Help me choose a size to join the double blaze king club

[907]

Hey guys, just joined this site 2 minutes ago! I tried to browse the forums for an answer but in the meantime, I would appreciate some fresh advice.

I live in Alaska, where it's 20F today October 12, and we can expect -20 for at least a few weeks in January. Wood will be our primary heat but we'll also have a Toyostove.
I want to put a Blaze King in our new construction. The home is a 1 story, 960 sq ft rectangle. The stove will be basically in one corner of the house, but a few feet farther away from the shorter wall. Initially it was "Princess 32 or bust," but the woman at our local dealer said we would be better off with a Sirocco 20.
I see why she said this, the Princess is rated for 1200-2500 sq ft, the Sirocco for 900-1500. But living in the arctic, you tend to think big on heat, so I am a little conflicted. I would not mind saving some money on the Sirocco, but I'm afraid to go too small with it. I would not mind spending some money on the Princess, but I don't want to burn it inefficiently if the Sirocco would do just fine. What do you think? Is the BK sq ft rating accurate in the harshest conditions? Is inefficiency the worst thing ever?

Fun fact, we have a Princess in our 512 sq ft dry cabin. We get the house up to 80 on accident all the time. One option is to pull that stove over to the new construction and get a smaller one for the small cabin......

 

[Todd]

I think I’d pull the Princess from your dry cabin to try in your new cabin and see how it works. Then you’ll be able to determine where to go from there.

 

[907]

I think I’d pull the Princess from your dry cabin to try in your new cabin and see how it works. Then you’ll be able to determine where to go from there.

I'm thinking I shouldn't have listed that as an option.. We don't know how old she is, at least 10 years, and she seems pretty abused. Whatever was left of the combustor fell out in pieces when we first moved in. Another part inside is dented. We have worked so hard building our new house, it seems a shame not to get a new wood stove also.

 

[Todd]

Go big, you won’t burn the Princess inefficiently even with half loads as long as your burning good dry wood. You may need that extra capacity where you are located as well.

 

[stoveliker]

Look at the BTU ratings on low.

https://www.blazeking.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/BK_King_Prin_Broch_2-2022_Web.pdf

12 619 BTU/hr for the Princess at its low end.

https://www.blazeking.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/bk-20-series-brochure.pdf

11 342 BTU/hr for the Sirocco 20 at its low end.

That is not much different. I.e. the Princess won't overheat your place if the Sirocco won't overheat your place.
That said, the Sirocco 20 can only do 28 355 BTU/hr running high, whereas the Princess can do 37 858 BTU/hr running on high.

Running at its low end, the Princess also will be able to run much longer because of the larger fire box.

Hence, go with the Princess. IF those 1000 BTUs/hr more at the low end is too much, get some fresh air in.

 

[907]

Running at its low end, the Princess also will be able to run much longer because of the larger fire box.

Hence, go with the Princess. IF those 1000 BTUs/hr more at the low end is too much, get some fresh air in.

Go big, you won’t burn the Princess inefficiently even with half loads as long as your burning good dry wood. You may need that extra capacity where you are located as well.

Thank you so much for the peace of mind. I hadn't thought to compare low ends as this is my first time purchasing new, but browsing this forum has taught me more than I expected! We just ordered the Princess. As a bonus, we can get it delivered a whole month earlier than the others

 

[Nealm66]

The Sirocco 20 might have been pretty sweet for 12 hr reload cycles though.

 

[Poindexter]

The Princess will be pretty sweet with 36 hour reloads though. There are two things you can do hurt a BK stove. You can load with cordwood cut too long and break the glass when you close the door. The other thing you can do is run it for extended periods with the loading door open, get it hot enough for the firebox to warp.

The combustor is VERY easy to change and worth it. I change mine about every 15-20 cords, but I am still $ ahead and time ahead compared to all the wood I had to feed my previous non-cat stove.

 

[Highbeam]

The Sirocco 20 might have been pretty sweet for 12 hr reload cycles though.

The 12 hour reload is a limitation of the 20 box, not a feature. You can reload any catalytic BK 30 box at 12 hours, or 24, or even 36. I can't imagine any reason to limit yourself to a 20 box unless the deal is just superb or you actually need an extra couple inches less physical size.

Glad the OP went princess.