Blaze King Uphoria

[Old Log House]

First week with Blaze King Princess 32……AMAZING……..I’ve seen people refer to it as an appliance and completely understand as I sit and watch it turn the fire on and off using old bimetallic technology and no electricity. I was hesitant when replacing our ancient but trusted Schrader Fireplace woodstove even somewhat sad to see the ole girl retired but WOW the Princess was worth every penny…..literally set it and walk away…..loaded her at 3:45pm and fifteen hours later still throwing household heat for 1800 sqft of an old log structure dating 1824…….HIGHLY RECOMMEND

 

[showrguy]

I grew up with a Schrader wood guzzler as a kid..
The BK is night and day difference..

 

[Old Log House]

I grew up with a Schrader wood guzzler as a kid..
The BK is night and day difference..

She was a good ole stove and was reluctant to change but this thing operates on a different planet…..I am not sure most stove salespersons truly understand what it does…..chose the Princess over the Hearthstone Manchester as my wife thought the Manchester would look better but I was intrigued by the “thermostat” and see no regrets in the near future.

 

[begreen]

Congratulations. You will also be saving a lot of wood!

Can you post a picture of the cabin?

 

[stoveliker]

Congrats on buying a good stove!

Can you also mention the set up? Chimney height, elbows, insulated?
Just so future readers know "that set up worked well".

 

[Highbeam]

First week with Blaze King Princess 32……AMAZING……..I’ve seen people refer to it as an appliance and completely understand as I sit and watch it turn the fire on and off using old bimetallic technology and no electricity. I was hesitant when replacing our ancient but trusted Schrader Fireplace woodstove even somewhat sad to see the ole girl retired but WOW the Princess was worth every penny…..literally set it and walk away…..loaded her at 3:45pm and fifteen hours later still throwing household heat for 1800 sqft of an old log structure dating 1824…….HIGHLY RECOMMEND

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Great review. I feel the same way after many years of use. Low effort comfort.

 

[Old Log House]

Congratulations. You will also be saving a lot of wood!

Can you post a picture of the cabin?

Indeed on the saving wood we are fortunate to have 100+ acres of woods on the property and friends and family attend each fall 2 days of what we call “wood camp”, during which we process wood, drink beer, cook over the open flame and reminisce. With the Princess on board it may take some of the pressure off as she seems to have a much smaller appetite than Ole Schrader. As for the cabin we burn an old potbelly for heat and some light cooking. As for the Princess she now resides in our old log home, which I currently don’t have pictures but not much to see we covered it in siding years ago to preserve until we fully restore once I retire.

 

[Old Log House]

Congrats on buying a good stove!

Can you also mention the set up? Chimney height, elbows, insulated?
Just so future readers know "that set up worked well".

Our home was a log built home in 1842 (mistyped 1824 in earlier post) according to the plate on the home exterior. The stove is located in living room space, house is approximately 1800sqft total half of which is upstairs. Stove pipe rises straight up from stove 39” then 90 into 14” of pipe that fits into insulated stainless through wall into 23’ stainless insulated chimney that was installed in original brick chimney.

 

[Old Log House]

Great review. I feel the same way after many years of use. Low effort comfort.

How many years have you operated your Blaze King?

 

[stoveliker]

Indeed on the saving wood we are fortunate to have 100+ acres of woods on the property and friends and family attend each fall 2 days of what we call “wood camp”, during which we process wood, drink beer, cook over the open flame and reminisce. With the Princess on board it may take some of the pressure off as she seems to have a much smaller appetite than Ole Schrader. As for the cabin we burn an old potbelly for heat and some light cooking. As for the Princess she now resides in our old log home, which I currently don’t have pictures but not much to see we covered it in siding years ago to preserve until we fully restore once I retire.

That ("wood camp") sounds like good times!

 

[Highbeam]

How many years have you operated your Blaze King?

I installed in 2012 but my burn season is 9 months long since I am 100% wood heat. Lots of burn time and lots of even heat.

 

[Old Log House]

First week with Blaze King Princess 32……AMAZING……..I’ve seen people refer to it as an appliance and completely understand as I sit and watch it turn the fire on and off using old bimetallic technology and no electricity. I was hesitant when replacing our ancient but trusted Schrader Fireplace woodstove even somewhat sad to see the ole girl retired but WOW the Princess was worth every penny…..literally set it and walk away…..loaded her at 3:45pm and fifteen hours later still throwing household heat for 1800 sqft of an old log structure dating 1824…….HIGHLY RECOMMEND

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Update…..So I loaded 4 medium size splits in the Princess at 11:45 am after church, ran on about 50% throttle and I am sitting here watching a bed of coals that is still producing close to 500 degree stove top temp……for last 2 hours I turned thermostat to high to juice the coals…….AMAZING…….I would expect the coals will go for another 2 or 3 hours………guess I should say it is now 8:43pm……..

 

[Old Log House]

First week with Blaze King Princess 32……AMAZING……..I’ve seen people refer to it as an appliance and completely understand as I sit and watch it turn the fire on and off using old bimetallic technology and no electricity. I was hesitant when replacing our ancient but trusted Schrader Fireplace woodstove even somewhat sad to see the ole girl retired but WOW the Princess was worth every penny…..literally set it and walk away…..loaded her at 3:45pm and fifteen hours later still throwing household heat for 1800 sqft of an old log structure dating 1824…….HIGHLY RECOMMEND

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So I am a week in since first Blaze King fire…..up @6am to toasty house plenty of fire still going, thermostat set on 30% overnight stove top temp just under 400, cat active but not glowing, little to no outdoor chimney visual exhaust.
First things first thermostat to 100%, open bypass, immediate flame activity, open loading door just a smidge to enhance draft, loaded two med size splits, closed door and bypass, let simmer 30 minutes until cat glowing the repeated process adding two larger logs, closed doors and pulled therm back to 70%, few minutes to flame out, glowing cat pulled back on therm to 50%……at 9am the pictures below tell the story……Love this little PRINCESS!

 

[stoveliker]

Nice!

As one suggestion: the stove works best (constant and clean, and possibly cat life) if you don't open it to add two splits, and do that again a short time later.

I'd fill it up, bake the load, dial down to where you need it to be and walk away (for many hours).

 

[Old Log House]

Nice!

As one suggestion: the stove works best (constant and clean, and possibly cat life) if you don't open it to add two splits, and do that again a short time later.

I'd fill it up, bake the load, dial down to where you need it to be and walk away (for many hours).

Lol…..I’m weening myself of of the ole Schrader visit me often…..but seriously, it seemed like the other day I did that and the cat had a little trouble getting to the glow point, now I understand that it doesn’t need to glow to be busy but the heat output is so much better once she is glowing…..thoughts?

 

[John B]

One thing to keep in mind. Right now the cat is hyperactive because its new and will settle down over time. Once you get about a cord or two in the performance will slow down a bit. It will still be great, but probably about 20% less than it is now (totally just an estimate base on my experience with cat stoves).

 

[stoveliker]

The cat will glow because the new wood is still outgassing a lot. But if your thermostat setting is low enough, over time (the system works a bit slowly) it'll decrease the air, leading initially to more smoke as food for the cat (and thus a bit higher heat output from the cat, even if less from the fire), but slowly decreasing when the wood starts burning at the right rate for the thermostat setting.

The bimetal thermostat is not very fast (but very robust), and the thermal mass of the stove is also slowing the control down.

So, if you want more heat, I'd simply set the thermostat a bit higher, and see in 45 minutes if it's right. No need to pulse feed it to glow, to cycle your heat on and off.

 

[Old Log House]

The cat will glow because the new wood is still outgassing a lot. But if your thermostat setting is low enough, over time (the system works a bit slowly) it'll decrease the air, leading initially to more smoke as food for the cat (and thus a bit higher heat output from the cat, even if less from the fire), but slowly decreasing when the wood starts burning at the right rate for the thermostat setting.

The bimetal thermostat is not very fast (but very robust), and the thermal mass of the stove is also slowing the control down.

So, if you want more heat, I'd simply set the thermostat a bit higher, and see in 45 minutes if it's right. No need to pulse feed it to glow, to cycle your heat on and off.

Are you running a cat stove and if so is it a BK?

 

[stoveliker]

Yes, a Chinook 30.2

 

[Old Log House]

Yes, a Chinook 30.2

Thanks for the recommendation, as far as a reload the manual suggests the pic below….our house is old and has pretty healthy exchange rate with the great outdoors despite having newer windows, I’m afraid if I wait until the cat reaches the suggested reload point our indoor temps will be swinging quite a bit…..I can’t imagine reloading prior could be that damaging especially as the wood is kept indoor and isn’t coming in stone cold…?

 

[begreen]

Sounds like the stove is working well. The even house temps are not uncommon once one has gotten used to a stove and has the loads dialed in. Our house is remarkably evenly heated with the stove in spite of being 1924 farmhouse. It kind of spoils ya.

 

[stoveliker]

It's not so much stone cold wood, it's exposing the cat to a lot of water when it's hot (wood of 15 pct humidity still contains quite a few pounds of water), and exposing it to room temperature air when it's hot. Such thermal shocks are not good for the cat. Figure a 600 F cat and 70 F air. If the air would be 30 F (from stone cold wood) that shock is not much larger than with the 70 F air.

It's generally best to stuff the stove as full as possible; it burns cleanest when just chugging along, and its response times are such that opening it every hour or so is not ideal. The thermostat should keep the temperature even, until the fuel is not enough to do so. You can increase the thermostat setting at the end of a burn if you are concerned about swings.


Look in the BK everything thread; lots of BK users that can also chime in.

 

[Old Log House]

It's not so much stone cold wood, it's exposing the cat to a lot of water when it's hot (wood of 15 pct humidity still contains quite a few pounds of water), and exposing it to room temperature air when it's hot. Such thermal shocks are not good for the cat. Figure a 600 F cat and 70 F air. If the air would be 30 F (from stone cold wood) that shock is not much larger than with the 70 F air.

It's generally best to stuff the stove as full as possible; it burns cleanest when just chugging along, and its response times are such that opening it every hour or so is not ideal. The thermostat should keep the temperature even, until the fuel is not enough to do so. You can increase the thermostat setting at the end of a burn if you are concerned about swings.


Look in the BK everything thread; lots of BK users that can also chime in.

Alright at the advice of stoveliker and others I have let her burn down, stuffed her full, gonna let her cook on high then dial down and walk away…….

 

[shoot-straight]

This must be new? Don't remember it in my ashford manual- I thought everything will be fine as long as bypass and air is open for a bit.

 

[stoveliker]

Is this a ceramic cat vs metal cat thing? Ceramic cats are more sensitive to seeing cold air when they are hot, I believe.