2016-17 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK) Part 2

[webby3650]

Mine did not suit the personality of this old house.

View attachment 197315

It was finally starting to come together like I wanted. Although, if the Ashford insert was available when I started all this I probably would have put one in..

 

[kennyp2339]

Wow both look fantastic, I could see signing my BK warrenty information while drinking a ..... in that room

 

[jatoxico]

Mine did not suit the personality of this old house.

View attachment 197315

Is that a harp??

 

[Ashful]

Is that a harp??

Yes, my wife played concert harp for several years... before we had kids. At the present, it's more of a very expensive and inconvenient piece of furniture.

That photo of the Mendota was of the room as it stood when we moved in, and it has since been redone into my office. I believe it is part of the 1738 house that once stood on this site, and was used as the main kitchen of the current house from 1779 until the 1890's, when they added the "new" kitchen we use today.

Here's the same room as it stands today, just excuse my under-desk wiring, I was just in the process of installing that big built-in desk at the time:

 

[jatoxico]

Yes, my wife played concert harp for several years... before we had kids. At the present, it's more of a very expensive and inconvenient piece of furniture.

That photo of the Mendota was of the room as it stood when we moved in, and it has since been redone into my office. I believe it is part of the 1738 house that once stood on this site, and was used as the main kitchen of the current house from 1779 until the 1890's, when they added the "new" kitchen we use today.

Here's the same room as it stands today, just excuse my under-desk wiring, I was just in the process of installing that big built-in desk at the time:

View attachment 197335

I was going to say something about the wiring till you said . Nice tasteful room BTW.

My oldest is a music major and has played quite a few venues (just got back from Cuba) but I haven't seen too many harpists. Must be tough to tune.

 

[Marshy]

I'm selling my King Ultra if anyone is interested.

 

[Ignerence]

Well I pulled the trigger today, I ordered a Sirocco 30.1, as well as 6" insulated chimney, and DW pipe and installation from the Hearth and homes dealer in Calgary (insurance reasons).

Researched a bunch and read silently on here and tried getting info out from between people bickering for the last 6 months or so lol.

I have a 1200 SF 70's era country house in Rural Alberta for the last 5 years. I've sealed it up quite a bit, and put new doors, weather stripping, ect in. It is finished upstairs with a un finished basement (stairwell with doors). I've actually had a pretty easy time heating it with the natural gas furnace but I've always wanted a wood stove to supplement it due to crazy natural gas prices and the fact I love a nice fire on a -30 stormy winter day.... so here we are.

I have 4 cords of cut and stacked Doug fir and spruce/pine since January and its seasoning quite quickly in our arid climate. Its about 1/2 the weight it was when cut and cracked like crazy. My moisture reader is on its way via mail.

My main floor is semi-open. With about 600 sf being kitchen/living room where the stove will go in the center, with a straight up chimney (5' DW pipe, 8-10' insulated chimney through attic). The other 600 sf is two bed rooms, two baths and a office. We'll see how I get the heat dispersed but I hope it works ok.

I just wanted to say thanks for the info and thanks to Chris (BKVP) for being present on the forums as its a huge support reason to go this route. Initially I was looking at secondary tube designs but realized I would heat myself out of the small space asap, and have short burn times with our softwoods. So hope I got it all figured.

 

[kennyp2339]

Well I pulled the trigger today, I ordered a Sirocco 30.1, as well as 6" insulated chimney, and DW pipe and installation from the Hearth and homes dealer in Calgary (insurance reasons).

Researched a bunch and read silently on here and tried getting info out from between people bickering for the last 6 months or so lol.

I have a 1200 SF 70's era country house in Rural Alberta for the last 5 years. I've sealed it up quite a bit, and put new doors, weather stripping, ect in. It is finished upstairs with a un finished basement (stairwell with doors). I've actually had a pretty easy time heating it with the natural gas furnace but I've always wanted a wood stove to supplement it due to crazy natural gas prices and the fact I love a nice fire on a -30 stormy winter day.... so here we are.

I have 4 cords of cut and stacked Doug fir and spruce/pine since January and its seasoning quite quickly in our arid climate. Its about 1/2 the weight it was when cut and cracked like crazy. My moisture reader is on its way via mail.

My main floor is semi-open. With about 600 sf being kitchen/living room where the stove will go in the center, with a straight up chimney (5' DW pipe, 8-10' insulated chimney through attic). The other 600 sf is two bed rooms, two baths and a office. We'll see how I get the heat dispersed but I hope it works ok.

I just wanted to say thanks for the info and thanks to Chris (BKVP) for being present on the forums as its a huge support reason to go this route. Initially I was looking at secondary tube designs but realized I would heat myself out of the small space asap, and have short burn times with our softwoods. So hope I got it all figured.

Get a ceiling fan for the kitchen / living room, run it low counter clockwise while the stove is going, you should not have a problem good luck and nice choice.

 

[moresnow]

(ignerence))
Welcome to the forum. Congrats on the Sirocco. Believe you will be impressed. The long burn times and even heat output are great. I run the smaller 20 model and am super satisfied with it. The fan kit works super to help circulate your heat. Another common method of getting heat distributed to cold parts of the home is to place a floor fan in the cold area gently pushing the cold air towards the stove. It works. Update your experience's here when you get the chance.

 

[Ashful]

I have 4 cords of cut and stacked Doug fir and spruce/pine since January and its seasoning quite quickly in our arid climate. Its about 1/2 the weight it was when cut and cracked like crazy. My moisture reader is on its way via mail.

My main floor is semi-open. With about 600 sf being kitchen/living room where the stove will go in the center, with a straight up chimney (5' DW pipe, 8-10' insulated chimney through attic). The other 600 sf is two bed rooms, two baths and a office. We'll see how I get the heat dispersed but I hope it works ok.

Lots of info here on how to use that moisture meter, but the basics are:

1. Always test in the long grain on a freshly-split face. Orientation of pins in the long grain is not critical, just no end-grain testing.
2. Always test wood near 70F = 23C. Testing very cold wood gives falsely low MC% numbers.
3. Always make a fresh face immediately before testing.

On heat distribution, you will be surprised how even a house can be when only running one heat source, when you keep that heat source steadily cranking out low BTU's 24/7. Just keep that stove cruising, and never let it go out.

 

[Marshy]

...
On heat distribution, you will be surprised how even a house can be when only running one heat source, when you keep that heat source steadily cranking out low BTU's 24/7. Just keep that stove cruising, and never let it go out.

Low BTU's? I guess that depends what the heat load of the house is and what an individual's thermal comfort is. Some require more heat than others.

@Ignerence, does your stove have fans? I suggest getting them if it does. It allows the stove to reach it's full potential output. I've also notice these stoves don't radiate heal like the old steel boxes so mixing the air to get the heat out of it might be necessary (lots of variables though).

 

[Highbeam]

On heat distribution, you will be surprised how even a house can be when only running one heat source, when you keep that heat source steadily cranking out low BTU's 24/7. Just keep that stove cruising, and never let it go out.

I know what you meant ashful and you're right. Keeping the house warm is much easier and more comfortable than yo-yo ing.

 

[kennyp2339]

I know what you meant ashful and you're right. Keeping the house warm is much easier and more comfortable than yo-yo ing.

I also concur, its hard to explain it, but once you experience it you'll never want to go back to any other type of stove

 

[jatoxico]

I'm a yo-yoer and it's true that it's a pain. Once objects in the room cool off (couches etc) it takes a while to bring them back up to temp. Once stabilized to a comfortable temp it's much easier in all respects.

 

[Ashful]

Low BTU's? I guess that depends what the heat load of the house is and what an individual's thermal comfort is. Some require more heat than others.

lol... I don't think there are many members of this forum with a residential heat load higher than mine, nor do I think your inability to get satisfactory results from your Blaze King is typical of the wider experience. When you go thru $2400 in electric + 10 cords of oak and ash + 1400 gallons of oil to heat your house for a single winter, then we'll talk about "some requiring more heat than others".

 

[jetsam]

lol... I don't think there are many members of this forum with a residential heat load higher than mine, nor do I think your inability to get satisfactory results from your Blaze King is typical of the wider experience. When you go thru $2400 in electric + 10 cords of oak and ash + 1400 gallons of oil to heat your house for a single winter, then we'll talk about "some requiring more heat than others".

When the only way you can make it warmer inside is by singlehandedly raising the outdoor air temperature, this endeavor might fall more under "weather modification" than "home heating".

 

[begreen]

I also concur, its hard to explain it, but once you experience it you'll never want to go back to any other type of stove

That's debatable. Since switching to the T6 our house temps have been remarkably consistent for 8 seasons now.

 

[Marshy]

That's debatable. Since switching to the T6 our house temps have been remarkably consistent for 8 seasons now.

When you only know one way sometimes you think it's the best.

 

[begreen]

Everyone's stove is the best... til' they get a different one.

 

[Highbeam]

That's debatable. Since switching to the T6 our house temps have been remarkably consistent for 8 seasons now.

Switching back to the T6 from a cat stove? I didn't think you ever had a cat stove. If not, then you fall under the category of "once you experience it".

I also concur, its hard to explain it, but once you experience it you'll never want to go back to any other type of stove

I still have a yoyo stove in my shop since they do a pretty great job of running hot and the yoyo stoves can be bought for cheap!

 

[begreen]

I have run a cat stove for a friend, it was fine, a little boring, but worked well. I've also driven a Vette. Interesting and fun, but I don't particularly want to own it.

 

[Highbeam]

When you only know one way sometimes you think it's the best.

Some of us have tried a few ways in the same house and can make educated recommendations. I've never tried a pellet stove or a wood boiler so I have no idea about them.

There really are quiet a few options. Furnaces, stoves, boilers, heating with gas, cats, noncats, wood, pellets, oil. Then there are so many furnace choices.

This here is a BK thread and about all they make is cat woodstoves. So......

 

[Marshy]

I know no difference. I can get the same even heat output from my Shenandoah as I can my BK. Only difference is burn time which the King takes the win but, i believe the Shenandoah beats the King just at a penality in the consumption department. Lol

 

[Ignerence]

Thanks for the welcome guys . I will look into a ceiling fan, that's a good idea. I planned to try the sirocco without fans for no other reason then I want silence however should that not sufficiently work I have no problems adding them either.

I also understand the yoyo effect. I have a 1400 sf shop I keep unheated but when I work in it I turn on the 125,000 btu furnace.... Until the temp stabilizes it's turning off and on every few minutes. I ended up re wiring a fridge thermostat with a 10* differential in off/on temps to spread the cycles out. Might have to but a drolet ht2000 in there! Lol.

 

[Ignerence]

P.s. I was bored tonight so I split a few 30" rounds and fired up my old 46 cj2a to do the mule work! Lol. Gotta make some fun of all the splitting!