2020-21 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)

[akbean]

Hey all, I'm new to the forum and new to catalytic stoves but I've done enough research that it seems I probably need one. Unfortunately it's impossible to try before you buy... I currently have a 3 year old Osburn 900 as primary heat in my 500 sq ft home. It's frustratingly difficult to get the stove to burn at a level that doesn't bake me out of here, if I want to get any kind of burn time out of it. It's 32 degrees out now and loading it with 2 or 3 med-small pieces of birch/spruce and keeping it stopped down so it smoulders is about right (if I let it rip, it'll run away!), but that burns to coals in a couple hours. Loading it up full (5-6 of these pieces) lasts a couple more hours but gets much too hot. I've checked the gasket, it's done this ever since it was new.

So the question is, is there a blaze king that can burn low enough and long enough that I don't have to light a brand new fire every morning and also not cook me out of bed? Am I dreaming? There's a new smaller hearthstone model (green mountain 40) that looks really nice, but the claims of 30 hours heat time seem far fetched to me (but holy cow if that's true I'm sold!). It's also pricey. Wood is my primary heat source and I'm sick of lighting fires multiple times a day and having roller coaster room temps. I don't want to use a blower fan (ceiling fan does a great job). To give some perspective on heat needs, my 11,000 btu/h propane heater maxes out when it's -10 F outside, otherwise it will maintain room temp. I love reading the enthusiasm about BK on here, hoping to catch the bug myself.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Highbeam]

Hey all, I'm new to the forum and new to catalytic stoves but I've done enough research that it seems I probably need one. Unfortunately it's impossible to try before you buy... I currently have a 3 year old Osburn 900 as primary heat in my 500 sq ft home. It's frustratingly difficult to get the stove to burn at a level that doesn't bake me out of here, if I want to get any kind of burn time out of it. It's 32 degrees out now and loading it with 2 or 3 med-small pieces of birch/spruce and keeping it stopped down so it smoulders is about right (if I let it rip, it'll run away!), but that burns to coals in a couple hours. Loading it up full (5-6 of these pieces) lasts a couple more hours but gets much too hot. I've checked the gasket, it's done this ever since it was new.

So the question is, is there a blaze king that can burn low enough and long enough that I don't have to light a brand new fire every morning and also not cook me out of bed? Am I dreaming? There's a new smaller hearthstone model (green mountain 40) that looks really nice, but the claims of 30 hours heat time seem far fetched to me (but holy cow if that's true I'm sold!). It's also pricey. Wood is my primary heat source and I'm sick of lighting fires multiple times a day and having roller coaster room temps. I don't want to use a blower fan (ceiling fan does a great job). To give some perspective on heat needs, my 11,000 btu/h propane heater maxes out when it's -10 F outside, otherwise it will maintain room temp. I love reading the enthusiasm about BK on here, hoping to catch the bug myself.

Thanks for any advice!

Propane heaters are rated on input btu so the output is probably 20% less. For comparison sake.

500 sf is the size of a 2 car garage. That’s small and challenging to heat with any woodstove. A cat stove will reduce the reloads and improve your ability to slow the burn but still have the power to keep up when it’s cold out.

As far as heat output, it doesn’t really matter how big the cat stove is because the stove firebox is really just a fuel tank to feed the catalyst.

Especially this time of year when it’s warmer out (45-55) I burn my princess model bk with 3 or 4 splits of Douglas fir at low output setting and just have one fire a day. It can hold 10 splits but I want the fire to die out after 8 hours or so. The house temp has a swing (65-75) but is comfortable the whole time. My heating needs are not high enough to pack it full and burn on low for 24 hours until outside temperatures are much lower. I think partial loads is how you’re going to run your stove. The cat stove will allow the cycles to be longer and room temps less peaky.

I would stick with the bk line or if possible in AK the small stoves from Woodstock. With the BK, I would choose the princess. Time tested and better performance for a primary heater in AK.

 

[stoveliker]

Hey all, I'm new to the forum and new to catalytic stoves but I've done enough research that it seems I probably need one. Unfortunately it's impossible to try before you buy... I currently have a 3 year old Osburn 900 as primary heat in my 500 sq ft home. It's frustratingly difficult to get the stove to burn at a level that doesn't bake me out of here, if I want to get any kind of burn time out of it. It's 32 degrees out now and loading it with 2 or 3 med-small pieces of birch/spruce and keeping it stopped down so it smoulders is about right (if I let it rip, it'll run away!), but that burns to coals in a couple hours. Loading it up full (5-6 of these pieces) lasts a couple more hours but gets much too hot. I've checked the gasket, it's done this ever since it was new.

So the question is, is there a blaze king that can burn low enough and long enough that I don't have to light a brand new fire every morning and also not cook me out of bed? Am I dreaming? There's a new smaller hearthstone model (green mountain 40) that looks really nice, but the claims of 30 hours heat time seem far fetched to me (but holy cow if that's true I'm sold!). It's also pricey. Wood is my primary heat source and I'm sick of lighting fires multiple times a day and having roller coaster room temps. I don't want to use a blower fan (ceiling fan does a great job). To give some perspective on heat needs, my 11,000 btu/h propane heater maxes out when it's -10 F outside, otherwise it will maintain room temp. I love reading the enthusiasm about BK on here, hoping to catch the bug myself.

Thanks for any advice!

Notwithstanding what @Highbeam said (and I'd be foolish to not agree with expertise), with such living quarters, and without much detail on them, please watch for the chimney requirements (length) - they might limit the operational flexibility of the stove. (Needing to produce more heat to create sufficient draft on a short chimney might result in a larger heating power into your room - even if also more heat goes up through the chimney.)

 

[Highbeam]

Notwithstanding what @Highbeam said (and I'd be foolish to not agree with expertise), with such living quarters, and without much detail on them, please watch for the chimney requirements (length) - they might limit the operational flexibility of the stove. (Needing to produce more heat to create sufficient draft on a short chimney might result in a larger heating power into your room - even if also more heat goes up through the chimney.)

Good point, minimum chimney length for many stoves including BK is now 15’. That can be challenging on a single story home with low pitch. It’s in the manuals along with hearth requirements and clearances to combustibles, etc.

It needs to be 6” diameter.

 

[Dustin]

Another random question....

You do you all, load your BK? North south, east west, or a combination?

I’ve been loading my KE40 NS to the gills when it’s been cold. I haven’t tried EW yet on a full load...

 

[Tron]

IIRC, the air intake is funneling air into the firebox from the rear. That means that doing NS would give you more little spaces between the splits (along the airflow) the flame can travel through and better ignite the fuel. But I suppose the difference would be hardly noticeable.

 

[Nigel459]

....So the question is, is there a blaze king that can burn low enough and long enough that I don't have to light a brand new fire every morning and also not cook me out of bed? Am I dreaming? There's a new smaller hearthstone model (green mountain 40) that looks really nice, but the claims of 30 hours heat time seem far fetched to me (but holy cow if that's true I'm sold!). It's also pricey.

Welcome! I have a green mountain 40 and a blaze king sirocco 20. I’ve used them both on the same flue in the same small space. Both great stoves, but the BK can simply burn lower, no fuss no muss, that’s what they’re made to do. I’d stick with BK for your small space in AK if you can go that route all things considered. Don’t keep chasing that heat curve...!

 

[showrguy]

Another random question....

You do you all, load your BK? North south, east west, or a combination?

I’ve been loading my KE40 NS to the gills when it’s been cold. I haven’t tried EW yet on a full load...

NS burns better, but if I have longer wood I’ll plow a groove in the ash to allow air/flame to get all the way under the load..
The airwash comes down in the front across the glass, then to fuel...
Make sence ??

 

[moresnow]

So the question is, is there a blaze king that can burn low enough and long enough that I don't have to light a brand new fire every morning and also not cook me out of bed? Am I dreaming?
[/QUOT

If you can provide correct venting/draft etc. the BK Sirocco 20 can should provide what you are asking, in a small package that is a space saver for those with very limited floor space. Mine has exceeded expectations. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

 

[green pacific]

:: UPDATE

Hello Hearth friends,

I'm not sure how to best update my situation on this site but I wanted to say that I cleaned the face of the combustor -- which I found densely covered with the finest ash -- and that seems to have done the trick. Amazing to me that it could have been *so* dirty as to cause the fire to be extinguished as if all oxygen had been removed as soon as the bypass was closed and I will certainly ask my chimney sweep to clean behind the combustor when he comes (5 wks from now). But for now, no smoke from the flue collar and plenty of heat, clean window and good performance from the stove.

good wishes for a warm season,
GreenPacific

hello kind Hearth friends,

Another season is here and my woodstove -- faithful friend of four years -- is giving me heebie-jeebies! ...

A week or so ago, I loaded the stove as usual for a first burn, noticing a larger-than-usual spill of smoke as I added wood after the kindling phase was well established; waited for the needle to indicate "Active," engaged the cat as usual, anticipating the start of the lovely long woodstove season (my stove goes day and night from October until March -- or even April -- this year) and immediately noticed smoke seeping from around the collar. I took the cat off and turned the thermostat to zero and let the fire go out, praying all the while ... Called the chimney sweep -- he's booked until December. ... What to do?

Yesterday, a neighbour came with his chimney brush as I could only imagine my chimney was blocked or possibly filthy -- though the stove and chimney were professionally cleaned this February (I usually have it cleaned once a year which has been fine until this past year) -- as last year's burning season went long and I had been burning unusually pitchy wood. But this morning I learned that my neighbour's chimney scrub hadn't changed a thing. .. As soon as the cat was engaged, there was smoke from the collar again.

So, now the stove is cooling and I am worried. Time to turn to Hearth.com!

Does this means the combustor is dead. ... Or just superficially clogged? Of course, I *will* look at it when the fire is dead; meanwhile, my flashlight shows it dark and seemingly superficially clean (LED light doesn't really penetrate). ..

I trust one of you will have some experience. The manual, though helpful, is not specific about this particular "troubleshoot". And writing this reminds me that something like this led me to stop using my stove early last year and wait for the chimney sweep. I ended up taking the combustor out at that time (February), wrecking the gasket of course and needing more help to order a new one and reinstall it. Apparently, the combustor was ok then but I don't understand what I am doing wrong that it is choking again so soon.

Could pitchy wood make this difference?

Excuse the long note, I thought I'd just get the facts on the ground to begin.

good wishes, GreenPacific

 

[stoveliker]

Question, I'm trying my first "real" (long) burn. It's 49 F and dropping now and very windy (Zeta..). Chinook 30.
26 or so ft masonry chimney outside with double wall insulated liner. Tstat at 3 o'clock.
I started the fire at 4.15 pm or so. I can't say that "all the wood was well on fire" before I dialed down, but it took a while (maple, 3 yrs seasoned, MC 15% measured on room temp freshly split face).
Now, when the lights are off, I do see some glowing mass inside the pile of (black, charred) wood. Cat temp is "below" 12 o'clock - i.e. almost midway in the active zone.

I am wondering whether to decrease the tstat more or not. I am hoping to keep it running overnight.
A tstat at 3 o'clock is not very low as far as I have read here. But then again the temps are not very low outside either.

If I dial the tstat down a bit more, and I don't see any glowing anymore inside (when lights are off), does that mean it will likely fall out of the active zone (given that the cat probe lags behind a bit)?

Basically I'm worried to choke the fire too much - I don't see flames
My previous DutchWest cat stove ('83) used to have one or two tiny flames, and more visible glowing when during a 8-9 hr run.
Or is this just me having to get used to having to rely on the cat thermometer rather than anything else?

 

[kennyp2339]

If I dial the tstat down a bit more, and I don't see any glowing anymore inside (when lights are off), does that mean it will likely fall out of the active zone (given that the cat probe lags behind a bit)?

I'd turn it down a bit more, outside temps are dropping through the night so draft will get stronger

 

[Poindexter]

4Pm here, 8PM for you on Long Island. I would turn it up high for about 30 minutes to be sure you have complete ignition and then turn it back to somehwere between 1/3 and 1/2 throttle, leave it to morning and see what happens.

 

[stoveliker]

4Pm here, 8PM for you on Long Island. I would turn it up high for about 30 minutes to be sure you have complete ignition and then turn it back to somehwere between 1/3 and 1/2 throttle, leave it to morning and see what happens.

I'd turn it down a bit more, outside temps are dropping through the night so draft will get stronger

Thanks both. Given the conflicting advice, I'll try to turn it down a little bit; there are 2 smaller splits on the left (hinge) side that are not completely black, but all the rest is.
If those remain tomorrow, then I can burn them up when I fill it up again (or restart).

We'll see. I'll take and post pic tomorrow morning if there is something interesting to see. A stove not needing attention, but man am I going down in the (well-finished) basement often
I see 84 F air coming up into the living room, which is a nice 71 F now.

 

[stoveliker]

I had dialed it down a bit to near 2 o'clock 45 minutes ago. Cat is hotter now (nice and orange too), and all seems to go well. I went with the tstat down to 1.30-ish now.

 

[Highbeam]

I had dialed it down a bit to near 2 o'clock 45 minutes ago. Cat is hotter now (nice and orange too), and all seems to go well. I went with the tstat down to 1.30-ish now.

This ain’t your grandpa’s VC! I’m burning a little maple right now too. Lots of cool purple flames. Great fuel wood.

 

[Poindexter]

I had dialed it down a bit to near 2 o'clock 45 minutes ago. Cat is hotter now (nice and orange too), and all seems to go well. I went with the tstat down to 1.30-ish now.

How much your draft improves in the weather is the variable none of us can really predict. Tonight you will learn "something". Whether or not you will choose to follow the same path next time no one can really predict. I am going into my seventh winter with my stove, but I have only ever operated it at this address where it was installed factory new.

 

[stoveliker]

So, 15 hrs in, the wind here is still howling, 44 F outside. The cat is still active (about 1/3 of an inch into the active zone). Temp of the air coming up from the basement is 82 F. With the lights off I still see quite some glowing.
The two small splits on the left (that were not black when I throttled down after 30 mins) remain - they are black, but (unfortunately) did not roll over into the glowing mess.
Surprisingly the window is not all black... Maybe that's b/c of the higher setting in the beginning?

I think I will be able to get 2-3 hrs of usable heat out, and if those splits roll over maybe more.

I was hesitant blowing up too much wood when the fire did not spread in the beginning (to the left side) by leaving it on high too long. I'm not sure why the flames did not spread well; same wood, same age etc. Also my initial 3 o'clock tstat setting for 3-4 hrs likely cost me a few hours on the back end here.

So all in all I think this was a good run. 15 hrs and going, and some points of improvement identified for the next cycle.
When I reload in a few hrs, I should have a more even lighting up of the fuel because of the coals (that I'll spread out). With a throttling down sooner I should get more hours out of it.

 

[kennyp2339]

With a throttling down sooner I should get more hours out of it.

The stove will act more predictable when it has at least 1" of ash on top of the fire bricks. 15 hrs is not a bad run at all either, wait till tonight when its even colder out.

 

[kennyp2339]

With a throttling down sooner I should get more hours out of it.

The stove will act more predictable when it has at least 1" of ash on top of the fire bricks. 15 hrs is not a bad run at all either, wait till tonight when its even colder out.

 

[stoveliker]

The stove will act more predictable when it has at least 1" of ash on top of the fire bricks. 15 hrs is not a bad run at all either, wait till tonight when its even colder out.

Yes, I read that. It had about 1/2" of ashes from the break-in fires. Clearly now there'll be more. If I get the stuff to light up evenly upon reloading, and then throttle down more (than 3 o'clock) after that, I should be good
It was nice waking up in a 71-72 F living space with no other energy used than that which made me warm already 2 times before (see signature...)

Does the pic signal "reload now" to you? Or wait a few hrs? I.e. do you do this visually or simply when the ca drops out of the active zone?

 

[moresnow]

Yes, I read that. It had about 1/2" of ashes from the break-in fires. Clearly now there'll be more. If I get the stuff to light up evenly upon reloading, and then throttle down more (than 3 o'clock) after that, I should be good
It was nice waking up in a 71-72 F living space with no other energy used than that which made me warm already 2 times before (see signature...)

Does the pic signal "reload now" to you? Or wait a few hrs? I.e. do you do this visually or simply when the ca drops out of the active zone?

Plenty of wood there left to burn yet. If your cat gauge is starting to drop out you can turn up the stat to encourage a complete burn on the remainder of your load. If your home and have time, burn it all the way down. Why not! Utilize it all. You only need a few coals for a reload.

 

[kennyp2339]

Does the pic signal "reload now" to you? Or wait a few hrs? I.e. do you do this visually or simply when the ca drops out of the active zone?

That all depends on the user and the amount of time you have in the AM, I personally am in the camp of creating a minimum amount of smoke and I also have to leave for work soon, so part of my routine (sorta with a fire box that looks like that) is to go down, turn the T stat as high as it will go, grab a cup of coffee, do my thing for 15min, come back to the stove (it should all be glowing with flames coming off the top of the splits) hit the current pile with a poker and reload on top, close the by-pass immediately after reloading and go get another coffee, wait 10-15min for the new load to catch and burning fairly vigorously with positive cat probe needle movement (near noon or so) then turn the t-stat air control back down to 1 or so, depending on how cold its outside.

 

[stoveliker]

That all depends on the user and the amount of time you have in the AM, I personally am in the camp of creating a minimum amount of smoke and I also have to leave for work soon, so part of my routine (sorta with a fire box that looks like that) is to go down, turn the T stat as high as it will go, grab a cup of coffee, do my thing for 15min, come back to the stove (it should all be glowing with flames coming off the top of the splits) hit the current pile with a poker and reload on top, close the by-pass immediately after reloading and go get another coffee, wait 10-15min for the new load to catch and burning fairly vigorously with positive cat probe needle movement (near noon or so) then turn the t-stat air control back down to 1 or so, depending on how cold its outside.

Plenty of wood there left to burn yet. If your cat gauge is starting to drop out you can turn up the stat to encourage a complete burn on the remainder of your load. If your home and have time, burn it all the way down. Why not! Utilize it all. You only need a few coals for a reload.

@kennyp2339 I'm (still) working at home , so time is not the issue. Thanks for the details on the process. Sounds good for when I have to leave home indeed.

@moresnow Plenty of wood left, but I'm not sure those on the left will catch on - if they roll over they will. Otherwise, we'll see.
I'll watch until the cat drops out then turn it up a bit, and finally (when...?) rake and reload.

 

[moresnow]

@kennyp2339 I'm (still) working at home , so time is not the issue. Thanks for the details on the process. Sounds good for when I have to leave home indeed.

@moresnow Plenty of wood left, but I'm not sure those on the left will catch on - if they roll over they will. Otherwise, we'll see.
I'll watch until the cat drops out then turn it up a bit, and finally (when...?) rake and reload.

Feel free to open the bypass, turn the therm wide open and after a couple minutes gently open the loading door and adjust the remaining unburnt wood to the center/front, close loading door, close bypass, and burn it down.
Surprising how long that remainder will go keeping the cat gauge active.
Most of the time I don't need to open/adjust the load as just cranking up the therm will do the job.