Blaze King Princess, Lopi Leyden, or Lopi Republic 1750 which stove to get??

[kingquad]

Blaze King.

Double wall pipe to the first ceiling penetration, then Class A chimney pipe the rest of the way. It's expensive. Do it right the first time and sleep easier with a safe installation.

 

[JR82]

On my 3rd year with the Republic 1750 without a single problem. Heats like a champ. I don't see an issue with not having the bypass damper, but then again I've never had one so maybe I don't know what I'm missing. Quality stove at a great price.

 

[ohlongarm]

Blaze King all the way,I owned 4 non -cats and never thought I'd ever own a cat stove. Now I'll never not own one.Incredible burns (that heat) and as mentioned here you will not overheat your space because the controls are so precise. My house at 1600 sq. feet is heated by the King Ultra and the heat all of a sudden just creeps up on you and your house is evenly warm. I'd rather have the extra heating capacity and not need it,than to need it and not have it,only burning mine 4 months total so I'm still experimenting but it's more than capable of holding up to anything northeast Ohio can throw at it.Light it,set it ,forget it.Got a 14 hour burn last night on 6 larch splits no more than 4 inches in diameter,house was too warm even with a window open. Hope this helps,I'm a rookie with this stove listen to the pros that post here they'll steer you right,good luck keep us posted.

 

[Troutchaser]

I own a Lopi Leyden and will tell you that it is a heat throwing machine when running as designed. This stove will overheat a living room of modest size in milder weather. Took a while, but I've finally got the downdraft thing going my way. Don't attempt with anything but dry wood (see "dry" wood definition elsewhere)
In our case, looks mattered.
In milder weather, just building hot shoulder fires and letting her rip works great.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Blaze Kings are known for 2 main things: ultra-long burn times... & being ugly.

Did I dream it, or did they come out with a more handsome stove recently - but also much more expensive, IIRC.

 

[RustyShackleford]

BK strongly recommends double-wall pipe. . .keeps the flue warm, which improves draft and stove performance.

Actually, they recommend double-wall as a CYA against complaints of smoke leakage during reload. If you can get away with single-wall, because your chimney draft is good enough, do it. It saves money and installation complexity, and most of all, it's more efficient because the pipe is radiating more heat into the house. Yes, this extra radiation into the house means the flue gasses are cooler, which can cause poor draft and more creosote build-up - hence BK's recommendation; but if your draft is good enough, these things won't be a concern. I recommend folks start off with single-wall, you could even use the cheap hardware store stuff, and evaluate for a season. Then install either high-quality single wall (but steer clear of Elmer's) or double-wall.

 

[BKInsert]

Another consideration for you, in my case I am burning 1/3 less wood than with my previous non cat QuadraFire 3100i stove. The beauty of the BK is, in my case at least, that you only need to load it twice a day (I have the smallest stove, the BK Princess Insert), once in the evening and once in the morning. Before I had to load 3 times a day during the week, and 4 times a day during the weekend.

Also I find the the BK to heat more evenly/steady and better! I just love this stove!

 

[bfunk13]

We love our BK.

 

[ddddddden]

Uh oh. . .you have disturbed the Hive. We are about to have a close encounter with the BK Collective. . .

 

[BrowningBAR]

Uh oh. . .you have disturbed the Hive. We are about to have a close encounter with the BK Collective. . .

It's the state stove of Alaska. I heard the BK logo is going on the state flag as well.

 

[Hass]

Hass, the last time I checked, list price on the Princess was $2600. You might be a bigger fanboy than I am and have more recent info. . .are you saying that the price has gone up $1k in the last 3 years?!

In northern NY I got quoted from one dealer 3550 for the princess. I went to another dealer that is actually a member on these forums, and bought a chinook from him for 3800 instead. at least I think it was 3800, may have been 3900. It was 4300 total with ash pan + air kit... That much I know for sure.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Hass, the last time I checked, list price on the Princess was $2600. You might be a bigger fanboy than I am and have more recent info. . .are you saying that the price has gone up $1k in the last 3 years?!

In northern NY I got quoted from one dealer 3550 for the princess. I went to another dealer that is actually a member on these forums, and bought a chinook from him for 3800 instead. at least I think it was 3800, may have been 3900. It was 4300 total with ash pan + air kit... That much I know for sure.

How's it look? Did you have a thread about this already? If so, could you point me to it?

 

[ddddddden]

Yeah, the Chinook was born with a higher price tag. If the princess went up ~ $1k, that would be ~ 40% increase! WoW!

 

[RustyShackleford]

Uh oh. . .you have disturbed the Hive. We are about to have a close encounter with the BK Collective. . .

I can't find the "like" button ...

 

[BKInsert]

If you get the fan you will find it!

 

[RustyShackleford]

If you get the fan you will find it!

Yeah, talk me into it. I've thought about it, to be sure. I sure wish I could give them a test drive.

 

[BKInsert]

I was just kidding... You are the first person I saw who has a BK and is not happy... What is the problem with yours?

 

[RustyShackleford]

I was just kidding... You are the first person I saw who has a BK and is not happy... What is the problem with yours?

Whoa, big misunderstanding. I am VERY happy with my BK. I wanted to press the "like" button (as in facebook), at the funny joke made about disturbing the hive.

But I am serious about the fact that I'm very curious if I would like it even more with the fans.

 

[BKInsert]

I was just kidding... You are the first person I saw who has a BK and is not happy... What is the problem with yours?

Whoa, big misunderstanding. I am VERY happy with my BK. I wanted to press the "like" button (as in facebook), at the funny joke made about disturbing the hive.

But I am serious about the fact that I'm very curious if I would like it even more with the fans.

oh... sorry... Not sure about your house layout but in general you probably do not need a fan with a free standing stove, you would do better with placing fans in doors/openings to move the air from room to room. We have two double fans for over hang windows, one from the den, where the stove is, and another from the dining room to the bedrooms. It makes a huge difference for us.

 

[RustyShackleford]

I was just kidding... You are the first person I saw who has a BK and is not happy... What is the problem with yours?

Whoa, big misunderstanding. I am VERY happy with my BK. I wanted to press the "like" button (as in facebook), at the funny joke made about disturbing the hive.

But I am serious about the fact that I'm very curious if I would like it even more with the fans.

oh... sorry... Not sure about your house layout but in general you probably do not need a fan with a free standing stove, you would do better with placing fans in doors/openings to move the air from room to room. We have two double fans for over hang windows, one from the den, where the stove is, and another from the dining room to the bedrooms. It makes a huge difference for us.

Actually, I like the fact that the MBR is much cooler than the main living area; I like to sleep in a cold room.

But I wish it would warm the big living/dining/kitchen room better, so maybe some circulation local to that room, which is why I thought of the fans. I have a ceiling fan, blowing upwards in winter-time, and that does a pretty good job.

 

[Mt Ski Bum]

Yeah, the Chinook was born with a higher price tag...

Ah yes, the extra price of not looking ugly... :lol:

 

[Hass]

How's it look? Did you have a thread about this already? If so, could you point me to it?

Looks great. and no sir.
I'm waiting for my permit to actually validate the install.
I dropped it off weeks ago, and haven't heard anything. I called today about it because I'm starting to get pretty cold lol.
They didn't get back to me... I figured I'll wait to make a thread when it's all done and burning instead of making multiple incomplete threads.

I plan on doing quite a bit of work with this stove when it's burning!
Got my scale and thermometers all set to go
We'll see how long we can REALLY get it to burn... :]

They claim 30 hours on 40lbs of softwood. so if the BTU output remains the same (which it is supposed to do), then cramming it full of ~100lbs of hardwood pallet wood should give.... a few extra hours?
Should be able to cram that much oak in there I think, maybe a little more... if the firebox truely is 2.75cu/ft. But that may be including firebrick. Maybe I should take some measurements... hum...