2018-19 Blaze King Performance Thread Part 2 (Everything BK)

[Boxer]

So any ideas on loading the BK Ashford 25 for longest burn?
My question is the angular box is very wide at front then narrows. So would loading EW it NS give the best results? Top down or bottom up?

My wood isn’t perfect as it’s about 18-20% mc Red oak.

Splits are average triangles. I really don’t have any BIG splits ready to burn.


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I’m finding north south is the best in my setup. I’m finding 14” splits to be just about perfect for a tight packed in fuel load. The problem is I have three years + worth of wood sitting here and staged in the woods that is averaging 20” long. I’m chopping everything to 14” plus or minus a bit and then filling in with the short pieces I cut off. I tried east west and your right with the box being tapered it’s just almost impossible to get a tightly packed load in there.

What kind of burn times are you getting out of your new insert?

 

[darktower007]

I’m finding north south is the best in my setup. I’m finding 14” splits to be just about perfect for a tight packed in fuel load. The problem is I have three years + worth of wood sitting here and staged in the woods that is averaging 20” long. I’m chopping everything to 14” plus or minus a bit and then filling in with the short pieces I cut off. I tried east west and your right with the box being tapered it’s just almost impossible to get a tightly packed load in there.

What kind of burn times are you getting out of your new insert?

Well I’m still new at this and was trying to figure out what burn times is equivalent too. So if it’s from ignition to cold stove it’s 6-8 hours on low and 4 splits. Tonight I was going to pack it full get it ripping close bypass and turn to medium with fan on medium. What’s considered total burn time? Cat active time range?


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[Boxer]

Well I’m still new at this and was trying to figure out what burn times is equivalent too. So if it’s from ignition to cold stove it’s 6-8 hours on low and 4 splits. Tonight I was going to pack it full get it ripping close bypass and turn to medium with fan on medium. What’s considered total burn time? Cat active time range?


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I agree it’s hard to decide what is the actual “burn” time on these stoves. I think I would consider it usable heat as I can still have coals and rekindle a fire 18-20 hours later on a mild day but it’s not really heating the room. I would say 6-8 on four splits is pretty good. I loaded mine at 8:00 PM last night and it’s still throwing heat but its 58 degrees outside today.

My wood is not perfect this year either and I don’t have anything really big as well. When it was into the low 20s earlier this season I was loading at 9:00 and waking up to an active cat at 7:00 and could easily get 12 hours of usable heat. Once it stops raining and gets cold then we will see what it will do I guess.

Load that thing up and let it go. Mine likes to be stuffed full. I’ve also found the fan speed makes a huge difference as far as how long the load burns. I’ve been running mine on low most of the time and it still really moves the heat out. My cat needle will fall out of the active zone but I’m still getting nothing but heat waves out of the chimney toward the end of the burn. The cats not active according to the needle but I’m still getting heat from the coals for several hours.

 

[darktower007]

I agree it’s hard to decide what is the actual “burn” time on these stoves. I think I would consider it usable heat as I can still have coals and rekindle a fire 18-20 hours later on a mild day but it’s not really heating the room. I would say 6-8 on four splits is pretty good. I loaded mine at 8:00 PM last night and it’s still throwing heat but its 58 degrees outside today.

My wood is not perfect this year either and I don’t have anything really big as well. When it was into the low 20s earlier this season I was loading at 9:00 and waking up to an active cat at 7:00 and could easily get 12 hours of usable heat. Once it stops raining and gets cold then we will see what it will do I guess.

Load that thing up and let it go. Mine likes to be stuffed full. I’ve also found the fan speed makes a huge difference as far as how long the load burns. I’ve been running mine on low most of the time and it still really moves the heat out. My cat needle will fall out of the active zone but I’m still getting nothing but heat waves out of the chimney toward the end of the burn. The cats not active according to the needle but I’m still getting heat from the coals for several hours.

Yes the cat needle was confusing me. It was still blowing hot air with coals, but it was 1/2 way out of cat zone. I’ll see what tomorrow’s load does and report back. [emoji106]


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[Ashful]

So any ideas on loading the BK Ashford 25 for longest burn?

Not N/S, as you’d have the tapered sides half empty. Not E/W, as you’d have to cut short for the back and long for the front. Of course, the best way is vertical loading, stand all of the splits on their ends. [emoji14]

Well I’m still new at this and was trying to figure out what burn times is equivalent too. So if it’s from ignition to cold stove it’s 6-8 hours on low and 4 splits. Tonight I was going to pack it full get it ripping close bypass and turn to medium with fan on medium. What’s considered total burn time? Cat active time range?

I usually go by active cat hours. If things have burned down so far that my cat drops out of active, the stove ain’t doing much heating, at that point. That said, I can get 30+ hours of active cat, in Ashford 30’s.

 

[lsucet]

I usually go by active cat hours. If things have burned down so far that my cat drops out of active, the stove ain’t doing much heating, at that point. That said, I can get 30+ hours of active cat, in Ashford 30’s.

Isn't it amazing? When is good to have a good bed of ash, is not good have to much in it. The princess has a deep belly, it can hold lot of ash, but when to much ash in there the cat can drop out of the active zone and there is some good/big coals buried in the ash.
When i remove the ash and let just a little in there, everything goes to ashes and the cat still active. lol. if i go by the cat in the active zone then i have no coals to relight.

 

[kennyp2339]

. Of course, the best way is vertical loading, stand all of the splits on their ends.

Hmmmmm.... challenge accepted

 

[kennyp2339]

Isn't it amazing? When is good to have a good bed of ash, is not good have to much in it. The princess has a deep belly, it can hold lot of ash, but when to much ash in there the cat can drop out of the active zone and there is some good/big coals buried in the ash.
When i remove the ash and let just a little in there, everything goes to ashes and the cat still active. lol. if i go by the cat in the active zone then i have no coals to relight.

Did you install the damper yet?

 

[lsucet]

Did you install the damper yet?

Yeah, I did and then clean the chimney and put the non damper one back. I did brought it back around 0.05 and it makes a different. Just one more thing to tend on reloads etc. I forgot one time and smoke blow in my face.

 

[MTASH]

Since this is the performance thread and math discussion is predominate lately, I'll take this opportunity as an introduction to our experience.

We installed our new Ashford 30 on December 22. I kept track of every load for 2-weeks after installation. We burned 70 splits the first week and 69 the second week, for an average of 10 splits/day, mostly Pine with a few Aspen, Spruce and Russian Olive in the mix. This is heating 24/7 in our 1300 sq. ft. single level home. Outside temps ranged from -3F to +36F during this time. Inside maintained 69-73F, with one exception noted below.

The only time the cat fell out of active is when I miscalculated an overnight load, and combined with a severe drop in temperature, the stove went out. This was part of me learning this stove and correctly setting the thermostat. We cleaned the glass and re-lit a fresh load.

While home for the Holidays, I was easily able to get 16-20 hour burns, and probably could've gotten 24 hours if I packed the stove as full as my wife packs for vacation (she has an amazing ability to pack an extraordinary amount of clothes in the smallest of suitcases!). We've since switched to ~12-hour loads due to our work schedules, so it doesn't get loaded full - usually around 5 splits but could be 4-6 depending on size, temperature, etc.

For comparison, our ol' battle-axe Schrader averaged about a split an hour. We could not heat overnight or while gone during the day with that stove - just evenings and weekends. It was too difficult to control. On the other hand, the Ashford is pretty, but boring to run. No more constant loading and fiddling. I no longer have much use for paper or the fancy little torch I bought for lighting fires. I guess that's what the burn barrel is for now.

This was our big Christmas present this season, and needless to say we are thrilled with this stove, especially the long burns and the fact we no longer have to use any propane for heat. My only real gripe is the thermostat location - we have a corner installation which makes it difficult to see. It would be nice to have a cable control with the option of pointing it forward or up. I fabricated a pointer out of a paper clip to attach to the swoosh bracket so I can turn down to the same setting more easily. Yeah, I'm an engineer.

Prior to purchase, I literally spent days on this site lurking, so thanks to all the folks here who provided such valuable information. It would've been a much more difficult decision without being an educated buyer!

 

[BKVP]

So any ideas on loading the BK Ashford 25 for longest burn?
My question is the angular box is very wide at front then narrows. So would loading EW it NS give the best results? Top down or bottom up?

My wood isn’t perfect as it’s about 18-20% mc Red oak.

Splits are average triangles. I really don’t have any BIG splits ready to burn.


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Reduce surface area exposed to combustion in the load by getting the largest diameter pieces in each load. It will contribute significantly, especially on low burns.

 

[BKVP]

Yes the cat needle was confusing me. It was still blowing hot air with coals, but it was 1/2 way out of cat zone. I’ll see what tomorrow’s load does and report back. [emoji106]


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Please remember of the AF25 and SC25 the cat therm is a switch. When the cat drops below 550F, is reads inactive. Above 550F it is active. No shades of silver as per the bimetallic style used on ours and others stoves and inserts. (Now comes the pitch from someone to use an analog)

 

[BKVP]

Since this is the performance thread and math discussion is predominate lately, I'll take this opportunity as an introduction to our experience.

We installed our new Ashford 30 on December 22. I kept track of every load for 2-weeks after installation. We burned 70 splits the first week and 69 the second week, for an average of 10 splits/day, mostly Pine with a few Aspen, Spruce and Russian Olive in the mix. This is heating 24/7 in our 1300 sq. ft. single level home. Outside temps ranged from -3F to +36F during this time. Inside maintained 69-73F, with one exception noted below.

The only time the cat fell out of active is when I miscalculated an overnight load, and combined with a severe drop in temperature, the stove went out. This was part of me learning this stove and correctly setting the thermostat. We cleaned the glass and re-lit a fresh load.

While home for the Holidays, I was easily able to get 16-20 hour burns, and probably could've gotten 24 hours if I packed the stove as full as my wife packs for vacation (she has an amazing ability to pack an extraordinary amount of clothes in the smallest of suitcases!). We've since switched to ~12-hour loads due to our work schedules, so it doesn't get loaded full - usually around 5 splits but could be 4-6 depending on size, temperature, etc.

For comparison, our ol' battle-axe Schrader averaged about a split an hour. We could not heat overnight or while gone during the day with that stove - just evenings and weekends. It was too difficult to control. On the other hand, the Ashford is pretty, but boring to run. No more constant loading and fiddling. I no longer have much use for paper or the fancy little torch I bought for lighting fires. I guess that's what the burn barrel is for now.

This was our big Christmas present this season, and needless to say we are thrilled with this stove, especially the long burns and the fact we no longer have to use any propane for heat. My only real gripe is the thermostat location - we have a corner installation which makes it difficult to see. It would be nice to have a cable control with the option of pointing it forward or up. I fabricated a pointer out of a paper clip to attach to the swoosh bracket so I can turn down to the same setting more easily. Yeah, I'm an engineer.

Prior to purchase, I literally spent days on this site lurking, so thanks to all the folks here who provided such valuable information. It would've been a much more difficult decision without being an educated buyer!

Should have had the wife pack the Shrader!

 

[lsucet]

Since this is the performance thread and math discussion is predominate lately, I'll take this opportunity as an introduction to our experience.

We installed our new Ashford 30 on December 22. I kept track of every load for 2-weeks after installation. We burned 70 splits the first week and 69 the second week, for an average of 10 splits/day, mostly Pine with a few Aspen, Spruce and Russian Olive in the mix. This is heating 24/7 in our 1300 sq. ft. single level home. Outside temps ranged from -3F to +36F during this time. Inside maintained 69-73F, with one exception noted below.

The only time the cat fell out of active is when I miscalculated an overnight load, and combined with a severe drop in temperature, the stove went out. This was part of me learning this stove and correctly setting the thermostat. We cleaned the glass and re-lit a fresh load.

While home for the Holidays, I was easily able to get 16-20 hour burns, and probably could've gotten 24 hours if I packed the stove as full as my wife packs for vacation (she has an amazing ability to pack an extraordinary amount of clothes in the smallest of suitcases!). We've since switched to ~12-hour loads due to our work schedules, so it doesn't get loaded full - usually around 5 splits but could be 4-6 depending on size, temperature, etc.

For comparison, our ol' battle-axe Schrader averaged about a split an hour. We could not heat overnight or while gone during the day with that stove - just evenings and weekends. It was too difficult to control. On the other hand, the Ashford is pretty, but boring to run. No more constant loading and fiddling. I no longer have much use for paper or the fancy little torch I bought for lighting fires. I guess that's what the burn barrel is for now.

This was our big Christmas present this season, and needless to say we are thrilled with this stove, especially the long burns and the fact we no longer have to use any propane for heat. My only real gripe is the thermostat location - we have a corner installation which makes it difficult to see. It would be nice to have a cable control with the option of pointing it forward or up. I fabricated a pointer out of a paper clip to attach to the swoosh bracket so I can turn down to the same setting more easily. Yeah, I'm an engineer.

Prior to purchase, I literally spent days on this site lurking, so thanks to all the folks here who provided such valuable information. It would've been a much more difficult decision without being an educated buyer!

Congrats. Welcome to the dark side. lol. One of my installs is a corner install and i know what you mean. I am just used to it that i can turn it down and my hand stops at the position of my low setting. You will get there.

 

[MTASH]

Should have had the wife pack the Shrader!

She's pretty good at it, in fact she likes stacking wood and is much better at it than I am. Usually about the time I am ready to quit cutting, I turn around and see the truck is only 3/4 full. Would be a full load if I stacked it.

I should also mention she got right up to speed on running this stove. Easy-peasy.

Edit: shoot, I just re-read your comment. Packing that old leaky Schrader would've certainly burned the house down!

 

[Tegbert]

Please remember of the AF25 and SC25 the cat therm is a switch. When the cat drops below 550F, is reads inactive. Above 550F it is active. No shades of silver as per the bimetallic style used on ours and others stoves and inserts. (Now comes the pitch from someone to use an analog)

Digital.


Lopi Rockport
Blaze King Ashford 25

 

[BKVP]

She's pretty good at it, in fact she likes stacking wood and is much better at it than I am. Usually about the time I am ready to quit cutting, I turn around and see the truck is only 3/4 full. Would be a full load if I stacked it.

I should also mention she got right up to speed on running this stove. Easy-peasy.

Edit: shoot, I just re-read your comment. Packing that old leaky Schrader would've certainly burned the house down!

We, in this forum, refer to the art of stack wood into a stove, as Wood Tetris.

 

[jetsam]

We, in this forum, refer to the art of stack wood into a stove, as Wood Tetris.

And thence things like, "I just lost a game of Wood Tetris, and need new glass for my built-in loghammer."

 

[MTASH]

Yes, she's mentioned Tetris while stacking wood. Now she gets to do it with the Ashford too!

 

[Woody Stover]

Prior to purchase, I literally spent days on this site lurking,

Days, huh? Your average buyer isn't willing to make such an investment...good job!

the cat therm is a switch. When the cat drops below 550F, is reads inactive. Above 550F it is active. No shades of silver as per the bimetallic style used on ours and others stoves and inserts. (Now comes the pitch from someone to use an analog)

If I correctly guess the number of idiot lights you have in your '65 Chevelle, do a get a free pair of Merino wool BK socks?

 

[BKVP]

Days, huh? Your average buyer isn't willing to make such an investment...good job!
If I correctly guess the number of idiot lights you have in your '65 Chevelle, do a get a free pair of Merino wool BK socks?

I brought 5 pairs back from New Zealand 2 years ago...never wore them yet...waiting for winter trip to Fairbanks. -40 there the other day .

 

[Woody Stover]

I brought 5 pairs back from New Zealand 2 years ago...never were them yet...waiting for winter trip to Fairbanks. -40 there the other day .

Heck, I wear wool ankle socks in the summer sometimes...they wick great.

 

[chazcarr]

I have probably a silly question, but maybe not so here goes. I saw on BK inserts such as the ASHFORD 25 (AF25) that there is a smoke baffle behind the cat. Is that something that can be used in a princess as a built in damper?

I also wish there was a bypass shield, but that is not as important.

 

[BKVP]

I have probably a silly question, but maybe not so here goes. I saw on BK inserts such as the ASHFORD 25 (AF25) that there is a smoke baffle behind the cat. Is that something that can be used in a princess as a built in damper?

I also wish there was a bypass shield, but that is not as important.

There is a horizontal baffle in the flue collar in the 2nd Generation AF25/SC25. It is specific to those models.

There is a verticle baffle in all our wood heaters directly behind the combustor.

 

[MTASH]

Days, huh? Your average buyer isn't willing to make such an investment...good job!

Yeah, I read through the BK performance threads back to 2015, plus lots of other threads. I dread large purchases until I do enough research to convince myself to spend money. And I hate dealing with bad salesmen, so I try to learn as much as possible beforehand.

I think it's hereditary. Before the internet, my dad used to subscribe to Consumer Reports and other publications and was on the up-and-up on various things. Now with forums like this, it's easier get much more real-world feedback. I grew up around wood stoves in the smoke dragon era, and after being away from wood burning for quite a few years, I soon learned here that "I didn't know what I didn't know" about these newer wood stoves.

I only wish I would've researched this in 2015 when we moved into this house and pulled the trigger back then. But there always seems to be other priorities when dealing with a move into a different home. This new stove has completely altered our lifestyle. Burning wood is no longer an everyday hassle, it's more like a hobby now. Until the honeymoon wears off and I have to cut wood again.