swapping quad 4100I for a Blaze King Princess Insert

[Dustin]

First off, I'm starting to hate my addiction to wood burning and all that goes with it. Like trying to have the BEST stove.


I currently have a quad 4100I heating my 1955 2200 square foot house. I can only heat about 1000 square feet effectivly when it's cold.This is oregon, so "cold" is 36 degrees. This is a VERY drafty house.

I'm getting good 8 hour burns with the 4100 loaded up with Doug Fir. House will stay about 71 through the cycle.

I'm thinking I want more. I work 12 hour shifts, and would like to suck some longer burn times. Would selling the lightly used 4100 and buying a blazeking even be worth it? Or would I be spending more money just to gain about an hour, to two hours of burn time.

Also, ease of operation is pretty important for the girlfriend.

Am I crazy? Should I spend a little and install a bottom block off plate, and tighten up the house before deciding on another stove?

Dustin

 

[Todd]

The smart thing to do would be tighten up the house first and see what happens but I know how hard it is when your an wood stove addict. Many here including me have gone through stoves til we find the right one and we still get tempted by others. The Blaze King will burn longer and has been pretty popular here this year. Flip a coin.

 

[Lanningjw]

I do about 6 to 8 hours between reloads with the PI. You can get 12 out of the insert but will the last hours of the burn be warm enough for you? An advantage of the cat insert that is that it produces an OK amount of heat when the wood has turned to coals. Your only gonna get so much heat from the amount of wood you put in the insert.

I also think that the PI does not do as long of burn times as the PS. You have to run the fan on the insert almost all the time to get the big heat out of it. I think some guys read post about the Princess and think that the stove and the insert are the same and they are not.

I normally load up with 2 or 3 splits of wood and get a 6 hour burn when we are at home. I guess you could wait for the coals to burn off and stuff the box but that seems like to much planning and work....