2020-21 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)

[Diabel]

I think @Poindexter should get the honors of starting the 21-22 thread this year, when Alaska is ready to burn, then we're all ready to get started, what does everyone think?

The east coast might be ready before him. A friend had an eve fire in his insert last week….it was 12*C! Very strange weather. But P. gets my vote!

 

[stoveliker]

Bark is Biomass. Makes lots of ash, but heck it's a Blaze King King 40, plenty of room for bark!

Hm, time to update the manual...? Remove cordwood mention and replace with (any) biomass?

I'm serious, while those boards are not too far off, it is adamantly not cordwood.

 

[Nealm66]

Lol

 

[BKVP]

Hm, time to update the manual...? Remove cordwood mention and replace with (any) biomass?

I'm serious, while those boards are not too far off, it is adamantly not cordwood.

It will be!

 

[Poindexter]

Have him check in. At 90 pages, it will get started at the beginning of August regardless.

I don't really feel the need to start a new thread. I would probably get the title wrong anyway.

I do rather enjoy closing down the open thread with current to me climate observations, and happy to leave it to @begreen to get the title correct for the new thread.

So far I have zero migratory birds headed south over head. This is Wednesday I think ( I am on staycation this week), Monday was still hot enough to wish my home had AC. Generally we have two weeks of summer around July 4 hot enough for me to wish for AC. This year it started in May and was still going strong at the beginning of this week.

However, pics are fireweed. The fireweed finished blooming yesterday, it is all over facebook up here. Fireweed starts blooming in late April, and just keeps blooming and blooming all summer. When the fireweed stops (finishes?) blooming, the first killing frost is two weeks away. It is possibly the most reliable seasonal indicator in Alaska, and it is done for 2021.

I remember my first summer up here, around 08-01, one of my friends said winter was just around the corner. I disagreed, pointing out the fireweed was finally blooming at the tip of each stem. He said, "Yup, when the fireweed finished flowering the first frost is two weeks away." He has been right ever single year. If we really do get a first frost in mid August moose season will be epic stupidity this year.

Enjoy. I have seven cords seasoned, just waiting to light the fuse.

 

[Poindexter]

I'll ask him when I land in Fairbanks in a couple of hours...but I support it!

Done and done. Still making room in my garage for my new snowthrower, urgently. How soon do you fly back out?

 

[Poindexter]

FWIW my first fire is typically in the "20s" of August. I read somewhere this summer the Artic is warming twice as fast as the reast of the planet. I have seriously considered pulling the siding off my house so I could put up an external vapor barrier, and then reinstall the siding and put in central AC this summer. The good news is I have a bumper crop of raspberries from the long hot summer, the bad news is installing an external vapor barrier on my house is cost prohibitive.

@BKVP , there is no Guiness anywhere in Fairbanks today. I have looked everywhere. If I invite you for dinner pending outbound flight we will have to drink beer for girly man.

 

[begreen]

Done and done. Still making room in my garage for my new snowthrower, urgently. How soon do you fly back out?

If you want to start a new 2021-2022 season thread, please do. Otherwise I will open it up in the next few days. With current AK temps we may have to invite some folks from Thule, Greenland to start posting.

 

[BKVP]

Done and done. Still making room in my garage for my new snowthrower, urgently. How soon do you fly back out?

Sunday....

 

[stoveliker]

I thought it a good idea to note here that the 21-22 season thread has been opened:

2021-2022 BK everything thread

It is time. Sort of. Does anyone know of an air conditioning unit I can attach to my BK to cool the house down? A cord wood fired air confitioner? We hit +90 dF here yesterday, looking for 87 above today. The fireweed started blooming again. Caribou season opens in 7 days, the...

www.hearth.com

 

[begreen]

Thanks. And this one is now closed for business.

Gone fishin'!

 

[ohlongarm]

Seems to be some doubt as to whether a Blaze King cat stove can provide one with a fire viewing ambiance.
Here's mine moments after, I closed the bypass, in ten minutes the glass will be crystal clear and the fire will be twice + what's seen here. No complaints.

 

[bholler]

Seems to be some doubt as to whether a Blaze King cat stove can provide one with a fire viewing ambiance.
Here's mine moments after, I closed the bypass, in ten minutes the glass will be crystal clear and the fire will be twice + what's seen here. No complaints.

View attachment 285494

Yes you are absolutely correct but you can't claim extremely long burn times and a good fire view. The 2 don't happen together. And honestly the fire isn't nearly as interesting in the bk as it was in the noncat.


But I do agree to much is made out of the fire view thing

 

[kennyp2339]

Im a sucker for low dancing whisp flames in any stove, fully ripping just seems like the stove is over working imo, gentle low blue orange flames is where its at.

 

[bholler]

Personally I couldn't care less about the fire view. My only complaint about the function is the lack of BTUs compared to many other similarly sized stoves.

 

[clancey]

Oh your a old fuss bucket and of course you would love a beautiful fire with your lovely family all around..For my five burns I am finding those dancing flames beautiful and enjoy my coffee even more...old clancey

 

[ohlongarm]

Yes you are absolutely correct but you can't claim extremely long burn times and a good fire view. The 2 don't happen together. And honestly the fire isn't nearly as interesting in the bk as it was in the noncat.


But I do agree to much is made out of the fire view thing

I'm only concerned about fire viewing for ambience a couple hours in the evening , that hardly detracts from my burn times. And as I mentioned this photo was taken right after closing the bypass. I'll still take a cat over a non for my application. Even with the cat activated the aurora borealis effects and blue flames beat all, just saying. During the major holidays I can burn it continuously and still get 8 hours of flame watching at least.

 

[xman23]

I really like that full fire box with rolling ball of fire washing the glass. But usually the stove doesn't need to be run that hard. Mostly it's the slow burn with flames here and there and the occasional northern lights erupting from no where.

 

[armanidog]

Sometimes I watch this during the warm months, just to get sleepy:

 

[ohlongarm]

Sometimes I watch this during the warm months, just to get sleepy:

You're reverting back to your ancestral origins when all of us burned fire for heat, protection from predators , and now it's ambience and relaxation and heat.

 

[clancey]

I think we are all reverting..lol clancey

 

[brenndatomu]

Oh your a old fuss bucket and of course you would love a beautiful fire with your lovely family all around..For my five burns I am finding those dancing flames beautiful and enjoy my coffee even more...old clancey

He's actually a young fuss bucket...

 

[shniggysaurus]

I am installing a Blaze King 40 and would like to get advice on the chimney liner. I currently have a 12 inch masonry chimney in decent shape. I am trying to decide if I should run $1600 worth of double wall stainless 8" pipe through the masonry chimney or if I should use cheap single wall pipe since I already have the masonry. Thanks for the help.

 

[Dieselhead]

Is your chimney on the exterior of the building or run up through the interior?

 

[bholler]

I am installing a Blaze King 40 and would like to get advice on the chimney liner. I currently have a 12 inch masonry chimney in decent shape. I am trying to decide if I should run $1600 worth of double wall stainless 8" pipe through the masonry chimney or if I should use cheap single wall pipe since I already have the masonry. Thanks for the help.

You need an insulated stainless liner. Not double wall or single wall pipe