30-NCH Stove Replacement
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VirginiaIron
Minister of Fire
Yeah, but this temp generally has a warm satisfying feeling when you come in from the cold or home to load it.
VirginiaIron
Minister of Fire
For that reason the cat technology has me spooked. But it is also like anything one operates incorrectly- something is bound to break or someone gets hurt. Plus, the last I knew, cats have a lifecycle even when the stove is operated correctly.
So did my regency. We will see how i like the princess. I did just come home to it stalled and cold but i am sure it was operator error.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
10 hours isn't enough time for me to go to work and come back, let alone 8.
The OP's gist seems to be "The NC30 is great now but it won't be when I have an office job".
BKs are made for slow burns. Highbeam has both stoves installed at his place (BK inside, NC30 in the shop); you can trust him when he says the NC30 has a higher high end burn. BKs can burn high, but they're not much more efficient than an NC30 on high and they won't burn for longer. (Especially since the princess has a slightly smaller firebox.) I think my Princess insert goes around 4 hours on a full load of pine running flat out. (And 24 hours running on minimum with a load of oak!)
If you are running the NC30 hard all winter, the BK may not help.
Here is a whole different question: Is your basement insulated? Any bare concrete, especially floors and exterior walls, are pretty much an infinite heat sink. Maybe a few rolls of R13, some 2x4s, and an insulated hearth pad could change your heating needs by a lot.
The OP's gist seems to be "The NC30 is great now but it won't be when I have an office job".
BKs are made for slow burns. Highbeam has both stoves installed at his place (BK inside, NC30 in the shop); you can trust him when he says the NC30 has a higher high end burn. BKs can burn high, but they're not much more efficient than an NC30 on high and they won't burn for longer. (Especially since the princess has a slightly smaller firebox.) I think my Princess insert goes around 4 hours on a full load of pine running flat out. (And 24 hours running on minimum with a load of oak!)
If you are running the NC30 hard all winter, the BK may not help.
Here is a whole different question: Is your basement insulated? Any bare concrete, especially floors and exterior walls, are pretty much an infinite heat sink. Maybe a few rolls of R13, some 2x4s, and an insulated hearth pad could change your heating needs by a lot.
We do have concrete floorrs. I'll definitely be trying to better insulated the windows.
But for now I am having no issues with the 30. Except when I'm out all day. When I'm home I choke it down pretty good. It's just a matter of not let it get cold. If I'm not having any issues with the current stove, the princess should be good right?
Also, has anyone had any experience with the Regencys? Good or bad.
But for now I am having no issues with the 30. Except when I'm out all day. When I'm home I choke it down pretty good. It's just a matter of not let it get cold. If I'm not having any issues with the current stove, the princess should be good right?
Also, has anyone had any experience with the Regencys? Good or bad.
I have a 3100 and it has served me well. As far as their hybrids go they do get longer burn times for sure. Not as long as the bks but still much longer than their tube stoves. Their big one requires 8" though the same as the king.
I have a tube stove insert. I work typical office hours. I leave the house at 8am and get home at 5:15ish I have to start from dead cold on any burn during the week. For this reason i do not burn as much as i could = relying on the propane furnace more.
A Cat stove will fix that issue for you. You'll be able to keep it burning 24/7. It solves the starting from a dead cold stove, it likely wont solve ALL your heating issues. I would think you could load it up in the morning, set the t-stat at 1.5-2. Come home from work, load it up and crank the T-Stat for a few hours, reload before bed and 1.5-2 setting. Rinse and repeat. 3 reloads in 24hr period.
We know what a BK or Cat stove can do, we know what a tube stove can (or cannot do). I'd make the jump just for the pure reason of keeping you in the wood burning game more often during the work week. Without going to a Cat stove, you're going to have to reload from a cold stove every night after work and after awhile you'll just say screw it and only burn friday night-Monday morning like I find myself doing.
What is your secondary heat source? Baseboard, forced air, etc?
Long story short - Cat stove = more heat from wood (because of your reload times working for your schedule now = relying less on Electric, Oil, Propane, Natural Gas.
A Cat stove will fix that issue for you. You'll be able to keep it burning 24/7. It solves the starting from a dead cold stove, it likely wont solve ALL your heating issues. I would think you could load it up in the morning, set the t-stat at 1.5-2. Come home from work, load it up and crank the T-Stat for a few hours, reload before bed and 1.5-2 setting. Rinse and repeat. 3 reloads in 24hr period.
We know what a BK or Cat stove can do, we know what a tube stove can (or cannot do). I'd make the jump just for the pure reason of keeping you in the wood burning game more often during the work week. Without going to a Cat stove, you're going to have to reload from a cold stove every night after work and after awhile you'll just say screw it and only burn friday night-Monday morning like I find myself doing.
What is your secondary heat source? Baseboard, forced air, etc?
Long story short - Cat stove = more heat from wood (because of your reload times working for your schedule now = relying less on Electric, Oil, Propane, Natural Gas.
Again many of us work normal hours and heat full time with non cats. With my regency i would load my stove at about 630am then reload at 230 or 3. It typically wasnt making a ton of heat at that point but the house hadnt cooled down yet. And there were plenty of coals to get it going in 15 mins or so.
ratsrepus
Minister of Fire
Lots of post on usable heat with a vast array of tube and cat stoves. I keep pretty good track of my wood usage, and here in SE Michigan I can say we are in the shoulder season. My house is well insulated, dense pack foam 1600 sq ft. The Jotul F500 would honestly go 8 hrs maybe 10 if packed right. Major heat the first 4 hrs. My new BK ashford lightly loading it, even heat for 28 hrs now. Will go till 10 tonight when I will reload it. 34 hrs on less than half the wood for the F500. whats not to like
Nothing to dislike other than the cost. Especially if you already have a stove that can do the job.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
I wonder if you were able to fab or purchase a convection deck for the top of the NC30 if it would help with heating more air vs radiating into objects, perhaps that would make able to be dialed down a little lower on colder days and perhaps increasing burn times, also providing that you can run it lower while still achieving hot enough fire box temps to keep the burn clean.
FYI, I have the princess ultra free standing stove with blower kit and convection deck, Its not uncommon for me to work 16hr shifts in the winter (storms) and I'm still coming home to a comfortable house with coals to spare for easy reloads.
ratsrepus
Minister of Fire
VirginiaIron
Minister of Fire
The Friday through Monday burn was the issue with our Quadra-Fire due to the reasons you mention, but the 3100/i insert was only ?42k?but. With our current stove at 120k? Btu this is not the case anymore. I think it was 14 or 16 hours and still in the mid 200's with plenty of coals to provide a quick-start fire. The present stove is a real quick heat compared to the insert. Fyi- We're done with inserts.
Its allot of money and not that much wood savings. When my regency needs replaced it will likely be with a chinook depending on how i like the princess i am trying this year. But i am not buying a new one when what i have works just fine.
VirginiaIron
Minister of Fire
I think the King I quoted was 51k btu for 12 hours and a total of 618k @ 40 hours. That is impressive if a house/space requires about 12k btus to maintain comfort. The BK 20/30 are rated at 12.8k for 20/30hrs. In my case, i can't even see unusually tight construction using 10k btus to maintain temps comfortably. During the colder times our 1976 house was cranking the Quad @ ?42k? and the main area felt cold and ultimately required heat pump or fossil fuel supplements. Barring a thorough assessment of our current heating needs, I'd like to try the cat technology, but for the price and life cycle of the cat we feel it is too much of a risk. Maybe we'll find one for next to nothing and give it a whirl- then upgrade to a larger unit, if needed. When I watched the YouTube video on cat technology I was very impressed with the concept.
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I was surprised at how expensive other premium stoves have gotten. Lopi stoves, hearthstones, even PE stoves are right up there with the BK. There was a time when folks east of the Mississippi were being gouged by a distributor causing the BK to be extra expensive. The big box store stoves are cheap and can be a great value in my experience! For me, the BK princess replaced a Hearthstone heritage that had the same pricetag. Both were about 3500$.
There are some other things to dislike about a cat stove which is why I have a noncat too! You need to be careful about fuel quality (no chemicals or nails), you need to replace the cat every 10-12000 hours, I personally find the cat stove much more complicated to run but still easy to master if you want to, the fireview is not as exciting in a cat stove, and the glass gets dirty.
I sure hope that none of us ever get so biased that we don't recognize the tradeoffs with each of the technologies. That leads to certain people accusing cat stove fans of calling non-cats "useless" which we know is not true.
Well said. Other than there are many good noncats that are pretty far below $3500. Otherwise i agree competly.
I guess it boils down to how well your home is insulated and your hourly BTU needs. Over a certain amount and you would be running a cat stove on high anyway. A non cat would be just as useful in that situation. Plus one of my top proprieties is the fire view ,so im not a good candidate for a cat stove. My harman already goes for 15 hours on a normal load ,more if its packed up good and the air at the lowest setting.
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