Those of you with Blaze Kings...

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TTigano

Member
Jan 19, 2012
129
Southeastern, Ma
From their site, they advertise 40hr burns on the KING... With 20hr burns on other models... Can those of you with these stoves fill me in on what your seeing for stove top temps when burning on low? Are you able to heat your home like this? Thanks!
 
Been running my BK Sirocco for about 4hrs now, with 5 3" splits in it. It has been on low heat setting for about 2hrs. I have the convection deck installed with fans, never use the fans at all. Current stovetop temp center just in front of convection deck is 418 degrees. 312 degrees on front lip of stove. Cat thermometer is in active range, just slightly left of center. Sq foot of leaky house is 1000. 41 degrees outside, 83 degrees inside in room with stove. 80.4 degrees in kids bedroom ( has remote thermometer as the kid's bedroom temperature is the target temp). In my small house, this stove is barely breathing, I believe it will be running at low temp most of it's life. It's cut my labor for wood in half already compared to my old Intrepid II. Not as pretty or ornate, but works extremely well. Wife never needs to touch it, I have 8 more hours at least before I will need to do anything to it.
 
Sure you can get a 40 hour burn..enough coals left to fire her off again.
It can be done in the shoulder if timed right.
Practically, a 24 hour burn is way more reasonable amount of time to expect very good heat output.

I think about 7000 btu's per pound of wood.
So if you fill it up with say 80 pounds of decently dense dry wood and let her go for 24 hours you can expect a avg. of
2300 btu's/hour.

At 40 hours the avg. would drop to 1400 btu's/hour...a electric space heater probably puts out more.

I hope I did the math right..lol.
 
Sure you can get a 40 hour burn..enough coals left to fire her off again.
It can be done in the shoulder if timed right.
Practically, a 24 hour burn is way more reasonable amount of time to expect very good heat output.

I think about 7000 btu's per pound of wood.
So if you fill it up with say 80 pounds of decently dense dry wood and let her go for 24 hours you can expect a avg. of
2300 btu's/hour.

At 40 hours the avg. would drop to 1400 btu's/hour...a electric space heater probably puts out more.

I hope I did the math right..lol.
Yeah, thats the thing, you can get outrageously long burns but little heat, if your house is small and tight maybe thats enough, Im heating too large a space to let it go 20 hours although getting 12 hours on fairly cold days works for me most days unless its really cold, in frigid weather I can go through 3 8 hour burns. I dont have a stove top temp but Im usually running 1000-1200 on the cat, higher if its really cold.
 
Is there a way to calculate cat temp with the BK stock thermometer?
 
Yeah, thats the thing, you can get outrageously long burns but little heat, if your house is small and tight maybe thats enough, Im heating too large a space to let it go 20 hours although getting 12 hours on fairly cold days works for me most days unless its really cold, in frigid weather I can go through 3 8 hour burns. I dont have a stove top temp but Im usually running 1000-1200 on the cat, higher if its really cold.
Your testimonial is one of the most honest and spot on that I have read on here about the BK.
It's a great stove but there is only so many btu's in a pound of wood...and only so much efficiency in any stove no matter the brand.
The king just happens to hold a lot of wood and the cat burn does work well.
I would buy it all over again but man that Woodstock PH looks good!
 
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Is there a way to calculate cat temp with the BK stock thermometer?
One way is to get a if temp gun and check the temp right in front of the cat probe then double the reading.
 
I can get consistant 24 hour burns with a full load of Oak in my Princess, but like others have said it's not putting out a ton of heat. those low burns are great for warmish temps but you will have to burn it hotter when it's colder. The great thing about the BK's is the wide heat output range. When you need the heat, turn it up, when you get to where you want turn it back down and the t-stat will maintain the temp for you.
 
Your testimonial is one of the most honest and spot on that I have read on here about the BK.
It's a great stove but there is only so many btu's in a pound of wood...and only so much efficiency in any stove no matter the brand.
The king just happens to hold a lot of wood and the cat burn does work well.
I would buy it all over again but man that Woodstock PH looks good!
I agree it is good to get a realistic answer on the BK which rarely happens. In real heating situations BK is very similar to my T-5 and I too like the PH stove and have seen it in person and it is awesome! The secondary burn is mesmerizing to watch and you can fall back to the cat for when you need to burn low and slow..

Ray
 
I agree it is good to get a realistic answer on the BK which rarely happens.
Ray

That's because we are all filthy liars? Boo. If you ever get a BK, or really even a WS, you will understand.
 
From their site, they advertise 40hr burns on the KING... With 20hr burns on other models... Can those of you with these stoves fill me in on what your seeing for stove top temps when burning on low? Are you able to heat your home like this? Thanks!

I can easily burn 24 hours with a load of our junk softwood from the NW. Willow, cottonwood, alder, whatever falls down. Stove top temps measured in the middle of the tove top are in the 450-500 range. We are easily able to maintain mid 70s heat in my 1963 built 1700SF with temps in the 30s using the 24 hour burn.
 
That's because we are all filthy liars? Boo. If you ever get a BK, or really even a WS, you will understand.
I never implied that however there are only so many BTU's per pound of wood and that is a constant. Yes BK's are efficient however many other stoves are also efficient. Many stoves are 80+ efficient and if you're going 40 hrs. on 3 sticks of pine the BTU output has to be VERY low as there are only so many BTU's available. What a BK would be great at is low slow heat but if you need more BTU's then you need more air and more wood..

Ray
 
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From their site, they advertise 40hr burns on the KING... With 20hr burns on other models... Can those of you with these stoves fill me in on what your seeing for stove top temps when burning on low? Are you able to heat your home like this? Thanks!

I have a Princess which is a 20hr advertised burner, in the shoulder season I'd have to work to burn a load that fast. I have a feeling that is their burn times for softwoods since the stoves are made in soft burners country. Last nights load will be the first load of the season that won't last me around 24 hours.(I was gone for TG and house was cold so burned hot for a couple hours) The Blaze King performance threads from last year and this year have a lot of real life information regarding burn times.

Now I don't keep my house in the 80's like some others but I keep my house in the low 70's on the main level and mid 60's upstairs where the bedrooms are. Nearly 2000 sq' of mid 80's greatness, 1100 or so lower and the rest upstairs, we have an uninsulated basement but I don't count that.

I'm burning down coals from 17 hours ago right now and the stove top is 370* or so.
 
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I never implied that however there are only so many BTU's per pound of wood and that is a constant. Yes BK's are efficient however many other stoves are also efficient. Many stoves are 80+ efficient and if you're going 40 hrs. on 3 sticks of pine the BTU output has to be VERY low as there are only so many BTU's available. What a BK would be great at is low slow heat but if you need more BTU's then you need more air and more wood..

Ray

The key is how the BK stoves release the heat. Most houses don't need crazy BTU's over the entire burn to maintain the temps, the BK stoves manage the release the energy very well creating a very flat/steady output. Also none of us claim ridiculous numbers on 3 sticks of wood, anytime I show my stove loaded it's FULL. :)

It's really as simple as it's a BK thing you wouldn't understand if you've never run one. ::-) I had my doubts before owning one but it didn't disappoint.
 
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The key is how the BK stoves release the heat. Most houses don't need crazy BTU's over the entire burn to maintain the temps, the BK stoves manage the release the energy very well creating a very flat/steady output. Also none of us claim ridiculous numbers on 3 sticks of wood, anytime I show my stove loaded it's FULL. :)

It's really as simple as it's a BK thing you wouldn't understand if you've never run one. ::-) I had my doubts before owning one but it didn't disappoint.
I hear what you're saying and I ran a cat stove for over 20 years and I will say it was better when you didn't need lots of heat. I find the T-5 needs smaller loads to create lower BTU's however when I need lots of heat it is much better in this regard.. Today's high temp here is 40 degrees and it has been windy all day and now it is down to 37 and still windy.. Just got the fire going from coals from a small load I lit from coals at 6:30AM and it is now after 3PM. What I would like is thermostatic control and this is where the BK's rule and I will also say that WS makes a very fine stove that is quite capable of low BTU burns however they do lack the thermostatic damper but I suspect that is coming down the pike at some point... All good stuff! :)

Ray
 
Is there a way to calculate cat temp with the BK stock thermometer?

Active line is 500, pegged is 1800, 12 oclock is 900, 2 oclock is 1400, you can probably estimate from those numbers.
 
Active line is 500, pegged is 1800, 12 oclock is 900, 2 oclock is 1400, you can probably estimate from those numbers.
I have had my King burn the 40 hours but the house was in the 60's, however I was able to fire her up again with the coals that were left.My burns are 10 to 16 max it's all I require and I'm talking usable heat and the house at 72/3 which is all we want,we have cranked her to where the house got 80 for the fun of it but opened the doors to cool off. Oftentimes we burn 4 or 5 splits in the evening on #3 to firewatch and get plenty of heat output as well. Last night dipped into high 20's house stayed at 72 all night 12 hours with a full load of larch and a window open at least 1 foot 16 feet from the stove.This stove will do about anything you want of it easily.It's 5pm now and I'm going to load 6 splits and firewatch a few hours with the window still open.
 
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Active line is 500, pegged is 1800, 12 oclock is 900, 2 oclock is 1400, you can probably estimate from those numbers.

I don't know about yours but my cat meter from BK has ticks at even intervals around the meter and there is no "peg" at which the dial stops. It can keep going round and round. The first tick near the active/inactive line is about 1/4" hotter than the active/inactive line. I engage the cat at that tick for a little extra margin. Trying to be nice to the kitty so she'll purr a long time.
 
Active line is 500, pegged is 1800, 12 oclock is 900, 2 oclock is 1400, you can probably estimate from those numbers.
Awesome. Thanks. That will be very helpful.
 
I don't know about yours but my cat meter from BK has ticks at even intervals around the meter and there is no "peg" at which the dial stops. It can keep going round and round. The first tick near the active/inactive line is about 1/4" hotter than the active/inactive line. I engage the cat at that tick for a little extra margin. Trying to be nice to the kitty so she'll purr a long time.
So you think engaging the cat at the first active line is the best way? Are you thinking less thermal shock if you engage earlier? I guess it would make sense.
 
I don't know about yours but my cat meter from BK has ticks at even intervals around the meter and there is no "peg" at which the dial stops. It can keep going round and round. The first tick near the active/inactive line is about 1/4" hotter than the active/inactive line. I engage the cat at that tick for a little extra margin. Trying to be nice to the kitty so she'll purr a long time.
By pegged I mean where the color changes around 5 oclock
 
Hotter is better. Less chance of thermal shock from what I understand. Sure, extra wood may be easted but we're talking about a few minutes more burning and the flipping the bypass. I've stalled the cat being too quick and I do not want to even have to worry about that happening so a few extra minutes in bypass is not a big deal.
 
By pegged I mean where the color changes around 5 oclock

The o'clock type descriptions aren't enough. See, on the stoves, with the convection deck, the cat probe dial must be upside down so it will fit. I have no idea what you're talking about with 5 o'clock. I have had the pointer clear into the .com area of the website printout on the face of that dial.
 
The o'clock type descriptions aren't enough. See, on the stoves, with the convection deck, the cat probe dial must be upside down so it will fit. I have no idea what you're talking about with 5 o'clock. I have had the pointer clear into the .com area of the website printout on the face of that dial.
My stove came with a longer cat probe for use with the convection deck. It faces the correct way.
 
I don't think these stove top cat probes are very accurate due to the radiant heat coming off the stove top so when I reload on top of coals I still wait at least 10 minutes to get the wood good and charred. By that time I can be well over 500 or even close to 1000. Heck, most of the time my probe is 600-700 when it's time to reload but I won't just throw the wood in there and engage the cat because I know it's probably off some. A cold stove is a different matter and the probe temps are probably a little more realistic. After awhile you get the feel for a cat stove and can tell when to engage more my looking at the fire and just giving it a little time.
 
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