreen]

The lowest setting may change when it gets colder out due to stronger draft but at that point you may not be exploring the lowest setting due to the increased need for heat.

 

[mellow]

That was a quick install! I see the transition from 8 to 6 at the support box, did they add more height as well?

 

[amccarthy3]

The flue is all new 6" DuraVent with a new support box installers packed out with plywood on either side against the rafters - I have to do some finish trim work on the ceiling total length = 15' Did not get the fan kit we'll see how it goes with just a ceiling fan.

 

[Hexa Fox]

Unfortunately 9k isn't that crazy with our current pricing and operating costs. We get constant price increases insurance is up cost of operating vehicles it up cost of those vehicles is etc

Totally understandable. But there is a tipping point where it just does not make sense to spend 9k (7k with credit), as we all (seasoned wood burners) it does not stop there in terms of cost. Not to mentions ones time😳

I completely understand both of these. Most people agree that you really only save money with wood if you can get it cheap or source and process it yourself. At some point (usually being cost) it just makes more sense to spend the money on something where you can just turn a dial and be done with it. I run a landscaping business on the side (it is also what I have did for primary income this year) and the taxes, fees and insurance alone are killer. To put it into perspective I always think about how many lawns I have to mow to pay for something. Well right now I have to mow a whole hell of a lot of lawns to just pay for things like taxes, gas, maintenance, insurance before I can even think about paying myself. Pretty ridiculous.

 

[Ashful]

I completely understand both of these. Most people agree that you really only save money with wood if you can get it cheap or source and process it yourself.

I understand the implication here, but I think it's over-stating the point, a bit. Yes, you save the most if you can source your wood for free. But even if you have to buy the wood, it's cheaper per BTU than oil or propane. Overcoming the up-front investment and associated costs becomes a matter of your heating requirements, with those having the highest heat load saving the most. Those with very low heat loads may have more trouble overcoming the cost of installation + maintenance of a second heat source.

In most of this math, you still need to consider the cost of maintaining your "primary" heat source, for vacations, emergencies, and resale.

 

[Hexa Fox]

I understand the implication here, but I think it's over-stating the point, a bit. Yes, you save the most if you can source your wood for free. But even if you have to buy the wood, it's cheaper per BTU than oil or propane. Overcoming the up-front investment and associated costs becomes a matter of your heating requirements, with those having the highest heat load saving the most. Those with very low heat loads may have more trouble overcoming the cost of installation + maintenance of a second heat source.

In most of this math, you still need to consider the cost of maintaining your "primary" heat source, for vacations, emergencies, and resale.

I do not want to start an argument but from most estimates it is a very close comparison if you are purchasing your wood. To be fair, I think using wood to heat your home is going to be cheaper for most, period. So I agree with you there. I see a difference every single year in my electric bill when it gets colder. That is because I use baseboard electric and space heaters in shoulder season. So when I make the swap to my wood stove the bill drops significantly. There is also something to be said because I am home using my electric more often in the Winter because I am less likely to go anywhere. So for me personally, wood gives me a significant advantage. I also do buy wood which I will probably do soon so I can start stacking it and make certain it is seasoned for next year.

Having that said, it just is not true for most people. I noticed you use BTU's but when you look at things like the national average cost of what people spend to heat their homes wood burning looks a lot less palatable which I know has been debated. I realize I am on a site that supports firewood, as I do myself. If you are only purchasing your wood I think this really negates the advantage for most people. That is especially true when you consider the extra work involved to burn wood and lets be honest, there is a lot of work involved.

The reason wood wins for me is because it gets me extra exercise and I obviously save money in the long run. Not to mention when we have things like power outages here I can still cook using either my wood stove or propane grill and most importantly I have heat.

I mean if I had to pay to have everything done for a modern stove and paid someone to do it like you would most heat systems I have easily been getting estimates that range from $10-20k. At that point you could look at some other alternatives and pay to have your home heated for years depending on who you ask. The only reason I was even considering catalytic stoves is because I would be the only one running the stove. A big drawback to me waking up in this house is that my fire is almost always completely out in the morning when I wake up. I am hoping even one of the new non-catalytic stoves will leave me waking up to a semi comfortable house with a easy to restart fire. Plus you are not even getting into other things like people usually short you firewood and I almost always get green wood. I do not know anyone that splits the wood, stacks it properly to season and will measure it when delivering. It is just something I have gotten used to.