Chinook 30.1 vs. Princess Ultra in Nova Scotia, Canada?

[bwooten]

Hi everybody. We are renovating/adding on to our home here on the East Coast of Canada. Our winters have been getting heavier and colder over the past ten years... very wet in any event. We use a wood stove as our primary heat source.

Our home is currently single story, 864 sq.ft. We heated this space last year with an old non-cat wood stove.

The new home will be 1248 sq.ft. downstairs, and upstairs is a 372 sq.ft. loft, and adjacent 500 sq.ft. loft studio space.

So, a little over 2100 sq.ft. overall of useable floor space, open concept.

We were just about to order the BK Princess (Classic or Ultra), when I noticed the Chinook 30.1, whose style would go much better with our home and, more importantly, whose emissions are apparently significantly lower, to the tune of more than 2x less than the Princess?

The Princess seems better geared to heat a slightly larger space, but they are pretty close efficiency-wise according to the EPA (link here) who lists the Chinook 30.1 at 80% efficiency, and the Princess at 81%.

Any folks have advice regarding these two stoves in our particular situation?

 

[Grisu]

Welcome to the forum!

You may want to take a look at this thread where a similar question was asked: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/blaze-king-princess-vs-sirocco-30.144982/
AFAIK, the Sirrocco and Chinook are essentially the same stoves with different outside looks.

Please be aware that modern stoves absolutely require dry wood to burn well. How long do you dry your wood (split and stacked) before burning?

 

[Highbeam]

Hi everybody. We are renovating/adding on to our home here on the East Coast of Canada. Our winters have been getting heavier and colder over the past ten years... very wet in any event. We use a wood stove as our primary heat source.

Our home is currently single story, 864 sq.ft. We heated this space last year with an old non-cat wood stove.

The new home will be 1248 sq.ft. downstairs, and upstairs is a 372 sq.ft. loft, and adjacent 500 sq.ft. loft studio space.

So, a little over 2100 sq.ft. overall of useable floor space, open concept.

We were just about to order the BK Princess (Classic or Ultra), when I noticed the Chinook 30.1, whose style would go much better with our home and, more importantly, whose emissions are apparently significantly lower, to the tune of more than 2x less than the Princess?

The Princess seems better geared to heat a slightly larger space, but they are pretty close efficiency-wise according to the EPA (link here) who lists the Chinook 30.1 at 80% efficiency, and the Princess at 81%.

Any folks have advice regarding these two stoves in our particular situation?

I own the princess and it is a great stove. Yes, it puts out almost 2.5 gph compared to the almost 1 gph of the Chinook but both stoves are very clean burning. It's like comparing the acceleration of two race cars. One is faster but they are both fast.

The Chinook looks better but it has a much smaller ash belly.

 

[begreen]

The Chinook should be a bit less prone to smoke spillage, especially in milder weather or if the chimney height is on the short side.

 

[BKVP]

In order to get most benefit from the Chinook, you most definitely will need to run the fans. There is the steel firebox and the outer skiing of the Chinook. The heat between the two surfaces is best moved around the home via the dual blowers (fans).

The Princess Ultra does have the capacity for more ash between loads and while blowers help to spread the warmth, they are not needed as often as on the Chinook.

Food for thought.

Chris

 

[bwooten]

Thanks everybody for the responses.

Regarding the fans on either model... do any of you find them particularly loud or bothersome?

 

[jeff_t]

Pretty quiet on low, but definitely noticeable on high. We got into the habit of watching tv with closed captioning on when the kids were little and noisy, and still do, so it didn't really bother me.

 

[Highbeam]

Thanks everybody for the responses.

Regarding the fans on either model... do any of you find them particularly loud or bothersome?

The fans do not need to be on all of the time. As BKVP points out, the on time depends on you situation and even stove choice. My stove is right next to the TV and when I run them on low I might only bump up the TV volume slightly. The fans are very quiet, less noise than the refrigerator. You are supposed to match the fan speed to the thermostat setting and since I hardly ever exceed medium on the stat I hardly ever exceed medium on the fans.

Buying the fans is a no brainer. The fans are pretty cheap and act as the rear heatshield for reduced rear clearance. Even if you never need the fans, the additional cost over a non-fan rear heatshield is low.

2100 SF in Canadia, yes, you will want the fans.

 

[bwooten]

Well, seems like it is just a price vs. looks question then. I just received some tax-in quotes from the only dealer in our province:

$4591.95 CAD for a Chinook with sliding ash tray and fans...

$4150.00 CAD for a Princess Ultra with fans.

Tough choices, pooch...

 

[sequoia]

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Buying the fans is a no brainer. The fans are pretty cheap and act as the rear heatshield for reduced rear clearance. Even if you never need the fans, the additional cost over a non-fan rear heatshield is low

Does this mean the fan can act as a heat shield even when it's not in use ?

 

[sequoia]

The fans do not need to be on all of the time. As BKVP points out, the on time depends on you situation and even stove choice. My stove is right next to the TV and when I run them on low I might only bump up the TV volume slightly. The fans are very quiet, less noise than the refrigerator. You are supposed to match the fan speed to the thermostat setting and since I hardly ever exceed medium on the stat I hardly ever exceed medium on the fans.

Buying the fans is a no brainer. The fans are pretty cheap and act as the rear heatshield for reduced rear clearance. Even if you never need the fans, the additional cost over a non-fan rear heatshield is low.

2100 SF in Canadia, yes, you will want the fans.

Does this mean the fan kit can act as a heat shield even when the fan is not in use ?

 

[jeff_t]

Does this mean the fan kit can act as a heat shield even when the fan is not in use ?

Yes.

 

[bwooten]

Thanks again for the help everybody. We've decided on the Princess Ultra with fans! Wish us luck

 

[Highbeam]

Thanks again for the help everybody. We've decided on the Princess Ultra with fans! Wish us luck

You will love it. Be sure to post some photos of the installation. At 400# it is not terribly hard to move. If you have the choice, I believe the steel cat is better than the ceramic. Both have been used, both are available for the princess. Use double wall stove pipe between the stove and the transition to class A.