Help me chose BK Princes or Ashford 30

[cory]

I can't decide between a BK Princes or a Ashford 30. I burn wood in a PE Summit now and love my summit. I have a new job that keeps me away to long. I was burning 24/7 but now I need a longer burn time. I'm gone on average of 12 to 14hrs a day. I know the Princes would do the job but I like the looks of the Ashford 30. What are the difference's in these two stove other then the cast iron look?

 

[Highbeam]

I have the princess and I love it. The princess is a little dirtier (emissions) than the ashford but that doesn't matter. The ashford owners seem to have an easier time keeping the glass clean.

The princess has a DEEP belly to hold tons of ash. I believe that the belly is reduced with the ashford. I really really like the deep belly when burning an ashy species.

I like the concept of an old, tested, dependable design.

The ashford looks really nice though and the door latch looks to be a smarter design. Both are excellent stoves, you can't go wrong.

I burn softwoods (doug fir, pine, red cedar) and crap hardwoods (red alder, cottonwood, willow) and have absolutely no problem getting the 12-14 hour burn times you are looking for.

 

[jeff_t]

Well, they are just different stoves. The Ashford, Sirocco, and Chinook all share the same firebox, with a different look. The Princess is a much older design, though proven through the years to work very well. Both are similar in capacity, and it sounds like they perform similarly, as far as burn times vs heat output.

Whatever you want to look at, I suppose. I'm sure there is a price difference, as well.

 

[Rickb]

I have the princess and I love it. The princess is a little dirtier (emissions) than the ashford but that doesn't matter. The ashford owners seem to have an easier time keeping the glass clean.

The princess has a DEEP belly to hold tons of ash. I believe that the belly is reduced with the ashford. I really really like the deep belly when burning an ashy species.

I like the concept of an old, tested, dependable design.

The ashford looks really nice though and the door latch looks to be a smarter design. Both are excellent stoves, you can't go wrong.

I burn softwoods (doug fir, pine, red cedar) and crap hardwoods (red alder, cottonwood, willow) and have absolutely no problem getting the 12-14 hour burn times you are looking for.

How many gallon buckets worth of ash will the princess hold? I know my sirroco20 which is small in comparison when I empty it will fill a 2.5 gallon bucket about 2-3 times.

 

[Highbeam]

How many gallon buckets worth of ash will the princess hold? I know my sirroco20 which is small in comparison when I empty it will fill a 2.5 gallon bucket about 2-3 times.

7.5 gallons? That's a lot!

I just now measured nearly 5" from floor to door on my ultra princess. I've never let it fill to the door level and have never had ash dump out on accident.

 

[SCOTT S.]

If I could I would have the King, The Ashford is The only BK the wife would let through the door, they start install tomorrow.

 

[begreen]

Cory, go with the Ashford. You will be living with the stove a long time. They've made a very attractive stove with the Ashford. The Princess will never win a beauty contest.

 

[webby3650]

I have the princess and I love it. The princess is a little dirtier (emissions) than the ashford but that doesn't matter. The ashford owners seem to have an easier time keeping the glass clean.

The princess has a DEEP belly to hold tons of ash. I believe that the belly is reduced with the ashford. I really really like the deep belly when burning an ashy species.

I like the concept of an old, tested, dependable design.

The ashford looks really nice though and the door latch looks to be a smarter design. Both are excellent stoves, you can't go wrong.

I burn softwoods (doug fir, pine, red cedar) and crap hardwoods (red alder, cottonwood, willow) and have absolutely no problem getting the 12-14 hour burn times you are looking for.

This sums it up pretty well.
I will add that the Ashford produces a more of a mild heat. The iron jacket really softens the heat. Don't get me wrong, it heats good, but if you really want that intense heat the Princess might be the one. If you have poor insulation I would probably steer toward the Princess.

 

[cory]

Well it looks like I will go with the Ashford. Thanks for all the replies You have all made my decision easier.

 

[stovelark]

Having seen them both Cory, I think you will love the Ashford, its huge and its pretty. BK is really doing it right, they are the only cat stove I'd have in my own house- though I still love Jotuls and Enviro wood stoves too.....

 

[cory]

OK now I have one last issue i would like to order it in midnight satin enamel but really can't find any good pics of it in that color. Anyone ever see one in this color? I kind of like the chestnut high gloss enamel as well.

 

[stovelark]

Cory, I believe their midnight color is akin to Jotul's blue black enamel, espec since they are calling it a satin finish, not a high gloss, just like Jotul does. If it is the same family of color, it will be nice. The blue black is my fav enamel from Jotul, Hearthstone's is beautiful too, its a shade bluer than Jotul's... not sure about BK, I haven't seen it, only ones I've sold were painted black......

 

[begreen]

I think you are right. They had enameled Ashfords at the HPBA show that looked very nice. The blue was a slightly lighter blue which Chris said was not correct and they had rejected. I would guess the final product is going to be very close to the Jotul blue/black. It was a satin finish without the final majolica glaze. The brown was a full majolica finish.

 

[cory]

Thanks you guys are a big help

 

[Parallax]

Haven't seen the blue-black but I can tell you the chestnut is gorgeous. Mine is 40 feet across the room in front of me as I type. Could not be happier with my choice. But color is very personal and of course depends on the colors of your home.

 

[Highbeam]

Just be careful not to choose something too loud, crazy, trendy, etc. that you regret 10 years from now. The satin enamel sounds really nice and paint, while not as fancy, can be changed.

Perhaps you can buy one in mossy-oak camo pattern.

 

[cory]

I would love to see the blue color in person, But the dealer will have to order it for me. They only have kings and princess on hand. The dealer is about 2hrs away might go for a ride to see what the princess really looks like in person. If i like it i might bring it home if not i'll order the ashford 30 as for the color still undecided. The dealer told me $3350 for the ashford and $2600 for a princess.

 

[HotCoals]

Well if I were looking I prolly would spend the extra on the Ashford just for the looks over the Princess.
My king was 3200 but I'm hooked on it..ugliness and all. Thing holds a nice load of wood.

 

[Highbeam]

Well if I were looking I prolly would spend the extra on the Ashford just for the looks over the Princess.
My king was 3200 but I'm hooked on it..ugliness and all. Thing holds a nice load of wood.

If you can make the king work with your home and flue, it is a superior heater due to firebox volume and longer burns. Very similar low end outputs so bigger doesn't always mean hotter, just longer.

I was a little disappointed that the ashfords butt sticks out so far and that the whole stove isn't one big cast iron jacketed stove but more of a partial cover up. Still, it's a huge step forward towards getting the long burn cat technology into more homes.

The princess has a lot of options that are fairly cheap but can add up. I think was out the door for under 3000$ for a fully loaded ultra model princess.

 

[Parallax]

The Ashford looks great. I have no problem with the back end not being jacketed. The way they did it gives a sense of an old, rectangular cast iron stove -- while underneath is a modern, steel beauty. A really well engineered piece of machinery designed to work well and last. It has an inner and outer beauty. The back end feels like a big fan attached to the stove, though in reality most of it is part of the stove itself.

No question that, for my home, the Ashford was the right choice. If outer beauty wasn't an issue, and I just needed a really well functioning stove that's really solid, tried and true, might have saved a few bucks and gone with the Princess. Other than looks, how can one go wrong with such a stove. Reminds me of an old Volvo 240 I once had that ran well over 300,000 miles. Might have been a whole bunch over, as it ran long after the odometer stopped working. The King is a beast that makes sense if you've got a huge space to heat in a really cold climate and you either like or don't mind the look. For us it would have been overkill and my wife hated it.

 

[Highbeam]

The King is a beast that makes sense if you've got a huge space to heat in a really cold climate and you either like or don't mind the look. For us it would have been overkill and my wife hated it.

This is a common misconception. The King has a low fire output rate that is very close to the ashford or princess as well as a high fire rate that is sufficient for a huge space in a cold climate. This large cat stove offers insanely long burns plus a wider range of output. It's a big stove though and ugly like a princess. Sorta like a washing machine in your living room.

 

[HotCoals]

This is a common misconception. The King has a low fire output rate that is very close to the ashford or princess as well as a high fire rate that is sufficient for a huge space in a cold climate. This large cat stove offers insanely long burns plus a wider range of output. It's a big stove though and ugly like a princess. Sorta like a washing machine in your living room.

Yep.

I can say that even with temps around 45 out I can load this monster up get the cat licking then shut it down to 1 and we won't get driven out of the room.
The room is 28x16,the house 2 story 2500sq.ft.
It can go 40 hours easy enough in those temps and still have plenty of hot coals for a reload.
So for us it works.

 

[Parallax]

Yes, not a beast in the sense of cooking one out of house and home because the strength of these Blaze Kings seems to be their ability to run at such a slow, throttled down rate. Rather a beast in terms of its capacity. If I installed one in my modern 2650 square foot home with excellent insulation and an open floor plan in the moderate climate of coastal Washington, it would be only on rare occasions that I'd use more than a fraction of its capacity. We get one or two cold snaps (where temps drop below freezing) each year, which last anywhere from a day to a week or so. During those times, I'll have to load the Ashford more often. I don't think it will be a problem because Bellingham pretty much closes down when there's snow, so I'll be home with plenty of time to reload. I guess if it's cold without snow, we could come home to a cold house but we'll cross that bridge when and if we come to it.

In a climate where cold temperatures occur more often and snow doesn't shut everything down, it would be important to still be able to count on 12+ hour burn times. If our home were in Montana or Alaska, I don't think the Ashford or other similarly sized Blaze King would be adequate.

 

[BCC_Burner]

Even in the coldest weather Bellingham sees I bet you will have no trouble at all getting 12 hours of good, useful heat out of the Ashford.

 

[Parallax]

Even in the coldest weather Bellingham sees I bet you will have no trouble at all getting 12 hours of good, useful heat out of the Ashford.

That's really good to hear. All my knowledge so far is theoretical, based only on research (which means mostly what you guys have said in various ways). And there is of course a bit of guess work when predicting wood stove performance, particularly in a new install, and even more so if you're completely new to all of this. So I've tried to analyze things in a conservative way. If the stove exceeds my expectations, great. So far, that's exactly what it's been doing. I'm amazed by how long it stays active. I last loaded it on Saturday. On Sunday it dropped out of the active range for the cat. But when I last touched the surface (yesterday morning), it was still warm. Wouldn't surprise me if it's still warm now. I don't think I'll have to restart it from scratch very often. If there's a problem, it will more likely getting it to shut down so I can clean out the ash from time to time. Would be surprised if I could go an entire season without emptying the pan, even though I will be using Douglas fir when it's dry. I've been told Doug fir is a very low ash wood.