Blaze king real people burn time

[Poindexter]

Ill define a cold start as needing a math and kindling. A hot reload, the cat is still in the active zone, i am just waiting for the fresh wood to char before i re engage the combustor. A warm reload, no match, no kindling, the wood is charred, i am waiting for the cat to come back up to temp before i close the bypass.

In shoulder seasons, with spruce only, i can get some warm reloads on 24 hour burns. In cold weather i run hot reloads every 12 hours for weeks on end.

Ashford 30, 3-4 star energy rated house, 1200sqft.

 

[sutphenj]

I had always been able to heat with my BKs on med/low. Well insulated, appropriately sized stove for the home. Maximum burn times were normal for me. With my non-cats and hybrid there were extreme temperature swings. Got to bed too hot, wake up cold and do it all over again. Switched to a BK and the problem was eliminated, wood consumption dropped nearly in half.

Dropped in half compared to pre epa or modern epa stove?

 

[webby3650]

Dropped in half compared to pre epa or modern epa stove?

I don’t really burn pre-epa. Mostly modern higher end stuff.

The difference is the control, a BK has consistent output. So you aren’t blowing through wood when the heat isn’t needed.

 

[UrbanBrnr]

This my first winter on my Ashford 30 and I have been burning Ash (17% moisture) that is split about 4 to 5 inches in diameter at maximum. I have gotten a twelve hour burn with the firebox mostly full with thermostat about a third of the way open.
When I reloaded the stove was still giving off the same amount of heat as hours earlier. I’m just a newbie with it; but I believe the guys when say they get the long burn times. I think I need to learn the tricks to the longer burn times. I have some white oak that is split much larger and is about 15% moisture, I will use it when it gets really cold.

This is my first time posting on such a site, so if asking a question not exactly on topic is improper; please advise me. You seem very knowledgeable about BK. I’ve been heating with a Lamppa Kuuma Vapor Fire- 200 wood furnace (1.1 gph) for 20+ years. I would like to have the peace of mind of a non-electric wood stove, but the emissions have to be very low for being an urban burner. Please tell me if your Ashford 30.2 with 0.8 grams/hour after startup, only emits visible moisture? And, is it true that a Cat system doesn’t allow the burning of pallet wood containing nails?

 

[Sawset]

So you aren’t blowing through wood when the heat isn’t needed.

I can't think of a time where I've "blown through wood", regardless of conditions.
Especially when "heat isn't needed".

 

[ratsrepus]

both my BK's operate as advertised. My shop which has the princess installed will do the best because its smaller and has dense pack foam insulation. Dead of winter in SE Michigan I'm usually looking at 24 burn times. The Ashford in the house I have to run harder, less burn time, but never less than 16 hrs between reloads. Wife likes it 74 degrees, so if I throttled it down a bit 24 hrs might be realistic. Hell I just went 36 hrs on a load of oak but it was up in the 50's yesterday

 

[Highbeam]

I can't think of a time where I've "blown through wood", regardless of conditions.
Especially when "heat isn't needed".

Do it all the time sitting around a fire pit! Or when I have slash to dispose of. Neither of these in a stove though unless you consider giving wood away to cold people as blowing through it.

Once you burn wood in a really efficient way, it feels like wasting wood to burn it inefficiently in a regular/standard efficiency stove. Feels like your blowing through it. I have this contrast issue when burning two stoves in one day, my cat stove in a house very slowly and the noncat in a larger shop really fast.

 

[Sawset]

Do it all the time sitting around a fire pit! Or when I have slash to dispose of. Neither of these in a stove though unless you consider giving wood away to cold people as blowing through it.

Once you burn wood in a really efficient way, it feels like wasting wood to burn it inefficiently in a regular/standard efficiency stove. Feels like your blowing through it. I have this contrast issue when burning two stoves in one day, my cat stove in a house very slowly and the noncat in a larger shop really fast.

The difference is the control, a BK has consistent output. So you aren’t blowing through wood when the heat isn’t needed.

Ok, got it. So that's what he was talking about, a comparison to fire pits and burning slash and other garbage. In that case carry on, as you were.

 

[Alpine1]

This is my first time posting on such a site, so if asking a question not exactly on topic is improper; please advise me. You seem very knowledgeable about BK. I’ve been heating with a Lamppa Kuuma Vapor Fire- 200 wood furnace (1.1 gph) for 20+ years. I would like to have the peace of mind of a non-electric wood stove, but the emissions have to be very low for being an urban burner. Please tell me if your Ashford 30.2 with 0.8 grams/hour after startup, only emits visible moisture? And, is it true that a Cat system doesn’t allow the burning of pallet wood containing nails?

I burn Norway spruce and scots pine almost exclusively, and all my wood is well under 20% moisture content (usually 14-15%) and I can’t see neither smoke nor water vapor after startup. Obviously, there is smoke after each reload, but it disappears after 20 minutes or so.
BK recommends to burn proper cordwood only, and for good reason: you don’t want to “poison” the catalytic combustor. Pallet wood can be contaminated with oil or other substances that can leave a thin deposit on the precious metals of the catalyst, thus making it useless. Nails can contaminate the cat too, especially if tin (IIRC) is inolved.
Other more knowledgeable members will add more infos than I can provide.

 

[Diabel]

There are way too many variables to consider here. Wood type/condition, house, pipe, weather...
Most of us BK users have their sweet spot in terms of optimal burn. I get 18 hrs of heat burning hemlock and I am super happy with it. Thermo set at 2:00 and blower at min. If I put a full load of sugar maple in it, I am certain I could relight at 24-28 hrs with hardly any heat coming off of the stove... but that would be so boring....

 

[begreen]

Last winter we had some realtime cold weather reports of 8-12hr burn times in their BK stoves. It's a simple matter of the house's heat loss. Adding a cat stove does nothing to change that. It may eek out 5% more efficiency and that is great, but when heat is demanded, the technology difference becomes moot. Where these stoves shine is during shoulder season burning and in very well insulated houses. They do this very well by burning smoldering smoke in the catalytic convertor. A non-cat should not be burned so low that the fire smolders.

 

[webby3650]

Last winter we had some realtime cold weather reports of 8-12hr burn times in their BK stoves. It's a simple matter of the house's heat loss. Adding a cat stove does nothing to change that. It may eek out 5% more efficiency and that is great, but when heat is demanded, the technology difference becomes moot. Where these stoves shine is during shoulder season burning and in very well insulated houses. They do this very well by burning smoldering smoke in the catalytic convertor. A non-cat should not be burned so low that the fire smolders.

Well said.
Since I have installed my BK in the basement, I run much higher than I ever needed to before. Even running on high I get really good burn times, but at that point there’s not much of a point to have a cat, or much of any technology really. The burn time is still longer than a non-cat I’m sure, but may not be as hot, since it’s still being held back by the thermostat.

 

[Kwehme09]

Sirroco 20 here. 12 hours without trying. 16 hours filling it up good with bigger splits. Still not much effort.

 

[rdust]

Before we had so many believers I documented a lot of my burns in detail. I started the first Bk performance thread, I’d start there.

2012-2013 Blaze King Performance Thread(everything BK)

Since we have a bunch of new BK owners this year I figured I'd start a thread to discuss everything BK. This may help limit the amount of BK threads and give us one convenient place to ask questions or just boast about our burn times without ruffling any feathers. ::-) Anyway I'm on my...

www.hearth.com

 

[Poindexter]

This is my first time posting on such a site, so if asking a question not exactly on topic is improper; please advise me. You seem very knowledgeable about BK. I’ve been heating with a Lamppa Kuuma Vapor Fire- 200 wood furnace (1.1 gph) for 20+ years. I would like to have the peace of mind of a non-electric wood stove, but the emissions have to be very low for being an urban burner. Please tell me if your Ashford 30.2 with 0.8 grams/hour after startup, only emits visible moisture? And, is it true that a Cat system doesn’t allow the burning of pallet wood containing nails?

My first year production ashford 30 "30.0" at 1.2 grams per hour rated only emits visible steam when I am doing my part by providing fuel at less than 20% moisture content and follow the operating instructions in the manual that comes with the stove, at part throttle. At full throttle I can get my plume opacity up around 20% with fuel around 16% MC.

Are you a regulated burner or just a good neighbor?

 

[Woody Stover]

One thing I've observed is the burntime goes down a bit as the temperature drops outside, I think due to a stronger draft. But that's fine since you need the heat anyways.

That doesn't sound right. If draft is stronger, the fire will burn hotter and the thermostat should close accordingly, yielding a similar burn time.

My Ashford 30 smokes like the devil during the first 5 minutes of a high burn after a reload with the bypass closed,

Is the cat still in the active zone when you close the bypass again after a reload? How far open is the air for your "high burn?" It's possible to blow smoke right through the cat before it has a chance to burn, if you have the air wide open.

I would like to have the peace of mind of a non-electric wood stove, but the emissions have to be very low for being an urban burner. Please tell me if your Ashford 30.2 with 0.8 grams/hour after startup, only emits visible moisture?

Some of the pre-2020 non-cats emitted up to 4 g/h..there is no visible smoke. Some non-cat users report the ability, from a cold start to have the air cut back, their stove cruising and burning cleanly, within fifteen minutes. Hard to do that with a cat stove. Other cold-start techniques such as a "top-down start" will allow for a more smoke-free startup.

the regency is definitely doing a great job warming my house for 12 hours house temp starts to drop after 12 hours still not to shabby, the house is 2,221 square-foot with lots of windows, the room where the stove is in has 8 windows and two 6 foot French glass doors. There is no way I can go 24 hours of keeping the house warm I imagine I can probably have some hot coals. Still would love to here from BK owners how there stove burn times are so I have an idea of how long till the house temps drop.

Last winter we had some realtime cold weather reports of 8-12hr burn times in their BK stoves. It's a simple matter of the house's heat loss. Adding a cat stove does nothing to change that. It may eek out 5% more efficiency and that is great, but when heat is demanded, the technology difference becomes moot. Where these stoves shine is during shoulder season burning and in very well insulated houses. They do this very well by burning smoldering smoke in the catalytic convertor. A non-cat should not be burned so low that the fire smolders.

Wolves, if you're looking for some kind of magical stove the will double your burn time while putting out the heat that it sounds like you need, I think you'll be disappointed. There is 'X' amount of heat in a load of wood, period. There's no way around the laws of physics.
Despite reports of long burn time, like begreen said, if you need heat, those are out the window. For shoulder-season burning, I can run my cat stove, with a fire box half the size of a BK, very low for a very long time. Plus, when it finally burns out, house temp drops very slowly, even though my insulation and air-sealing aren't good...it's not cold out in shoulder season.

I started the first Bk performance thread, I’d start there.

Start there, then read all the BK threads to discover other BK features that you may not yet be aware of..

 

[ohlongarm]

Love to hear from people real experience burn times under normal operating conditions not a lab. Please let us know if it’s the princess or king.

Been burning a King 4 years and a King parlor 4 years currently.My wood is always minimally 2 years dry,mostly oak,red,white,locust,hard maple,shoulder season is ash ,cherry,and hemlock.Twenty degrees and up 20 to 24 hours no problem,my chimney is the minimum allowed,recommended 12 feet. Never a problem there. Severe weather 20 degrees to - 20 wind chills 10 to 12 hours easily.Ten with blower on lowest setting.However if i choose to need more ambience ,by that i mean fire watching those times can drop my an hour or two. Not a problem here ,fortunately i have an endless wood supply.I've been burning 4 year old cherry all season and am doing well still,haven't tapped into oak yet.I have gone 30 to 40 hours out of curiosity but heat output is low but existent,and there's no need for it,but it will do it,so BK is not falsely advertising.No better burning stove in my opinion. Last night loaded up with cherry at 5pm,11am now house still in 70's probably will reload at 5pm,when the turkey is cooking it creates enough heat to last till reload. Love my BK.Pics 1-2 ambiance burn,pic 3 efficiency long haul burn.

 

[AlbergSteve]

Ashford 30.1. Sixteen feet of pipe straight up. 2400 square feet on one floor, newly reno'd and tight. Longest burn with Doug fir (<20%mc) was 26 hours. At 0 to -5c, 12-16 hours is typical depending on species.

 

[Woody Stover]

I have gone 30 to 40 hours out of curiosity but heat output is low but existent,and there's no need for it,but it will do it,so BK is not falsely advertising.

Right. I've actually never bothered to see how low my stove will run. If it's not cold out, I just burn a fairly slow load to bump the heat in the house. If I want to save some coals, I'll cut the air somewhere in the coaling stage, and will have coals for a very long time, 24 hrs in a 1.5 cu.ft. box. But if I just let the coals burn out, it doesn't bother me to throw a couple pieces of kindling and a starter in there on a reload and do a top-down..no hassle at all. House temp never varies more than a couple degrees. I really don't see the point of the ultra-long burn. It's a red herring in my book.

 

[lsucet]

Right. I've actually never bothered to see how low my stove will run. If it's not cold out, I just burn a fairly slow load to bump the heat in the house. If I want to save some coals, I'll cut the air somewhere in the coaling stage, and will have coals for a very long time, 24 hrs in a 1.5 cu.ft. box. But if I just let the coals burn out, it doesn't bother me to throw a couple pieces of kindling and a starter in there on a reload and do a top-down..no hassle at all. House temp never varies more than a couple degrees. I really don't see the point of the ultra-long burn. It's a red herring in my book.

Long burn is a life saver for some, at least for me. I run one on shoulder season, it is enough. Once temps drop 20s and lower I fire up the other as needed but keeping both on low.
I get up in AM to take care my animals before go to work and comback from work to take care them again. I don't have time to be tending the stove in the morning. A 24hrs schedule is an easy deal and less headache for me when keeping everything real toasty. With new cat this year, 24 hrs is easy with 5 to 6 good size splits and no need to fill it up to the grills. Yeah long burn and steady temp without swings is a big deal to me.

 

[bholler]

For me I can get 24 hours if I want but it won't heat my house burning that long if it is below 50 out. And if it gets much over 50 my draft stalls and I get co in the house. Most of the time I get either 8 or 12 hours.

 

[Woody Stover]

I get up in AM to take care my animals before go to work and comback from work to take care them again. I don't have time to be tending the stove in the morning. A 24hrs schedule is an easy deal and less headache for me when keeping everything real toasty.

Yeah, you got some wind up there where you are so you may need a more constant heat output. It's windier out here on the ridge than in town but I'm buried in the trees, so it's moderated. Plus we've got two people that can run the stove, and I don't work a 40-hr. week. With the small firebox we just can't stretch it out like you can. Now, if Ws made a 2.5 cu.ft. firebox, straight-cat stove, I think it would rival the BKs for burn time. Not sure why Ws has that hole in their stove lineup..

 

[2fireplacesinSC]

This is my first time posting on such a site, so if asking a question not exactly on topic is improper; please advise me. You seem very knowledgeable about BK. I’ve been heating with a Lamppa Kuuma Vapor Fire- 200 wood furnace (1.1 gph) for 20+ years. I would like to have the peace of mind of a non-electric wood stove, but the emissions have to be very low for being an urban burner. Please tell me if your Ashford 30.2 with 0.8 grams/hour after startup, only emits visible moisture? And, is it true that a Cat system doesn’t allow the burning of pallet wood containing nails?

this initial post is from 2017. You may want to try posting this question as a new post/thread in the forum.

In answer to your questions:
emissions seem very low and a lot of people are burning in "urban" environments. Probably most actually.

you shouldn't see smoke with a cat or non-cat if burning correctly

don't burn pallet wood containing nails. Pallet wood is probably fine if no chemical treatment on it, but never burn treated or wood with chemicals in it.

 

[jetsam]

I can get 24 hours on a load of oak in my princess insert on low with the fan off. I think the brochure claims 27 hours for my model.

I have no doubt I could get 30+ hours out of a load of huge splits sawn to fill the firebox nicely, but in the real world, I reload it every ~12 hours anyway, so I don't really care what the theoretical max is.

Related reading: 62 hour burn, Doug fir in a King with a special windowless door.

 

[kennyp2339]

Last night was a bit fun, myself and the neighbors were going to the house up the road for some drinks and dessert, I told my neighbors I just needed to stop at the house and load the stove up, it was around 7:30pm, so this was close to 14hrs on the morning load, my neighbor made the comment on how it must be a pia to always have to load the stove, I laughed, and said I only loaded it once today when I woke up, they were astonished when we went in the basement, it was hot, and I had a tons of coals to rack forward for an easy reload, cat was still active in the 10am spot. It doesn't get any better than that imo.