2013-2014 Blaze King Performance Thread(everything BK)

[rdust]

I made a thread like this last season in hopes of keeping the Blaze King talk from overtaking the forum. That seemed to work pretty well so we'll try it again. Think of it as one stop shopping.

Feel free to post up any BK questions or talk about the legendary BK burn times.

I've been getting pretty consistent 24hr plus burns with a cherry/silver maple mix the last week or so with daytime temps in the 40's and overnights in the 30's. Gets boring running the stove but fun to talk about.

 

[HotCoals]

I just want to make the second post in this thread!
I'm on my 4th season with the stove and would buy it over again.
Cat still going strong.

 

[johnstra]

I was hoping you'd do this

First season with my King Ultra. So far, so good. I easily get 24-30 hour burns with my supply of 10-15% MC lodgepole pine. I've even reloaded on hot coals after more than 48 hours! Can't wait for really cold weather to see how it performs burning 2+ year old red oak and honey locust.

 

[BrotherBart]

I just want to make the second post in this thread!

What's new.

 

[HotCoals]

What's new.

(broken image removed)

 

[HotCoals]

Us BK guys just have way too much free time on our hands! lol

 

[BrotherBart]

I knew you would be back stirring the ashes once it got cold.

 

[HotCoals]

I knew you would be back stirring the ashes once it got cold.

(broken image removed)
Nice play on words!
I knew you missed me!

 

[BillsWS]

Hope to post here soon, the Sirocco 30 install should be complete soon. The Class A chimney is in, the stove is in the garage and the hearth is done. Next is the OAK which is giong to require cutting through 6" of concrete wall (this is an insulated concrete form house). I believe we have one good day of work left to be ready to burn.

 

[Carlcox]

I was hoping you'd do this

First season with my King Ultra. So far, so good. I easily get 24-30 hour burns with my supply of 10-15% lodgepole pine. I've even reloaded on hot coals after more than 48 hours! Can't wait for really cold weather to see how it performs burning 2+ year old red oak and honey locust.

My first year also, King Ultra. Similar burn times to you, hard to believe. With locust and oak mix. We will see what it does when it gets colder.

 

[johnstra]

I've seen several posts that the BK fans are not loud. I have to say mine do seem quite loud to me even on low. Guess it's a good thing I don't plan to use them much.

 

[PapaDave]

Hope to post here soon, the Sirocco 30 install should be complete soon. The Class A chimney is in, the stove is in the garage and the hearth is done. Next is the OAK which is giong to require cutting through 6" of concrete wall (this is an insulated concrete form house). I believe we have one good day of work left to be ready to burn.

This is one I want to see, Bill.
Taking a real hard look at this stove as a replacement for the old one.

 

[Highbeam]

I've seen several posts that the BK fans are not loud. I have to say mine do seem quite loud to me even on low. Guess it's a good thing I don't plan to use them much.

Compared to other brands they are pretty dang quiet, especially on low speeds. Make no mistake, you know they're on.

 

[weatherguy]

I've seen several posts that the BK fans are not loud. I have to say mine do seem quite loud to me even on low. Guess it's a good thing I don't plan to use them much.

Mine on low is real quiet, sometimes I have to check to see if I turned it on because I can't hear it. Does yours vibrate or just loud?

 

[johnstra]

No vibration... just loud. I certainly don't have to check that they are on. I'd like it if I could dial the rheostat down a bit further. Even on low, I think it's moving too much air across my stove.

 

[BrianN]

My first year with the King Ultra as well. So far I'm happy with it. I did have a Princess a few years ago, and was really impressed with it.
I only put 4 - 5 splits in at a time as it is just barely dipping into the freezing mark overnight, but, those splits will easily last 12 hours and up to 18.
I have been burning since mid September, and haven't had to light a fire (running 24/7) for the past three weeks, and have went through one row of pine measuring 7' x 4'.
Things will get interesting now as we are getting into the -teens (-11, 12.2 last night) and highs up to 5 (41) today.

 

[jeff_t]

Hope to post here soon, the Sirocco 30 install should be complete soon. The Class A chimney is in, the stove is in the garage and the hearth is done. Next is the OAK which is giong to require cutting through 6" of concrete wall (this is an insulated concrete form house). I believe we have one good day of work left to be ready to burn.

Whew. I was afraid you went for the boiler.

 

[johnstra]

Low 30s, dark, and drizzly all day outside. 75-76 inside all day - on the same load of wood of course.

 

[BrowningBAR]

What is the going price for the Princess insert, the Sirroco 30, and tha Ashford 30 for the northeast?

 

[BrowningBAR]

Compared to other brands they are pretty dang quiet, especially on low speeds. Make no mistake, you know they're on.

Have you tried the 30 with the blower? How do the two blowers compare. I find the 30 blower to be really loud. I'm thinking about a princess insert in the kitchen, but the blower is a concern.

 

[rdust]

Have you tried the 30 with the blower? How do the two blowers compare. I find the 30 blower to be really loud. I'm thinking about a princess insert in the kitchen, but the blower is a concern.

Mine isn't bad on low and my tv is only a few feet away from the stove. It's so subjective I'd think a visit to a local BK dealer would be the best way to determine if you should scratch it off the list or not.

 

[aansorge]

My longest burn so far was 36 hours, but I have been running on setting two. Generally, 16 to 24 hours depending on the wood quality. If I turn it a bit below 2 the burn times really increase, but the stove just seems happy at two as does the mrs. My son complains its too warm. I tell him to close his door

No fans yet and all 2000 sq ft are warm ( like 81 to 74 depending on where you are at).

This is my first season with this stove and really like it. My enerzone ZC sure makes for a beautiful fire, but that is about all it has on the blaze king. The Enerzone needs to run the fan all the time, reloads occur between 5 and 10 hours, and worst is the lack of depth of the fire box. The depth of the blaze king box is almost as nice as its long burn times. I've emptied a little bit once so far in about a month of burning. I emptied a little every day on my enerzone to try and keep the ashes form spilling out. This caused the house to get dusty. There was enough ashes in the air at times that I worried about indoor air quality. The blaze king will never spill ash and is easy to unload. Everything about this stove is just plain functional and well thought out minus the the door frame which seems uneven at least on mine. The hinge side seems to meet the door before the latch side. Grinder anyone?

The enerzone will be fired up in the really cold months to heat the basement ( forced air kit) and it will be nice to see the secondaries again. It's a wonderful FP but I'm happy to have the king as my new primary unit.

 

[Highbeam]

Have you tried the 30 with the blower? How do the two blowers compare. I find the 30 blower to be really loud. I'm thinking about a princess insert in the kitchen, but the blower is a concern.

I am using the factory standard blower on the 30. It is an lo/off/hi model and even on low it is pretty loud for an interior space. It's in a shop though with 14' ceilings and a huge flat panel of durock behind. I'm usually making noise anyway and the radio easily drowns it out. The low speed on the BK is much quieter but since it is a variable blower I have no idea how much air flow it is making compared to the 30's blower on low. A more fair comparison would be the optional blower on the 30 which costs like 20% as much as the whole dang stove so I'm not buying it.

 

[rdust]

Here is how my last burn has gone so far.

Here is the stove temp last night at roughly 10:30pm before I loaded(last load was over 24 hours).

Here is a shot of the coal bed.

Last nights load of silver maple and cherry, not packed to the gills.

Here is the temp and wood left this morning as I left for work around 8am. Notice the nearly full splits still in the stove.

Here is the temp this evening around 7pm.

Here it is again about a half hour later after turning it up to 2 in hopes of being able to reload tonight. Don't know how many stoves can gain temps after 20 hours or so.

As of 9:30 pm this is what I'm dealing with after pulling everything into the center. Still find these stoves silly even going into season 3. I didn't get into indoor temps/outdoor temps at this point, we had a high of 47 today at 12:45pm and currently 38 at 10:30. Family room temps are ridiculous in the upper 70's.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I am using the factory standard blower on the 30. It is an lo/off/hi model and even on low it is pretty loud for an interior space. It's in a shop though with 14' ceilings and a huge flat panel of durock behind. I'm usually making noise anyway and the radio easily drowns it out. The low speed on the BK is much quieter but since it is a variable blower I have no idea how much air flow it is making compared to the 30's blower on low. A more fair comparison would be the optional blower on the 30 which costs like 20% as much as the whole dang stove so I'm not buying it.

Your opinion matches mine on the 30 blower. Very loud even on low. Seems like the BK Princess blower is a good deal quieter. I wouldn't think I would need much air movement for the princess. Not sure, though.