2020-21 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)
- Thread starter begreen
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
- Status
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
They just reload a bunch of times, wake up colder, and enjoy the temperature swings. But the glass stays clean and no cats to buy! Long burn times are so much better so long as you’ve properly selected a stove/home that stays warm at those lower settings.
When it’s cold, and higher outputs are desired, the reload times can be as short as 3 hours on my noncat. Up to 8 hours when trying for long burns and match free relights on a 200+ degree stove. My last noncat was a soapstone and could make it 9 or so if the wood was ashy enough to mask the coals.
If I had some sort of cheap heat from a furnace then i might be convinced to try one of those good looking noncats again when this BK needs a break. Until then I’ve been spoiled by once per day reloads, constant warmth, and no fiddling with the air control.
I'm looking to change stoves. The stove I have now is pretty good but I'm not burning it much because of the lower burn times. It gets about 6-7 hours of burn and needs somewhat constant babying. It is a jotul F500 so it can crank out the heat but by house is kind of chopped up and doesn't do well with transferring the heat and it doesn't really like to run low and slow. I'm looking to get an Ashford 30 to replace it. I'm only burning standing dead pine and I want a realistic opinion on what I can expect for burn times on low, medium and high. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
First thing I would do is take a handful of your "standing dead Pine" and do a fresh split on it for a immediate moisture check on the freshly exposed inner face. Be sure the pieces selected for eventual testing are indoors long enough to be up to room temp prior to splitting/testing. Do you have a moisture meter?
I had one and then I returned it to amazon because it was defective. New on is coming. I'll have a better idea on that in a week or so.
Climate can affect burn time as it changes the draft. That said, with a full load of small splits of alder and cedar I was getting solid 15 hour burns without stalling the cat. Bigger splits and replacing the cedar with birch and maple and I’m expecting 20+ hours from a load on low.
On high I don’t think burn times will be any longer than a tube stove for the same amount and type of wood.
Not having any experience with a tube stove I hesitate to say what you would get for burn time, but probably similar to a tube stove on low but with still active secondary burning.
On high I don’t think burn times will be any longer than a tube stove for the same amount and type of wood.
Not having any experience with a tube stove I hesitate to say what you would get for burn time, but probably similar to a tube stove on low but with still active secondary burning.
I have an Ashford 30 and also mostly burn standing dead pine (beetle killed lodgepole). Temps this winter are mild, with overnight lows and daytime highs ranging from 15-35 Fahrenheit +/-. I have no problem getting 24 hour burns on a full load of 8-10 splits at these temperatures. The fastest I've ever burned through a load was about 9 hours on med-high when the temps were -20F and below, but I've never had to continuously run on high.
But it will depend more on how your house is set up as far as size and insulation, etc. My home is only 1400 square feet with fair insulation.
Edit: also be aware the Ashfords are very finicky about chimney, so verify your size and height before moving ahead.
Holy heck, I haven’t been here in forever. Glad to see the BK madness still going 
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Holy heck, I haven’t been here in forever. Glad to see the BK madness still going
Nothing else on the market comes close! Your signature says you have a noncat PE. This is the BK thread. Are you going to upgrade?
Nigel459
Feeling the Heat
At least if one is (gasp) not going to run a BK, the Super 27 is a very fine option IMO...
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Just follow the owners manual. 15’ minimum all vertical 6” at sea level. Add length for bends and altitude as specified.
15’ is really tall for a single story home. I only have 12’ but that met requirements for my 2012 princess.
Sold the BKK with the house in 2015.
To be honest I was scrolling through my contacts today and saw @rdust number still there and thought I should check in.
My 27 is in a vacation home. I don’t burn full time anymore and miss it all winter.
It is capable of some ridiculously long, reasonably comfortable burns for such a small firebox, or I can crank it up and load it every 6-7 hour if I need the heat.
That little dog is a heat whore lol
Nealm66
Minister of Fire
Nealm66
Minister of Fire
Yesterday the wife said she was feeling cold so I turned the stove up and about 4pm I noticed it was starting to coal. I should have left it alone but I’ve been wondering what to do with these huge chunks that didn’t want to split sooo... I threw one in and left it turned up pretty high. Lol, that was a bad idea. I had the door open for a while to cool the house down. It did burn down to where I could stick a couple pieces in for the night. House stayed hot even though I turned the stove way down
Nealm66
Minister of Fire
Diabel
Minister of Fire
Nealm66
Minister of Fire
Lol, no kidding! I’ve got about 1 cord ready to burn now. Better than I expected really. Got an unlimited supply of fir snags but have to stagger the two drying racks which are 8’ . Not super dry but seems to burn pretty good after a couple weeks in the stove room. Be glad to be more prepared next year for sure
This is one of my piles I need to whittle on. That’s my elk hunting buddy in the yellow coat.
Attachments
Nealm66
Minister of Fire
Alder and birch. All the dead and dying ones we cleaned off my property. Well, not all. I do have a couple (smaller) piles, plus quite a few logs scattered that never made it to any pile. I could keep a woodchuck occupied for a looong time.
Holy heck, I haven’t been here in forever. Glad to see the BK madness still going
Madness you helped start!! Glad to see you’re still around!
Is your sister(think that’s who it was) still using the BKK you rebuilt?
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
So, question. When I start up the stove, and the bypass is still open, I can see the flames drawing to the open bypass.
However, when I close the bypass because the cat reaches active stage (and I don't immediately turn down the air), I often can't see flames being pulled towards the cat even though that is the only way out.
Flames in the back of the box seem to go up towards the bypass. Not "pulling" there (at all), but clearly not pulling to the cat either.
Cat is nicely hot, burn times are long (14-16 hrs on 3 o'clock, near 24 on low), I can hear and feel the bypass locking in place with the second resistance that I feel when I move the handle, and I have visually (not with a dollar bill) checked the bypass seems properly closed. Flue temps are 150 ish (single wall, magnetic, 4" after the end of a 90 deg bend that is 2 ft above the stove, with the first two ft and the elbow being double wall - all this will be replaced with proper double walls, 45s, and a shorter horizontal run soon).
Bottomline, I think it runs well, and only me staring into the box leads me to this question.
Do you see the same or should I see flames pulling to the cat when the air is open enough?
However, when I close the bypass because the cat reaches active stage (and I don't immediately turn down the air), I often can't see flames being pulled towards the cat even though that is the only way out.
Flames in the back of the box seem to go up towards the bypass. Not "pulling" there (at all), but clearly not pulling to the cat either.
Cat is nicely hot, burn times are long (14-16 hrs on 3 o'clock, near 24 on low), I can hear and feel the bypass locking in place with the second resistance that I feel when I move the handle, and I have visually (not with a dollar bill) checked the bypass seems properly closed. Flue temps are 150 ish (single wall, magnetic, 4" after the end of a 90 deg bend that is 2 ft above the stove, with the first two ft and the elbow being double wall - all this will be replaced with proper double walls, 45s, and a shorter horizontal run soon).
Bottomline, I think it runs well, and only me staring into the box leads me to this question.
Do you see the same or should I see flames pulling to the cat when the air is open enough?
Holiday
Burning Hunk
I see much the same thing, I believe with the resistance of going through the cat the air flow wouldn't be nearly as strong as just an opening. Just my theory and observation
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
That was my theory too, but consistent observations to confirm this are nice.
I do see the flames in the front of the firebox "blowing away" from the door due to the incoming air though (with a Tstat far open)... And what comes in has to get out in the same rate, and given that the cross sectional area of the cat is similar to that of the air wash slit, I was wondering...
- Status
