BK King40 overkill for N. Texas?

[Nealm66]

Definitely post some pictures! And share the burn experience.

 

[begreen]

Well, I can't wait to see my King installed. I'm a pyromaniac and have a magnesium cone sitting in my back yard out of a huge rock crusher from my brother-in-laws rock mine. That thing can make some amazing fires seen by my neighbors who are over a mile away. Now all I lack is making that fire in my living room

If the big BK is running on low most of the time for Texas climate, the fire show will be minimal.

 

[Woody Stover]

This will be our sole source of heat as I hate running the heat pump. Any more info needed?

Yes...why do you hate to run the heat pump?
Begreen, the all-around most knowledgeable forum member, will always run his if he has the option, since it is a cleaner source of energy.

I think everybody needs high output every once in a while.
If I had 2700 SF plus the double tall ceiling which easily puts you over 3000 equivalent SF then I would get a king in there.

The "every once in a while," in Dallas, is going to be very few and very far between. In that case, I might get a stove sized to handle the average needs, then run the heat pump to make up the difference if it got abnormally cold.

we were in the 20’s for highs for about a week.

I didn't delve into what caused your cold snap. Was it just a fluke "polar vortex," or what exactly was the reason? Did they think it was a climate-related thing, that might be expected to occur more often in the future?

Our house layout makes it so that we cannot heat our entire house completely with our stove even if we roasted ourselves out of the large open area where it’s located. The air just won’t move to certain rooms like our kids’ bedrooms or my husband’s office.

With the high ceiling, have you not using ceiling fans, but letting the heat build downward in the room, then using a small 8" desk fan on the floor in the hallway to force hot air out the top of the doorway and toward the other areas of the home.
With the Buck 91 at my MIL's in a relatively small room, the ceiling fan would roast us out, whereas running the floor fan blowing cool air in the doorway kept temps comfortable at chair/couch level.

$900. That won't buy much in house insulating upgrades.

Money spent on weatherizing where you are will mostly pay off in the summer I'd think, with AC costs. But it will result in a more comfortable home year 'round.

BK has a 10 year warranty on them now, ( prorated?) so that's good.

One-shot deal with the new stove, not with every combustor you buy. After that, you'll have to rely on the combustor warranty.
I never called in the warranty on a combustor, as I figured I had gotten the expected amount of performance from them all.

Well, I can't wait to see my King installed. I'm a pyromaniac and have a magnesium cone sitting in my back yard out of a huge rock crusher from my brother-in-laws rock mine. That thing can make some amazing fires seen by my neighbors who are over a mile away. Now all I lack is making that fire in my living room

I have a cat stove, but if I had it to do again, I'd go with a simple Pacific Energy non-cat, like I got my SIL a couple years back (T5.) No cat to replace, cast iron jacket to level out and extend the heat curve, and a gorgeous stove to look at. Unfortunately, having a masonry fireplace, I had to get a stove that had a rear-vent option which would fit under my low lintel height.

 

[Woody Stover]

If the big BK is running on low most of the time for Texas climate, the fire show will be minimal.

Oh yeah, I forgot to address that. He said he was a pyro; In that case, non-cat all the way.
Bail on the BK..they'll have no trouble selling it.

 

[Woody Stover]

house insulating upgrades.

If you weatherize, then a non-cat will work better, as the house will hold heat for a long time on the tail end of the burn.
My SIL has a high vaulted ceiling, and it's not a problem. The T5 has a long burn, throwing good heat in the coaling stage, which seems to last hours and hours. The only time you need a long cat burn or a thermostat is if there's no one there for 12 hours or more; Otherwise someone can load as needed, or open up the air to get more heat in the coaling stage.

 

[stoveliker]

If you weatherize, then a non-cat will work better, as the house will hold heat for a long time on the tail end of the burn.
My SIL has a high vaulted ceiling, and it's not a problem. The T5 has a long burn, throwing good heat in the coaling stage, which seems to last hours and hours. The only time you need a long cat burn or a thermostat is if there's no one there for 12 hours or more; Otherwise someone can load as needed, or open up the air to get more heat in the coaling stage.

Or, if you weatherize, you can run a cat stove with a Tstat, getting a longer, even heat output at the lower level that you need ...

 

[Woody Stover]

I think one of begreen's criteria in choosing a PE stove was the "KISS principle." He convinced me, and I in turn convinced my SIL to get the T5. It didn't hurt that it is drop-dead gorgeous in brown enamel.

 

[Woody Stover]

Or, if you weatherize, you can run a cat stove with a Tstat, getting a longer, even heat output at the lower level that you need ...

True. You can also pull the cat to dust it periodically, buy new cats every few years if you want peak performance, replace bypass and cat gaskets, and do the rest...but who really wants to do all that? That was one of the main reasons I got her a T5...because I am the designated maintenance guy.

 

[BKVP]

You'll get super high efficiency values, little to no show....want the show, just turn it up and it'll be less efficient, but not much.

 

[Woody Stover]

You'll get super high efficiency values, little to no show....want the show, just turn it up and it'll be less efficient, but not much.

If he turns up a King for any length of time, won't it get a bit roasty in there? Maybe not, with the vaulted ceiling.
In any event, I'd be inclined to get a smaller stove that I could run a bit higher more of the time, in Dallas.
Cat or non-cat, there's not gonna be much show once the load is past the initial robust-gassing stage..

 

[SterlingSL]

Maybe my comment is being taken wrong: I don't need a massive fire show in my living room. I ran a Regency I3100 insert in my Allen house and my favorite time was when the smoke at the top of the firebox was gently combusting. Like fire fingerlings crawling across the top. Very soothing. Do Cat stoves not to this too?

Regarding running the heatpump: have you ever run a heatpump in the cold? My elderly parents came down in November of last year and I had to put them up in a hotel because my goddamned heat pump was too cold for my dad. They are really a POS in cold weather and the rest of the time they're just gobbling money. I could keep the cost down in Allen because I had the PowertoChoose my electric provider. Here in Pottsboro I'm stuck with the Coop and their 300-400/month utility bills when I'm running the heat pump. That would buy a lot of wood if I wasn't the sort that chased down and cut my own.

 

[Woody Stover]

This particular burn in the Keystone (cat,) the ignition at the airwash looked like an undulating ribbon of flame.

 

[Nealm66]

Your going to love the king. Not much of a flame show although if you’re curious, you can look for the glow of the cat. I’m on my second year with a princess and all the good points that you read have been true in my case. It might take a bit to figure out your swoosh setting ( or clock setting) and the veterans are saying the big king can be idled down enough not to cook you out of the house so I’d believe them. I’d guess that will probably be your biggest learning event. I’ve just started burning this year and learned that building a small fire in the am and letting it go out works better than keeping a small fire going as even on low it pushes my house into the mid to upper 70’s by the evening. If/when you get some cold weather you can really see why the blaze king has a lot of happy customers. After a while it’s really easy to forget how simple ( boring?) it is to operate. Enjoy!!

 

[Highbeam]

The problem point in sterling’s house is when it is too cold for the heat pump to keep up or be efficient. I’d assume the heat pump is 3 tons or more. At that point and colder, the king running at low/medium would just replace the output of the heat pump.

I guess my point is that if the heat pump can’t keep up with the load, the king surely won’t overheat the place with the heat pump off.

Texas is a big state with a varying climate and with big houses that aren’t always well insulated. The poster is cold with a big house, cheap/free fuel, expensive electric, and the desire to be warm. The king is a great choice. Yes, you can get all kinds of flame shows from ghost flames to raging inferno if you want. Most of us use lower settings most of the time which looks like a glowing pile of coals.

 

[begreen]

Agreed. If the wood fuel is less costly than the electrons, then using the stove when temps get lower instead of the heatpump is a good way to play it.
Our heatpump switches over to the resistance heaters at 25º, but we've only had that happen a few times, usually when we are away. The stove normally gets fired up when temps drop into the mid-40s unless it's going to be a sunny day. It's usually running 24/7 by late Oct thru March.