Blaze King Chinook as great as Princess and King ?

[RustyShackleford]

Blaze King has developed a well-deserved cult following (I am a member) with the Princess and King stoves. The downside is that those are a bit ugly. Fortunately, BK came out with some less dowdy-looking designs, particularly the Boxer and Chinook. I am trying to convince my neighbor to get a BK, and I don't want to steer him wrong. I am thinking of recommending the Chinook 30 (his house is a bit larger than mine, which I heat very well with a Princess). Does the Chinook work as well as the older Princess and King models ? By "work as well" I mean all the reasons we are such big fans of BK: 24+hr slow burns, good thermostatic control, etc.

 

[shoot-straight]

If I am not mistaken, all the "guts" of the 30 stoves are the same. Same firebox at least. Lots of folks are happy with their ashfords on here- including me. It has a 30 box I believe.

 

[Highbeam]

There are differences between the 30 box and the princess. The 30 has almost no ash belly so you’ll need to clean it more. The 30 is less efficient but probably not enough to be noticeable. Glass stays cleaner on the 30. Same cat.

The big problem for me with the 30 box is this nagging recurring smoke smell issue that more than just a few people have had. I would want to be extra certain that the flue is tall and straight, meeting and exceeding all requirements.

 

[jetsam]

So steer him into a Princess or a King. If he later experiences a fashion crisis, he can make an account here and confer with bholler about how many doilies he needs to scatter around the room to make it pretty again.

But seriously- it's a stove. Why get a worse one because you think it looks prettier?

 

[Woody Stover]

But seriously- it's a stove. Why get a worse one because you think it looks prettier?

I killed two birds with one "stone." I got a better, prettier one.

 

[RustyShackleford]

So steer him into a Princess or a King ...

But seriously- it's a stove. Why get a worse one because you think it looks prettier?

That's what I was asking, but I don't think anyone said it's a worse stove.

I'm not the most fashion-conscious person, but I think looks do matter for something that's virtually the centerpiece of where you spend perhaps 80% of your home waking hours.

If Chinook really IS a worse stove, well sure then.

 

[Woody Stover]

I don't think anyone said it's a worse stove

Highbeam said it might not breathe as well, and won't hold as much ash. If you have a tall, straight stack, and don't mind cleaning it out more often, then I'd say the stuff you're concerned with is still there with the 30.

 

[bholler]

So steer him into a Princess or a King. If he later experiences a fashion crisis, he can make an account here and confer with bholler about how many doilies he needs to scatter around the room to make it pretty again.

But seriously- it's a stove. Why get a worse one because you think it looks prettier?

I really don't understand why you think caring about how a vary important and prominent object in my house looks. I get it some people don't care. Some even like the odd proportions and lines of the classic style bks. And that's fine. But when there are other options that will do the same job as good but look much better why not choose that

 

[Diabel]

I was sold on the Chinook. I showed few pics of it to my wife.......her one word was “ugly”. Then I showed her a pic of the Princess, her comment was “as ugly as the other one you showed me”. The rest is history. I could not be happier.

 

[Tron]

We care about looks. I will be getting my Chinook 30 in two weeks or so. We were deciding with either this or the Princess, and both of us liked the Chinook a lot better. But I guess that mainly depends on taste and how your house is furnished. We have a more modern look to our furniture, so the belly-look of the Princess just wasn't our cup of tea. Performance-wise, I don't think the difference is noticeable.

 

[Woody Stover]

getting my Chinook 30 in two weeks or so. We were deciding with either this or the Princess, and both of us liked the Chinook a lot better. But I guess that mainly depends on taste and how your house is furnished. We have a more modern look

I like the look of the Chinook better than even the Ashford. The plain look doesn't appeal to me in cast iron; I think it looks better in box form.

 

[Tron]

The Ashford was right out. Too curly/squiggly if you know what I mean. Again, taste.

 

[Diabel]

I personally like the “modern” look of the chinook. But in my application it did not matter much. The stove is the least focal point in the room. It is hardly noticeable by people that wold by it.

 

[MTASH]

I'm surprised how little the Sirrocco is mentioned on this board, with the cast leg kit and door it is a decent looking stove IMO. I was sold on it, but wife saw the Ashford in brown and that was it.

 

[BKVP]

There are differences between the 30 box and the princess. The 30 has almost no ash belly so you’ll need to clean it more. The 30 is less efficient but probably not enough to be noticeable. Glass stays cleaner on the 30. Same cat.

The big problem for me with the 30 box is this nagging recurring smoke smell issue that more than just a few people have had. I would want to be extra certain that the flue is tall and straight, meeting and exceeding all requirements.

Highbeam, the the number of "nagging recurring smoke smell issues" has dropped of considerably. If you study the actual 24 cases across North America in 2018 and prior to that, only 4 or so seem to be difficult to resolve.

 

[Highbeam]

The 30 box is worse in every performance specification. It is smaller, less efficient, higher emissions, has almost no ash storage, uses a cloggage prone steel cat, and has a history of door gasket leaks on the ashford. However, it's only just barely worse on these parameters. Like just barely worse, other than the ash belly you would probably not notice the difference if you ran both. That lower efficiency might be due to the stronger air wash which some folks say keeps the glass cleaner.

The only reason to choose a 30 box is aesthetics and I'm with the folks that say that looks matter. I think that's the only reason we have a 30 box to choose from. People didn't like the outdated princess look.

Either stove, 30 or princess, is vastly superior performance wise than anything else on the market in terms of output range (turndown ratio) which I think is very important. You can't go wrong, either is great, and this is why the aesthetics are able to be the determining factor.

 

[BKVP]

I'm surprised how little the Sirrocco is mentioned on this board, with the cast leg kit and door it is a decent looking stove IMO. I was sold on it, but wife saw the Ashford in brown and that was it.

Agreed! We sell thousands of them and yet no real mention...rarely that is.

OP, As for the Chinook, you will want the fans! In order to really effectively move the warm air between the firebox and the top, fans make a huge difference.

 

[BKVP]

The 30 box is worse in every performance specification. It is smaller, less efficient, higher emissions, has almost no ash storage, uses a cloggage prone steel cat, and has a history of door gasket leaks on the ashford. However, it's only just barely worse on these parameters. Like just barely worse, other than the ash belly you would probably not notice the difference if you ran both. That lower efficiency might be due to the stronger air wash which some folks say keeps the glass cleaner.

The only reason to choose a 30 box is aesthetics and I'm with the folks that say that looks matter. I think that's the only reason we have a 30 box to choose from. People didn't like the outdated princess look.

Either stove, 30 or princess, is vastly superior performance wise than anything else on the market in terms of output range (turndown ratio) which I think is very important. You can't go wrong, either is great, and this is why the aesthetics are able to be the determining factor.

Highbeam, drop the brochures. We sell thousands of these very year. Other than a single SC30.1 that had a smoke smell issue, what gives? Not a single consumer has said the stove doesn't satisfy their needs. And while the fireboxes are the same as the AF series and CK series, the door mounting is not even remotely the same. So you cannot lump Sirocco's into the same basket as Ashford's or Chinook's for that matter.

 

[Highbeam]

Highbeam, the the number of "nagging recurring smoke smell issues" has dropped of considerably. If you study the actual 24 cases across North America in 2018 and prior to that, only 4 or so seem to be difficult to resolve.

Great news but it's tough to recover from an issue like that. Reputations are sticky. It will take time and lots of good reviews. It helps that a revision was made to the gasket that attempts to fix it too.

As we all know, the number of cases that are reported to BK are not the only cases, there are certainly more. I am also certain that a significant portion of the stinky stove cases were at least partially due to substandard chimney systems.

You know I'm a supporter of BK but every brand has some growing pains at some point. It's how they deal with them that counts.

 

[Highbeam]

Highbeam, drop the brochures. We sell thousands of these very year. Other than a single SC30.1 that had a smoke smell issue, what gives? Not a single consumer has said the stove doesn't satisfy their needs. And while the fireboxes are the same as the AF series and CK series, the door mounting is not even remotely the same. So you cannot lump Sirocco's into the same basket as Ashford's or Chinook's for that matter.

Chris, you'll notice in the quote you posted that I specified only the ashfords had the smoke smell issue. I didn't even realize that you had at least one problem with the scirroco too which tells me that this should be a concern with any 30 box but especially the ashford. This was a real problem that affected real people.

has a history of door gasket leaks on the ashford

Funny how in the same post I will upset BKVP for being negative about his stove but probably have bholler reading and thinking I'm just a fanboy spewing biased unicorn farts about the BK greatness. As I said, I'm a proud BK owner but I try to be balanced for the benefit of the user.

 

[Highbeam]

Highbeam, drop the brochures. We sell thousands of these very year.

Here are the brochures you requested from your website . They don't look to be very current.

https://www.blazeking.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Broch_30_Sirocco_Chinook_Ashford.pdf

https://www.blazeking.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Broch_King_Princess-1.pdf

 

[Tron]

@Highbeam: if they have not updated their stove designs/specs since then, I guess there is no need to update the brochure, either.

 

[Highbeam]

@Highbeam: if they have not updated their stove designs/specs since then, I guess there is no need to update the brochure, either.

They have changed the stove designs and specifications. The linked brochure still lists the princess as emitting 2.42 gph when the princess now emits something like 0.40 gph.

 

[Tron]

;-)

 

[BKVP]

Chris, you'll notice in the quote you posted that I specified only the ashfords had the smoke smell issue. I didn't even realize that you had at least one problem with the scirroco too which tells me that this should be a concern with any 30 box but especially the ashford. This was a real problem that affected real people.



Funny how in the same post I will upset BKVP for being negative about his stove but probably have bholler reading and thinking I'm just a fanboy spewing biased unicorn farts about the BK greatness. As I said, I'm a proud BK owner but I try to be balanced for the benefit of the user.

Is this really what you took away.. "this should be a concern with any 30 box"? Highbeam, 1 in 7,000+ units?