Blaze King Sirocco 30 - Should the CAT be Glowing?

[mdaniel]

I purchased a Blaze King Sirocco 30 in early November and had installed at the same time. One question in regards to the CAT operation in this stove: When should the CAT be glowing? In my stove it is glowing when there is new wood to burn, but the CAT stops glowing a few hours later. Best I can tell even if I have a large pile of hot coals the CAT is dark. Is this normal or what should happen? The thermometer is in the 'active' zone, so I think it is working. The reason I ask this is my burn times are not as high as reported on here. I know there are many variables, but even when warmer temps outside I cannot get 20 hours burn time. In the recent cold snap with overnight temps in the single digits/low teens I got about 8-10 hrs of real heat. Don't know if this is normal or not. I usually keep my temperature setting around 2.

My house is about 2,300 sq. ft. ranch style home. Built in 2010, with good insulation and windows. Chimney straight up through roof, about 23' (Double wall and Class A). Need advice with those that are more familiar with these things as this is my first wood stove. Previously had a pellet stove. Thanks.

 

[Woody Stover]

The cat can be working, but not glowing.
Not familiar with your stove so I can't comment on burn times....

 

[PapaDave]

How dry is the wood you're using?
When was it cut, split, and stacked? What is it?
#2 seems a bit high, but maybe not for that size home.
webby3650 has the Ashford (same firebox) and some others have the S-30. They should be able to help if we can rule out a wood problem.
That's where I'd start.

 

[Todd]

Sounds normal to me. The cat will glow when temps reach 1000 degrees and as the load burns down to coals there isn't sufficient fuel for a glowing cat.

I think a setting at #2 is a medium burn setting, your burn time would probably go up at lower settings but you may need a higher burn during this time of year.

 

[mdaniel]

How dry is the wood you're using?
When was it cut, split, and stacked? What is it?
#2 seems a bit high, but maybe not for that size home.
webby3650 has the Ashford (same firebox) and some others have the S-30. They should be able to help if we can rule out a wood problem.
That's where I'd start.

Wood is 3 years CSS. A mix of oak, ash and maple. I had the wood way before buying a stove, due to the many recommendations on this forum.

Sounds normal to me. The cat will glow when temps reach 1000 degrees and as the load burns down to coals there isn't sufficient fuel for a glowing cat.

I think a setting at #2 is a medium burn setting, your burn time would probably go up at lower settings but you may need a higher burn during this time of year.

Sounds reasonable. Has been very cold here recently, so the stove temp has definitely been turned up. I will get a good chance to run it low and slow as it will be a mild weekend here in Massachusetts. I will probably try to run it on the lowest setting and see what happens. Looks like 50's for daytime temps and 35-40 at night. I just wanted to make sure that my CAT was functioning properly. Thanks for your help.

 

[PapaDave]

That's a nice mix of dry wood.
Rules that out, more than likely.

 

[Highbeam]

It should be obvious but perhaps worth mentioning, load this stove full. To the top and packed tightly. 2300 SF of two story house in MA is quite a load so burning on medium is going to be necessary and when doing so you won't get all 30 hours.

The other thing is how you determine burn time. Your particular wording,

In the recent cold snap with overnight temps in the single digits/low teens I got about 8-10 hrs of real heat.

makes me think that you are measuring this differently than most. For those of us that just keep a fire going 24/7 and don't let the fire go out, burn time is really defined as ending when you need to use a match to start the new load. So long after "real heat" is gone.

Try this, maintain a fire in the stove. Don't allow the room to cool before starting a new fire. These things work best and burn longest when they maintain a warm house.

 

[weatherguy]

Nothing wrong with 8-10 hours in the temps we had last week especially if your trying to get more heat out of it. Just load up when you need heat, don't worry so much about trying to get a long a burn as you can and just do what you need to heat your home comfortably.

 

[NVHunter]

I'm looking at purchasing a Sirocco 30 next summer. Do you mind posting a few pictures for me?

Thanks

 

[begreen]

It sounds like normal cold temp running. We all use more wood and have shorter burn times when the weather is very cold. Cat stoves don't have an extended burn when pushed for heat. 8-10 hrs of meaningful heat is not bad at all for single digit weather. mdaniel, keep us posted on milder temp running.

 

[rdust]

2300 sq' home with outdoor temps in the teens 10 hour burns times sound about right. That's a big area to be heating with one 3 cubic foot stove. What are the stove temps when you reload after 10 hours? My Princess burns from the middle out, I can usually pull the coals/charred wood from the side into the middle and crank the t-stat for a couple hours near the end of the burn to get some more usable heat before reloading.

I'd like to see a run down of a burn with load pictures and stove temps over the burn period. It would go nicely in the BK performance thread.

 

[HotCoals]

All sounds good to me!
If you want even longer burn times you will need to move up to a King . But even at that to heat my 2500 sq.ft. two story house in the real cold I tend to load at 12 hours.
Actually I do the night load around 8-10pm and the day load at 7 before I leave for work. But if temps will be at least 25 or above I can get 24 hours off of 80 lbs of great wood. Above 40 avg. temps and it can go 30-35 hours.

 

[rdust]

All sounds good to me!
If you want even longer burn times you will need to move up to a King . But even at that to heat my 2500 sq.ft. two story house in the real cold I tend to load at 12 hours.
Actually I do the night load around 8-10pm and the day load at 7 before I leave for work. But if temps will be at least 25 or above I can get 24 hours off of 80 lbs of great wood. Above 40 avg. temps and it can go 30-35 hours.

If we have temps in the low 30's I can sneak 20-24 hour burn times out. We've had a warm up the last couple days where day and night temps have been pretty flat in the low 30's so I'm back on a once a day load schedule.

 

[HotCoals]

If we have temps in the low 30's I can sneak 20-24 hour burn times out. We've had a warm up the last couple days where day and night temps have been pretty flat in the low 30's so I'm back on a once a day load schedule.

It's great ain't it!
With a great bed of coals I can heat 4-5 hours with the air up when above 30 for sure..prolly longer. This thing can hold some coals!

 

[rdust]

mdaniel, post how you're loading and running the stove in the BK performance thread if you want. https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/2013-2014-blaze-king-performance-thread-everything-bk.116353/ Maybe we can find a little extra that you might be missing somewhere.

 

[mdaniel]

I'm looking at purchasing a Sirocco 30 next summer. Do you mind posting a few pictures for me?

Thanks

Here are a few pics. Next year we are getting rid of the hearth pad and going to install blue stone for the base and some sort of backing (stone) all the way up the wall to the ceiling. I like the stove a lot, very easy to use and the house is so much warmer!

 

[mdaniel]

With the warmer temps this weekend I have let the stove burn out, the stove has been running for about 2 weeks straight. I do really like this stove. Last year when we only had the oil heat we kept the thermostat at 65-67. Now with the stove we are steady in the mid 70's! One thing I will have to do next year is get a couple of ceiling fans, but other than that this stove is working great.

Looks like my CAT is operating as it should. Just double checking with those that are more experienced than me

 

[Todd]

While your stove is cool I suggest doing the dollar bill test on your door. Looks like you may have a leak in that lower right corner or it could just be a typical BK dirty glass?

 

[HotCoals]

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Here are a few pics. Next year we are getting rid of the hearth pad and going to install blue stone for the base and some sort of backing (stone) all the way up the wall to the ceiling. I like the stove a lot, very easy to use and the house is so much warmer!

Is that cat glowing that much with the cat temp being on the low side?
If it is that is better then I can do. In other words,were those pics all taken at the same time?

 

[mdaniel]

Is that cat glowing that much with the cat temp being on the low side?
If it is that is better then I can do. In other words,were those pics all taken at the same time?

Yes, the pictures were taken at different times. The picture of the CAT glowing was taken at a different time than the thermometer.

While your stove is cool I suggest doing the dollar bill test on your door. Looks like you may have a leak in that lower right corner or it could just be a typical BK dirty glass?

I will try the dollar bill test and see what happens. New stove (less than 2 months), so I hope the gasket isn't already gone on it. When I do burn low and slow the glass gets real dirty, but when I burn hot it looks great with just a hint around the corners.

 

[HotCoals]

Yes, the pictures were taken at different times. The picture of the CAT glowing was taken at a different time than the thermometer.




I will try the dollar bill test and see what happens. New stove (less than 2 months), so I hope the gasket isn't already gone on it. When I do burn low and slow the glass gets real dirty, but when I burn hot it looks great with just a hint around the corners.

Thanks for being honest and clearing that up. Cheers!