Blaze King Sirocco 30...will it help?

[Mike M.]

So I have been looking at the Sirocco 30. I have a Blaze King dealer near me and they seem very helpful. Currently I am burning a Nap 1450 and it does okay but coals build up and stove temps drop causing the house to get cool. I get about 4-5 hours of heat out of the stove then wait and wait for the coals to burn down so I can reload. I am burning 15 month stacked, split and covered ash. I like the idea of consistent 10 hour burns, but I am not sure that will heat my house. The house is over 2000 square feet with many large single pane windows. Am I wasting my time looking at cat stoves? Should I be looking at a larger fire box? Also note my chimney has very strong draft, enough to over fire the 1450 on reloads.

 

[rdust]

What part of the country/world are you in? What type of climate?

 

[Mike M.]

What part of the country/world are you in? What type of climate?

In Green Bay WI, very cold long winters.

 

[begreen]

If the goal is more heat, move up to a 3 cu ft stove. The BK will have the advantage during shoulder season, but when you need the heat most any good EPA stove will provide the same performance. The Napoleon 1900 is a good performer for example.

 

[aansorge]

My guess is the BK would do better...long consistent burns and higher overall efficiency. Add the insert you got for the cold spells and you should be golden. A BK king may be better, but requires an 8 inch flue. You surely already have a six so the 30 makes sense.

 

[rdust]

I went from a Lopi Endeavor with a 2.2 cubic foot firebox(similar to your 1450) to a Princess and the difference is night and day. Shoulder season you'll find it silly, when it gets cold the biggest difference you'll notice will come from the added size. If the 30 burns similar to the Princess you'll love how stable the room temps will be between reloads.

 

[weatherguy]

Im doing 2800 sf with a princess insert, does the bulk of the heating except on the coldest nights, would think a free stander the same size would handle 2000 sf with ease. It is silly during shoulder season, load it twice a day and keep it low.

 

[rideau]

Consider the Woodstock Progress Hybrid, or, if you can wait a few months or so, the new Woodstock stove. The PH will keep a 2000 sq ft home toasty, and it' s a beautiful stove.

 

[Highbeam]

So I have been looking at the Sirocco 30. I have a Blaze King dealer near me and they seem very helpful. Currently I am burning a Nap 1450 and it does okay but coals build up and stove temps drop causing the house to get cool. I get about 4-5 hours of heat out of the stove then wait and wait for the coals to burn down so I can reload. I am burning 15 month stacked, split and covered ash. I like the idea of consistent 10 hour burns, but I am not sure that will heat my house. The house is over 2000 square feet with many large single pane windows. Am I wasting my time looking at cat stoves? Should I be looking at a larger fire box? Also note my chimney has very strong draft, enough to over fire the 1450 on reloads.

The nap is only a 2.2 CF stove. I Bet if you measure, you will find that it is much less. The princess/scirroco size BK is over 2.8 and you can load the whole thing so you get more of a jump in stove size than the marketing numbers would indicate.

To answer your question, yes, it will help. The BK is a bigger stove, more efficient, can burn for over 30 hours or as fast as you need the heat. The biggest woodstock is the same size and no more efficient but less controllable.

If the BK can't do the job for 2000 SF then you have major house problems and would be well served to fix the low hanging fruit with the home. Of course, knowing your location would help us. If you leave the house alone then you need more stove.

 

[daleeper]

Mike, it appears that your current stove is at best, barely big enough for your house, and you mention large single pane windows, which could really allow a lot of cold air in the house.

You need a bigger stove and better windows, pick your poi$on. If you really like your current stove, then fix the window/air infiltration/insulation issues first, let us help resolve the coaling issues, then get a new stove if those things still don't help enough. Throwing money at a new stove may not totally fix your issues, but I'm betting it will go quite a ways toward it on all but the coldest/windiest days.

I'm not sure why you are getting coaling up with ash firewood, my experience is that it burns down well, but I don't think perfect wood is going to make that stove keep your house warm when it is real cold, and the wind is blowing. There may be some issues that have not yet been identified, such as your draft being too strong, wood not as dry as you think it is, air leaks in the door gasket, maybe even running the air inlet on the stove too high, and letting all that hot air go up the chimney.

If you have a nearby Blaze King dealer, then they should be on top of your list. There are a lot of Blaze Kings in Alaska and Canada, so I think they would surely work well in Wisconsin. You would not be wasting time looking at them (cat stoves). You have not mentioned what size flue you have. If you have an 8 inch flue, I don't think the King would be out of the question for the size of space you are heating. If you are limited to a 6 inch flue, then the Sirocco 30 would be a great stove, and should be at the top of your list. Just because we sing the praises of the BK stoves being so good in the shoulder season for low and slow burning doesn't mean they don't work good when cold. They will heat well, but remember there is no magic, as heat demand gets higher, burn times will get shorter. BK stoves are good stoves, and will do what they say they will do.

 

[Mike M.]

Mike, it appears that your current stove is at best, barely big enough for your house, and you mention large single pane windows, which could really allow a lot of cold air in the house.

You need a bigger stove and better windows, pick your poi$on. If you really like your current stove, then fix the window/air infiltration/insulation issues first, let us help resolve the coaling issues, then get a new stove if those things still don't help enough. Throwing money at a new stove may not totally fix your issues, but I'm betting it will go quite a ways toward it on all but the coldest/windiest days.

I'm not sure why you are getting coaling up with ash firewood, my experience is that it burns down well, but I don't think perfect wood is going to make that stove keep your house warm when it is real cold, and the wind is blowing. There may be some issues that have not yet been identified, such as your draft being too strong, wood not as dry as you think it is, air leaks in the door gasket, maybe even running the air inlet on the stove too high, and letting all that hot air go up the chimney.

If you have a nearby Blaze King dealer, then they should be on top of your list. There are a lot of Blaze Kings in Alaska and Canada, so I think they would surely work well in Wisconsin. You would not be wasting time looking at them (cat stoves). You have not mentioned what size flue you have. If you have an 8 inch flue, I don't think the King would be out of the question for the size of space you are heating. If you are limited to a 6 inch flue, then the Sirocco 30 would be a great stove, and should be at the top of your list. Just because we sing the praises of the BK stoves being so good in the shoulder season for low and slow burning doesn't mean they don't work good when cold. They will heat well, but remember there is no magic, as heat demand gets higher, burn times will get shorter. BK stoves are good stoves, and will do what they say they will do.

 

[Mike M.]

I have a 6in flue and run the 1450 really hot, 700 stove top temp is usual for my stove. I posted before about the stove over firing and some folks recommended a pipe damper. I have not installed a damper yet but maybe I need one. The stove actually burns so hot sometimes all the air wash system air goes into the fire and the door blackens. This is very very annoying. At this point it seems that I have no control over the stove and fire. I started reloading east west and this helps. Maybe the dry ash just gases out fast, I don't no. The over fire only happens on the 1450, the 1400 has a much longer chimney and never has the problem.

 

[begreen]

If you have confirmed no air leaks from a bad gasket or similar fixable flaw I would go ahead with the flue damper. But first be sure you are treating the problem and not just the symptom.

 

[daleeper]

"The stove actually burns so hot sometimes all the air wash system air goes into the fire and the door blackens. This is very very annoying. At this point it seems that I have no control over the stove and fire."

Maybe a new stove would fix your heating problem, but if funds were tight, I would attempt to work at getting this stove working properly first. Now, I always thought that burning a fire hot would keep the glass clean even without the air wash, so not sure what is going on there, seems that we always come back to how dry is the wood. It appears that you have 2 similar stoves that you burn, and the other stove (insert), does it have the coaling issue also? If it doesn't then we can eliminate wood as the issue.

Having no control over the stove and fire would indicate either too strong a draft, which you have considered, and would be addressed with the damper as Begreen suggests. Or an air leak at the door, or possibly somewhere else in the stove, such as air getting around the air control system. Is the air control system working properly, and able to shut air down as it should?

 

[Rickb]

I am running the Sirocco 20 with 20' of class a and 6 foot of double wall. I have only burned it 3 times. Should be 4 tonight. But I will say even with the small fire box it burns on low for about 14-16 hours and puts off a good amount of heat for 16 - 20 hours. Last time I used it it was 43 outside and it was 80 in the basement(where the stove is.) and was 77 on the main floor. Did not make it up to the kids area on the 2nd floor.

 

[Mike M.]

I will try to answer a few of the questions. Yes I am sure the door doesn't leak. Swapped doors with the insert, same problem with the 1450. The over fire only happens on a north / south reload on a large bed of coals. The primary air under the door actually seems to be cut off and I get only secondary burn. This is when the door blackens. Note that sometimes this only happens to 1/2 the door. If I open the air control all the way back up I will get the primary air to relight but the stove and chimney get really hot 700+. I considered the damper but hate the idea of cleaning the chimney with it in there.

As for the fuel...both stoves have the coaling issues, but it seems a little worse on the 1450. I have tried other types of wood and ash seems to be the worst for the coaling problem. I do think the wood is dry, it lights really fast and burns hot. Also my chimneys stay very clean on both stoves. All my wood is from dead trees and its split, covered and stacked for at least a year.

 

[blueguy]

Mike, I have a 1450 here in the basement of a 2200 sq ft bungalow (1100 upstairs, 1100 finished basement) with less than optimal airflow. A full load at 9 pm has the main floor at 18 or 19*C come 5:30 am. The stove runs the same temps as yours, however when it is running that hot with the air all the way down, the glass does not blacken at all - in fact it stays crystal clear. The only time my glass blackens is when the wood is wet.

I like the amount of heat the 1450 puts out, but I don't like that it can't really be controlled once it the fire gets rolling. I'm going to see how this winter goes with the 1450 - I may be looking at the 30 next year.

 

[daleeper]

Mike, sounds like you have tried about everything. Doesn't sound like the stove has good air control, not sure whether it is in the design or not working the way it was designed, and hard to tell from here. You have swapped out doors, but have you done the dollar bill test on the 1450, both sets of doors could be leaking on the 1450?

I have not had coaling problems with Ash that was dry. Now you have told us how you have put up your firewood, but not told us what the moisture content is. The only way to know is with a moisture test. Even though it sounds like it should be dry, many folks including myself get surprised by how much moisture is still in the firewood even when it "should" be dry. I am still a bit suspicious of the firewood being a bit wet, but of course Ash is one of the best firewood species to burn a bit wet anyways, and is probably not your biggest problem, air control is.

If the air channels are cleared and functioning as it was designed, then you should be in the market for a new stove. There are stoves out there that can be controlled, and your local Blaze King dealer sells the best in my opinion. It is hard to beat a BK stove for controlling a fire. And you do need a bigger stove anyways.

 

[Mike M.]

Thanks for the help and sugestions. I am thinking about calling the nap dealer and seeing if they will install the damo

 

[Mike M.]

Thanks to all for the help. I may pickup a moisture meter this weekend. I burned some really, really dry cedar the other day and the stove over fired again. The cedar was actually old cedar shingles...I only put in a few, split up of course and the stove was out of control. Black door, only secondary burn, no air wash, 750+ temps.

 

[Mike M.]

Thanks to all for the help. I may pickup a moisture meter this weekend. I burned some really, really dry cedar the other day and the stove over fired again. The cedar was actually old cedar shingles...I only put in a few, split up of course and the stove was out of control. Black door, only secondary burn, no air wash, 750+ temps.

sorry the post before this one got away on me! supposed to say damper...

 

[jharkin]

The house is over 2000 square feet with many large single pane windows.

You have received a lot of help on the stove situation, I cant add more to that.

At the same time, if you haven't already it would help to also look at improving the thermal envelope. Whats the age of the house? Do you know how well insulated it is?

• First place to start would be to get an energy audit. In many jurisdictions they are offered free by utilities or govt agencies. Even if you pay for one it usually pays you back many fold.
• Second is to go for the low hanging fruit - air sealing. Spray foam penetrations in the attic and basement, caulk around windows and doors, weatherstrip, etc. This work is often done free by auditors and if not is a cheap DIY project.
• Those windows. Are they single pane without storms? If so you have a big opportunity there. You can get very good storm windows for cheap money - Harvey Tru-Channel and Larson Gold are widely available - and bring those single pane windows to 80% the performance of a thermal pane for 20% of the cost of full replacement windows (Ive heard figures like ~ $150/ea for a typical 30x60 window on the Harveys). Even if you have old leaky triple tracks, upgrading to better storm windows can have a better payback than replacements.
• Attic- Once you have done all the cheap easy fixes look at more insulation. If you have unfinished attic blowing in cellulose on the attic floor makes huge improvements and is very cheap.
• Walls - Last thing to consider is blowing into the walls, the payback is usually not there unless you get the work subsidized with incentives