Blaze King Princess29 or Hearthstone Clydesdale??

[Reismann1]

Hello. My preference is the blaze king but I’m 8 to 10 weeks out in receiving one in my area. I live in Massachusetts on the Rhode Island border. I could get a Hearthstone Clydesdale next week which, in Brown Enamel is a beautiful stove insert. I have concerns over the hybrid nature of the stove and have read some pros and cons in other threads? I think the Jury is still out on the Clydesdale do you think it’s worth it to take a chance on it considering the high price but yet it is available to me very soon? I would be new to wood-burning stoves as I had a pellet stove in the past. My home is a two-story center entrance colonial about 2300 ft.². For some reason my upstairs is generally always warm. I’m looking to heat the 1200 square-foot first floor. My kitchen and kitchenette area along with the dining room is over the unfinished part of my basement and is generally cold as there’s not enough baseboard heat. my wife is constantly cold and has Reynards disease so I need to maximize the heat on the first floor. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[NHWS]

Whatever stove you install, you're likely to have it for many years. Waiting 8 to 10 weeks is brief by comparison. Suggest you pick whichever stove you think will work better without too much concern for the delivery speed.

 

[EbS-P]

If you don’t have wool that has been split and stacked for at least a year (3 years is better) you won’t enjoy any wood heat heating experience. The BK is a better choice.

If you need heat this winter I suggest a mini split or space heaters. An electric blanket plugged into an gfci/afi receptacle is also a safe and super comfy for less than 199$ if you had to call an electrician (guessing on rates).

 

[Highbeam]

There’s a reason that the hearthstones aren’t sold out. They do look good though.

I had a hearthstone and upgraded to a blaze king. Totally worth the wait.

My wife has that white finger issue too and that’s one of the reasons we keep the main home area well into the upper 70s. Electric blanket for the bed. Pair of pug dogs for her lap.

 

[Reismann1]

Whatever stove you install, you're likely to have it for many years. Waiting 8 to 10 weeks is brief by comparison. Suggest you pick whichever stove you think will work better without too much concern for the delivery speed.

Thank you. I am sure you are right. I was impressed by both. I waited too long to decide to go this route. The BK seems to be the way to go and worth the wait.

 

[Reismann1]

If you don’t have wool that has been split and stacked for at least a year (3 years is better) you won’t enjoy any wood heat heating experience. The BK is a better choice.

If you need heat this winter I suggest a mini split or space heaters. An electric blanket plugged into an gfci/afi receptacle is also a safe and super comfy for less than 199$ if you had to call an electrician (guessing on rates).

I have access to great split wood from a coworker. Stuff has been seasoned sufficiently. The electric blanket is great but in the middle of the night she’s hot as hell. It’s a woman thing at her age. Lol. I can’t seem to win!! At this point I’ll take anything that heats this place up so that we are all in shorts and a T.

 

[NHWS]

Took almost a year from the time I started looking for a wood stove to the time it was installed and usable. Trying to work with the dealers was very frustrating. Lots of unreturned messages, incorrect information, and broken commitments. BK's 'customer service' was erratic - sometimes I got someone who knew what they were talking about, sometimes I got an absurd script being read by what might have loosely been called a human (AFAIK BK isn't high tech enough to use voice chatbots yet). Ended up installing the surround and hearth pad myself, and had to learn tiling to do it. Installers didn't want to come back to fix the things they did wrong during the install.

All of that is done now. Even a difficult year is short compared to the many years that I expect to have the stove. I haven't used a Hearthstone, so I can't comment on it other than to agree that they are nice looking. There is a learning curve, but overall the BK stove itself is almost set-and-forget for 12 hours at a time, and it easily heats 1800 sq ft / 14 ft ceiling of 1970's construction to the mid 70's dF when the outside temp is around freezing. I have never needed to run it on more than 1/3 air, so there is a lot of capacity yet to handle colder outside temps.

 

[NHWS]

I have access to great split wood from a coworker. Stuff has been seasoned sufficiently.

Be sure to get and use a moisture meter to check it.

 

[BKVP]

Took almost a year from the time I started looking for a wood stove to the time it was installed and usable. Trying to work with the dealers was very frustrating. Lots of unreturned messages, incorrect information, and broken commitments. BK's 'customer service' was erratic - sometimes I got someone who knew what they were talking about, sometimes I got an absurd script being read by what might have loosely been called a human (AFAIK BK isn't high tech enough to use voice chatbots yet). Ended up installing the surround and hearth pad myself, and had to learn tiling to do it. Installers didn't want to come back to fix the things they did wrong during the install.

All of that is done now. Even a difficult year is short compared to the many years that I expect to have the stove. I haven't used a Hearthstone, so I can't comment on it other than to agree that they are nice looking. There is a learning curve, but overall the BK stove itself is almost set-and-forget for 12 hours at a time, and it easily heats 1800 sq ft / 14 ft ceiling of 1970's construction to the mid 70's dF when the outside temp is around freezing. I have never needed to run it on more than 1/3 air, so there is a lot of capacity yet to handle colder outside temps.

I'd like to know more about your comments regarding the customer service. Would also like to know more about the dealer interaction.

Please PM me or call 509-522-2730 at your convenience.

BKVP
(Chris Neufeld-Vice President Blaze King Industries, Inc..)

 

[NHWS]

I'd like to know more about your comments regarding the customer service. Would also like to know more about the dealer interaction.

Please PM me or call 509-522-2730 at your convenience.

I did PM you a time or two last winter, mentioning some of the problems I was having with BK dealers. Most of the problems (other the the post install issues) are long enough ago that I'm not likely to remember which conversation was which. I do keep notes about conversations, but going through them would take too long. I'll try to write up what I can remember sometime in the next few days and PM it to you.

One customer service question I can remember asking was related to the distance to combustibles around the stove. There is an important measurement that is missing from either the manual or the website (can't recall now which). The first time I called, the person on the other end insisted that all necessary information was already in the source I had; that if it wasn't there, it wasn't necessary; and would not transfer me to anyone else. The second time I was told that the stove manual was for the use of the dealer/installer, not for me; that there was no question that the dealer/installer would install the stove correctly; that there was no need for me to know that information; and that in any case the information was not available to them. The third time I got someone who actually looked, agreed that the measurement was 1) important and 2) missing, put me on hold to talk to someone else, and came back with the measurement and with a pointer to a different (less obvious) source on your website that included it.

When the installers were here, I asked them a question about the cat. They insisted that the PE32 did not have a cat. I called BK the next day and was told the same thing. I called again the following day and got a reasonable answer.

 

[BKVP]

I did PM you a time or two last winter, mentioning some of the problems I was having with BK dealers. Most of the problems (other the the post install issues) are long enough ago that I'm not likely to remember which conversation was which. I do keep notes about conversations, but going through them would take too long. I'll try to write up what I can remember sometime in the next few days and PM it to you.

One customer service question I can remember asking was related to the distance to combustibles around the stove. There is an important measurement that is missing from either the manual or the website (can't recall now which). The first time I called, the person on the other end insisted that all necessary information was already in the source I had; that if it wasn't there, it wasn't necessary; and would not transfer me to anyone else. The second time I was told that the stove manual was for the use of the dealer/installer, not for me; that there was no question that the dealer/installer would install the stove correctly; that there was no need for me to know that information; and that in any case the information was not available to them. The third time I got someone who actually looked, agreed that the measurement was 1) important and 2) missing, put me on hold to talk to someone else, and came back with the measurement and with a pointer to a different (less obvious) source on your website that included it.

When the installers were here, I asked them a question about the cat. They insisted that the PE32 did not have a cat. I called BK the next day and was told the same thing. I called again the following day and got a reasonable answer.

Well, that gets us an F-!! I apologize. I'll go back and reread your PM, I don't recall this. But truly, our office staff gets lots of training before they are permitted to answer the phones and guessing is not permitted! EVER!

My apologies for everything....

BKVP

 

[BKVP]

O found your PM. Looks like you were having some issues with finding a dealer. The one we chatted about in the PM in Bremerton has notified us they are closing that business.

BKVP

 

[Highbeam]

O found your PM. Looks like you were having some issues with finding a dealer. The one we chatted about in the PM in Bremerton has notified us they are closing that business.

BKVP

Bummer, that was my dealer.

 

[SJFam]

There’s a reason that the hearthstones aren’t sold out. They do look good though.

I had a hearthstone and upgraded to a blaze king. Totally worth the wait.

My wife has that white finger issue too and that’s one of the reasons we keep the main home area well into the upper 70s. Electric blanket for the bed. Pair of pug dogs for her lap.

Did you have a Hearthstone insert and if so which one and what issues did you have? What model Blaze King did you replace it with? Thanks for your help.

 

[Highbeam]

Did you have a Hearthstone insert and if so which one and what issues did you have? What model Blaze King did you replace it with? Thanks for your help.

I went from a lopi freedom bay noncat certified insert to a modern noncat heritage freestanding to a bk princess. All in the same place in the same home.

The hearthstone looked good and performed well enough for a noncat but was very poorly designed from a durability point of view. Saggy door hinges, worn latches, not repairable without a complete tear down of the stove to a pile of little rocks. It barely lasted 6 years.

 

[SJFam]

Thank you for the reply.

The door hinge broke after 2 months on our Clydesdale, fire going in stove.

Are you happy with the Blaze King performance and manufacturer support?

 

[Highbeam]

Thank you for the reply.

The door hinge broke after 2 months on our Clydesdale, fire going in stove.

Are you happy with the Blaze King performance and manufacturer support?

I am quite happy with both.

 

[SJFam]

Thank you for your feedback.