There seems to be a hole in the wood stove market

[Patapsco Mike]

I am a bit dissappointed as I read this thread. I've just ordered an Avalon Olympic insert, and based my decision on information I had read on this forum and the efficiencies they (Avalon) currently publish....up to 12 hour burn times for the Olympic. I had been looking at a Lopi, but aesthetics turned me to the Avalon since they're the same under the hood.

Will I be dissappointed with the stove???? Hope I haven't made a mistake. That's a lot of money for a "gas" guzzler.

I don't have a single bad word to say about my Avalon except it goes through a lot of wood. It puts out a LOT of heat doing it. I am absolutely not saying it isn't efficient. In truth I wish I could get it to burn cooler. It kept most of my home in the mid-70's even when it was well below freezing outside even burning it as low as I could. You will not get 12 hour burns, but you will get great 9-10 hour burns with good, dry wood.

 

[summit]

forget the cat angle, and get yourself a pe... totally biased opinion, but i change stoves every 2 yrs (work for a stove shop, i am always trying the new stuff) and this will be year #3 w/ the summit.. i think a pe will solve many of the performance issues you've been trying to solve as far as log length and burn time.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I would like to take advantage of this tax credit and replace my great but very wood-hungry Avalon Olympic with a higher efficiency insert. I get free wood, but I am tired of busting my butt to split, stack, and hump into my house 7 cords of hardwood every season. I am not getting any younger. There is a lot to love about the Olympic, it's a solid stove, but it eats a big wheelbarrow load of wood every day and it's shocking how fast my wood pile dwindles compared to the VC Dutchwest I used to own. While I appreciate the simplicity of the non-cat stove, I will accept the cost of new cat every few years in return for spending less time dealing with wood.

I was sold on the Blaze King Princess until I read through the specs and saw that it only takes logs up to 16." The thought of re-cutting the 7 cords of 18-20" wood is a deal-killer. The Blaze King King takes a longer log, but needs an 8" flue. I have a one season old, insulated 6" flue in perfect shape and there is no way I'm replacing this. I love the look of the Woodstocks, but they also can only take a 16" log on top of having small fireboxes (not to mention the extra money I feel is wasted on the pretty stone that no one will ever see).

Am I overlooking a great catalytic insert that will take a 20" log, have a 3 cubic foot or larger firebox (i.e. support legitimate 10 hour burn times), and be made for 6" pipe? Does anything on the market meet my needs?

I just got done looking at the BK Princess insert with my old man. 2.8 cu ft - 20 hour burn time - 20" E-W loading. . .

 

[BrotherBart]

I wish somebody would take a caliper to one of those Blaze Kings. The King Parlor with 4.2 cf firebox weighs less than a Summit or my 30-NC. Kinda curious what thickness steel those things are made of.

 

[Patapsco Mike]

I wish somebody would take a caliper to one of those Blaze Kings. The King Parlor with 4.2 cf firebox weighs less than a Summit or my 30-NC. Kinda curious what thickness steel those things are made of.

It's light and it's deep. It is going to mean needing to add 6" onto my hearth in the front.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I wish somebody would take a caliper to one of those Blaze Kings. The King Parlor with 4.2 cf firebox weighs less than a Summit or my 30-NC. Kinda curious what thickness steel those things are made of.

Like I said above, me and my dad were looking at them today and they are not visibly chincier than Avalon/Napoleon/PE/Osburn. And just FYI - the firebox is 4.37 cu ft.

 

[Wet1]

I had that same concern BB. My short list came down to the BKK and the Buck 91. Looking at the specs, they are both about the same size, but the Buck is noticeably heavier. In fact the BK products seem light compared to many large stoves. I chose the BK for the legendary performance. In the end, I decided the BKK has been around for a long, long time and I've never heard of anyone burning through one, or having any other robustness issues. I felt a lot better after completely inspecting my BK and could see it's a pretty HD design... certainly not sheet metal construction!

 

[gpcollen1]

I am a bit dissappointed as I read this thread. I've just ordered an Avalon Olympic insert, and based my decision on information I had read on this forum and the efficiencies they (Avalon) currently publish....up to 12 hour burn times for the Olympic. I had been looking at a Lopi, but aesthetics turned me to the Avalon since they're the same under the hood.

Will I be dissappointed with the stove???? Hope I haven't made a mistake. That's a lot of money for a "gas" guzzler.

You wont be disappointed in this stove. Read my previous post - i do not go through nearly that much wood. Mike appears to be burning good wood and doing it right - but i cannot account for how much wood he uses. I burn 4-5 cords every year while burning 24/7.

It will take a bit to learn how to burn this baby right though...