The Blaze King Performance Thread

[SolarAndWood]

I've got plenty of smaller stuff too. Takes big rounds to make splits like that.

Anyway, back to what I think was the point of this thread. It wasn't that hard to get 95 pounds of wood in there and I had a big coal bed already. Very few modern stoves can do this. The combination of the tstat and the cat let you meter that load out anyway you want. I could put that load in in September and let it burn for 2 days if I wanted or given the weather we are facing it will probably get loaded on maybe half gone when I leave for work in the morning. Pretty cool to have a stove that does both.

 

[HotCoals]

Well my performance is diff tonight.

Loaded two hours ago.

Just checked things out.
Almost 700 right below the cat gauge..never seen it before...bout 320f flue 18" up.
Stove a hair over 2 and no flames...but I think it's close to having some..cat is bright red.
Ash c/s/s a year ago this past spring.

Look where my cat probe is for temp!

 

[rdust]

Well my performance is diff tonight.

Mine is also burning different, I think my draft is better tonight with the colder temps. Nights like this with the old stove sent it into space. :lol:

 

[HotCoals]

Well my performance is diff tonight.

Mine is also burning different, I think my draft is better tonight with the colder temps. Nights like this with the old stove sent it into space. :lol:

I just can't hardly believe I have 700 stove top near the cat..with no flame..never seen it before with flame even.
This is some of my better ash though...bout 12-14 after re split.

 

[rdust]

8:00 pm
Stove top 260*
Loaded stove with 46.6 pounds of oak and silver maple(wife thinks I'm insane)
8:25 pm
Outside temp. 23* NW wind 14mph
Inside hallway temp 70*
Stove top 746*, t-stat just below the "n" in normal or just below "2", fans on low

Tonight is supposed to get to 14* with NW winds near 20 mph, we'll see how it goes, I'm not sure what t-stat setting I need to keep the heat up and get me through the night with enough heat since we haven't had many cold nights yet. I may have to experiment with the t-stat settings some in this weather to get my desired inside temp.

Edit: another layer of small splits would be possible if I'd take some ash out, it's an inch or so below the bricks so I have about 5 inches of ash in the bottom.

10:00 pm stove on 1.75, stove top 546*
Outside temp 22*
Inside hallway temp 71*

10:40 pm stove on 1.5, stove top 434*
Outside temp 21*
Inside hallway temp 71*

I turned the stove down to 1.5 since the draft is stronger tonight due to the colder temps., it was getting a little warm in the family room.

The house is a two story house just shy of 2K(1968 I think) built in 1980 so probably terrible wall insulation with newer windows.

11:55 pm stove on 1.5 stove top 43x*
Outside temp 18*
Inside hallway temp 70*

The stove top was up about a half hour ago in the 500 range but settled back in. Not sure if it's the draft or what since I've never really followed the temps that closely. The flapper could have opened and closed a little bit for all I know.

I don't think the t-stat at 1.5 is going to cut it all night, I think I need to be a little hotter to make it though while keeping temps in the low 70's but we'll see. Worst case I'll turn up the t-stat before reloading before work, actually the wife will turn it up when she gets up if she's cold.

Time for bed......

 

[HotCoals]

Ok..getting a little nervous

Still no flame but close to 740f.

Im turning on the fans for awhile.
Cat probe started to drop almost right away because of air blowing across the bi-metal gauge..other then that fan is not dulling the bright red of cat.
Which I didn't think it would.

I should be in bed but I want to see where this is going.

 

[rdust]

Ok..getting a little nervous

Still no flame but close to 740f.

Im turning on the fans for awhile.
Cat probe started to drop almost right away because of air blowing across it..other then that fan is not dulling the bright red of cat.
Which I didn't think it would.

I should be in bed but I want to see where this is going.

What's it do if you turn it down? I'm surprised to see no flame and the temps so high. Where is the flapper closing if you turn the t-stat up and down?

 

[HotCoals]

Ok..getting a little nervous

Still no flame but close to 740f.

Im turning on the fans for awhile.
Cat probe started to drop almost right away because of air blowing across it..other then that fan is not dulling the bright red of cat.
Which I didn't think it would.

I should be in bed but I want to see where this is going.

What's it do if you turn it down? I'm surprised to see no flame and the temps so high. Where is the flapper closing if you turn the t-stat up and down?

It's closing just after 2..on that last spike I don't think the flapper open even..but it could have been.
But yes no flames...even away from the cat I have over 400 stove top.
I turned the blower off..no effect on the burn.

But I just looked and its on the way down..720..cat still really bright and probe at 5:00.

15f out and 75 in the next room..bout 85 in the stove room.
Second season on this stove and I have never seen those temps.
I know my wood is better..but dang!

 

[Hass]

When I asked about possible cat damage with bkvp, he said the cat can take it no problem and go ahead and run the stove full tilt. I was concerned because the cat probe will peg all the way over fairly easy.

Also, 14 degrees this morn, stove was on about 1.1, fans on as low as they go and house was 74...

 

[ohlongarm]

Last night high winds zero wind chills,loaded stove with 9 splits not a full load about 80% full,locust,hickory,oak.Got stove temps to 700 she throws a chit load of heat at that temp.Lots of flame and fire things goin on at setting 2.5,when she hit 740 I cut her back to 2 another half hour of a fireshow,then she went into cruise mode. Winds howled all night this morning 12 hours later house 72 stove about 340,opened bypass in goes 3 oak splits they fire up immediately,close bypass I'm good till this afternoon,high today 20,I'm keeping him.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I'm keeping him.

Congrats on finally finding a stove. I was skeptical when I bought mine because of past experience too. IF you have DRY wood, it is a pretty amazing heater. The original owners of my stove didn't and couldn't get heat out of the stove. Should have taken pictures before I cleaned the creosote out of it.

 

[rdust]

8:00 pm
Stove top 260*
Loaded stove with 46.6 pounds of oak and silver maple(wife thinks I'm insane)
8:25 pm
Outside temp. 23* NW wind 14mph
Inside hallway temp 70*
Stove top 746*, t-stat just below the "n" in normal or just below "2", fans on low

Tonight is supposed to get to 14* with NW winds near 20 mph, we'll see how it goes, I'm not sure what t-stat setting I need to keep the heat up and get me through the night with enough heat since we haven't had many cold nights yet. I may have to experiment with the t-stat settings some in this weather to get my desired inside temp.

Edit: another layer of small splits would be possible if I'd take some ash out, it's an inch or so below the bricks so I have about 5 inches of ash in the bottom.

10:00 pm stove on 1.75, stove top 546*
Outside temp 22*
Inside hallway temp 71*

10:40 pm stove on 1.5, stove top 434*
Outside temp 21*
Inside hallway temp 71*

I turned the stove down to 1.5 since the draft is stronger tonight due to the colder temps., it was getting a little warm in the family room.

The house is a two story house just shy of 2K(1968 I think) built in 1980 so probably terrible wall insulation with newer windows.

11:55 pm stove on 1.5 stove top 43x*
Outside temp 18*
Inside hallway temp 70*

The stove top was up about a half hour ago in the 500 range but settled back in. Not sure if it's the draft or what since I've never really followed the temps that closely. The flapper could have opened and closed a little bit for all I know.

I don't think the t-stat at 1.5 is going to cut it all night, I think I need to be a little hotter to make it though while keeping temps in the low 70's but we'll see. Worst case I'll turn up the t-stat before reloading before work, actually the wife will turn it up when she gets up if she's cold.

Time for bed......

Quick morning report as I walk out the door.

5:00 am hallway 70* stove top 400* wife moved coals to center and turn up to 2.5 to make room for wood before I got up
7:30 am stove hotspot 350* big nasty coal bed hallway temp 70* outside temp 17*

7:45 am
Stove is just shy of 600* loaded with almost all oak and two pieces of silver maple on the bottom center. I'll give it a few more minutes and dial it down to 1.75 and head out the door. Curious to see how it makes out today since we shouldn't get out of the low 20's.

 

[Todd]

Ok..getting a little nervous

Still no flame but close to 740f.

Im turning on the fans for awhile.
Cat probe started to drop almost right away because of air blowing across the bi-metal gauge..other then that fan is not dulling the bright red of cat.
Which I didn't think it would.

I should be in bed but I want to see where this is going.

This is something us Woodstock guys see pretty often. If the conditions are just right the cat seems to take off gorging itself on smoke and the stove temps jump fast even though there's no flames in the box. When this happens to me I'll bypass for a few minutes, re-engage the cat and she will settle down. Other times you can just turn up the air to get a little flame in the box to help the cat out.

 

[TX-L]

Be nice to hear BK owners with temp readings from start to finish, outdoor temps, and how many splits went in for that time.

12 year old modular home, about 1500 SF.

I filled the stove at 7:30 pm on Jan 02, temp outside 21 °F. Fans are on low speed throughout this cycle. Load consisted of 7 pieces of hard maple and red oak, and 1 white ash split. I didn't weigh it (last year I did once weigh a 98 lb load of oak & hard maple; it holds a LOT), I set the stat on 2 after the initial high burn and left it for the duration. At 8:30 am on Jan 03, outside temp is 5 °F and breezy, inside temp is 74 °F, stovetop is at 450 °F, with a lot of fuel charge left in the box. I won't fill it until tonight after work, probably around 6 pm (+/-, depending on amount of wood left). I pull the massive amounts of coals forward with a barn shovel, turn the stat full open, and get quite a lot of heat for a couple of hours before reload.

I did the exact same thing the day before, but outside temps were above freezing for most of the day on Sunday (House was near 80 °F with window open).


Here is secondary burn phenomenon in my King I recorded last year, sorry about the sound:

 

[Lanningjw]

I am so happy that all the guys that have the BK stoves have nice warm houses.

My Princess insert does not give me a 20 hour burn time but it does Ok. My house is really warm and when our friends come over they comment how nice the wood heat is. This is my 3rd season burning the princess insert.

 

[iceman]

If you freeze the video.at 1:39-40 it looks like their is an angel or something in your stove!
Guess that's why you guys get such great burn times!

 

[jeff_t]

After twelve hours of burning on 2.25, with the blowers on med-low, I woke up to 67° in the hallway. Stovetop was about 300, cat at the bottom of the active zone. Outside temp of 11, with a nice breeze. Not complaining, because that's what I would have expected with my furnace. Except I would have been up once in the middle of the night to feed it.
Still have some tightening up to do, and some windows to replace. I'm going to blow another 12-18" into the attic, probably sometime this month. That ought to help just a little, too.

 

[Hogwildz]

After twelve hours of burning on 2.25, with the blowers on med-low, I woke up to 67° in the hallway. Stovetop was about 300, cat at the bottom of the active zone. Outside temp of 11, with a nice breeze. Not complaining, because that's what I would have expected with my furnace. Except I would have been up once in the middle of the night to feed it.
Still have some tightening up to do, and some windows to replace. I'm going to blow another 12-18" into the attic, probably sometime this month. That ought to help just a little, too.

Exact same temp and burn time here. When it gets cold, or cold to me anyways, looks like the big stoves all run similar, although different ways, similar results.
Have some tightening up to do here also, but never seem to get to it.
Enjoy your warmth gents, and ladies.

 

[ohlongarm]

Amen brother burners,whatever makes you happy. I just don't miss getting up at 4am to stoke a stove when the house drops into the 60's when it's zero outside. Had to do that even with my first quad 5700 and that held alot of wood and threw alot of heat,the King still outdoes it by a mile. Just got home 2pm and the house is 75 from the coals and few splits I threw on this morning.

 

[rdust]

After twelve hours of burning on 2.25, with the blowers on med-low, I woke up to 67° in the hallway. Stovetop was about 300, cat at the bottom of the active zone. Outside temp of 11, with a nice breeze. Not complaining, because that's what I would have expected with my furnace. Except I would have been up once in the middle of the night to feed it.
Still have some tightening up to do, and some windows to replace. I'm going to blow another 12-18" into the attic, probably sometime this month. That ought to help just a little, too.

I'm kinda surprised, weigh out one of the loads the next time you load up like us insane people!

 

[jeff_t]

After twelve hours of burning on 2.25, with the blowers on med-low, I woke up to 67° in the hallway. Stovetop was about 300, cat at the bottom of the active zone. Outside temp of 11, with a nice breeze. Not complaining, because that's what I would have expected with my furnace. Except I would have been up once in the middle of the night to feed it.
Still have some tightening up to do, and some windows to replace. I'm going to blow another 12-18" into the attic, probably sometime this month. That ought to help just a little, too.

I'm kinda surprised, weigh out one of the loads the next time you load up like us insane people!

Well, I didn't have any monster splits to load up. I probably could have done a little better. I also started out with a <60° house at 4pm. I burned down four midsize ash splits in less than four hours, and had the air temp up, but everything else was still cold. In fact, my wife said this morning the clothes she got out of the dresser were cold. I would suspect that with similar conditions tonight it would do better, but temps are supposed to rise overnight. I have to work tonight /tomorrow, so it wouldn't do any good to weigh anything. Then back in the 40's for Friday. Science experiment over.....

 

[rdust]

Well, I didn't have any monster splits to load up. I probably could have done a little better. I also started out with a <60° house at 4pm. I burned down four midsize ash splits in less than four hours, and had the air temp up, but everything else was still cold. In fact, my wife said this morning the clothes she got out of the dresser were cold. I would suspect that with similar conditions tonight it would do better, but temps are supposed to rise overnight. I have to work tonight /tomorrow, so it wouldn't do any good to weigh anything. Then back in the 40's for Friday. Science experiment over.....

This is true, when we got home after being gone for 4 days after Christmas the house was 50*, it took a good day to get the pieces of the house warmed back up.

 

[Hass]

Question for the BK users here, instead of making a new thread.

Today when I got home I had some pretty big icicles (maybe 6-12 inches) hanging off my chimney cap. It's been cold out, it's 9 right now. Stove has been on low for the past 40-50 hours except for a while on reloads. Is this normal for you guys when burning on low all the time? The icicles had a very yellow tinge to them. There was a lot of yellow ice on the chimney rain guard part as well... I'm not sure if that's the name, but it was a lot of yellow gook around. I wanted to take a picture, but I'm burning the stove on 2 right now to burn all the wood down so I can clean the pan and look up the chimney before I load her up for the night... so all the icicles melted away.

Is the yellow coloring normal?
There was no smoke when I got home... typically there's no smoke unless I just changed the T-stat setting.

P.S. 9 degrees out, I got home with the stove running on 1 fans on as low as they go and the house was 70.

 

[rdust]

Hass, I've read the icicles are normal, they recommend burning it hot to melt them off just like you did. The yellow is nothing to worry about, we're not getting a clean burn for the complete burn, I'm sure there are plenty of times that could yellow it up.

 

[rdust]

8:00 pm
Stove top 260*
Loaded stove with 46.6 pounds of oak and silver maple(wife thinks I'm insane)
8:25 pm
Outside temp. 23* NW wind 14mph
Inside hallway temp 70*
Stove top 746*, t-stat just below the "n" in normal or just below "2", fans on low

Tonight is supposed to get to 14* with NW winds near 20 mph, we'll see how it goes, I'm not sure what t-stat setting I need to keep the heat up and get me through the night with enough heat since we haven't had many cold nights yet. I may have to experiment with the t-stat settings some in this weather to get my desired inside temp.

Edit: another layer of small splits would be possible if I'd take some ash out, it's an inch or so below the bricks so I have about 5 inches of ash in the bottom.

10:00 pm stove on 1.75, stove top 546*
Outside temp 22*
Inside hallway temp 71*

10:40 pm stove on 1.5, stove top 434*
Outside temp 21*
Inside hallway temp 71*

I turned the stove down to 1.5 since the draft is stronger tonight due to the colder temps., it was getting a little warm in the family room.

The house is a two story house just shy of 2K(1968 I think) built in 1980 so probably terrible wall insulation with newer windows.

11:55 pm stove on 1.5 stove top 43x*
Outside temp 18*
Inside hallway temp 70*

The stove top was up about a half hour ago in the 500 range but settled back in. Not sure if it's the draft or what since I've never really followed the temps that closely. The flapper could have opened and closed a little bit for all I know.

I don't think the t-stat at 1.5 is going to cut it all night, I think I need to be a little hotter to make it though while keeping temps in the low 70's but we'll see. Worst case I'll turn up the t-stat before reloading before work, actually the wife will turn it up when she gets up if she's cold.

Time for bed......

Quick morning report as I walk out the door.

5:00 am hallway 70* stove top 400* wife moved coals to center and turn up to 2.5 to make room for wood before I got up
7:30 am stove hotspot 350* big nasty coal bed hallway temp 70* outside temp 17*

7:45 am
Stove is just shy of 600* loaded with almost all oak and two pieces of silver maple on the bottom center. I'll give it a few more minutes and dial it down to 1.75 and head out the door. Curious to see how it makes out today since we shouldn't get out of the low 20's.

5:45 pm stove on 1.75, stove top 33x fan on low
Outside temp 18*
Inside hallway temp 68*

I just raked the coals to the middle of the stove and turned the t-stat up. Still plenty of fuel in it so I'm hoping the stove top will get back into the 400* range so I can get some heat back in here before the wife gets home. :lol: I think I would've had better luck burning it on 2 or above since I still have a lot of fuel left in the stove.

6:00 pm stove on 3, stove top 40x with fans on medium I can feel some decent heat coming out now
Inside hallway temp 69* and rising

With the Endeavor I would've had the doors to the living room closed and the 2 out of the 4 bedroom doors closed when it got below 30*. I've been able to keep all the rooms open so far, I'm sure at some point the living room doors will get closed though. The living room is 300 sq' with three outside walls so it's typically the cold room in the house. To be fair the Endeavor was also smaller but only by a couple medium sized splits when I have the BK full of ash. The house would've been in the lower 60's with the Endeavor on a day like today when I got home from work with just enough coals to start the next load. I should be able to load around 8:00pm if things go right.

To close this stove is a bad little lady that I couldn't be happier with. Sure the fire isn't as pretty but honestly the trade off of less hassle wood burning is well worth it. No sitting in an uncomfortably hot family room anymore or laying on the floor to escape the heat :lol: running in right after work to load the stove, filling the stove 3+ times a day, over heating the house to make it through the night, dealing with runaway stoves etc. I do think if winter ever gets here and stays I'll need a small fire after work to get me to the night reload since I think burning the stove hotter during the day would help keep the temp up when it stays in the bottom 20's or lower.

I probably won't have much to add until we get single digit or zero type cold. Who am I kidding I'll have something to say sooner than that! :lol:

Anyway I hope my ramblings helped answer some of the questions people had/have.