Is my chimney suitable for a BK Princess?

[DonTee]

I’m thinking about getting a new stove in the spring, and I’m seriously considering a BK Princess. They have good reviews on here and seem like a good stove.

I’ll tell you about my chimney setup right now, and how I’m going to change it to be better in the spring.

My chimney is 6” flue. Right now it comes off the stove and goes up 3’. Then it hits a 90 and goes through the wall. The horizontal section is long, 4’. It then hits the tee outside and goes up 21’. The inside pipe is single wall stove pipe, and everything through the wall and out is Dura vent triple wall.

Changes I’ll make in the spring. I want to move the chimney closer to the house. So instead of a 4’ horizontal run it should be cut in half. Also I want to change the inside single wall stove pipe to double wall. I’m waiting until I get a new stove to make that change.

Do you see any issues running a BK Princess with this setup? From what I’ve read the min chimney height is 15’, and I have 21’ outside. Also I believe the vertical stove pipe height above the stove must be over 18”, and I have 36” before the 90. I do have a damper installed in the stove pipe, but maybe I wouldn’t need that with the BK?

I’ll wait until spring to buy the new stove. I’m hoping to get it and make my chimney changes over the summer, to be ready to heat with it by next winter.

Oh and I almost forgot. The house is around 1400 sq ft. It’s newer construction and I’m working to make it tight. There might be an addition in the future, but total footage shouldn’t be over 1800 sq ft.

Current stove is a VC Encore. Older everburn model. Things I want out of a new stove. Longer and more consistent burn times. Something I can set and forget while the wife is home and I’m out doing stuff. The VC everburn is finicky

 

[stoveliker]

I think it should be ok if you have the horizontal run shortened to two ft.
For Each ft of horizontal run you should add 2 ft to the required 15 ft height. For each 90 elbow you should add 1 ft to the required length.

So, for 2 ft horizontal and 2 90s, you'd end up needing 6 ft added to the 15 which is 21'.

Change the inside 90 to two 45s for better performance.

 

[kennyp2339]

You should be fine, especially if you change the 90 to (2) 45's, when you do the outside work, you may want to consider building a chase to cover the majority of the chimney, especially if its facing the north side of the house.

 

[begreen]

The proposed changes will help a lot. Due to the cooler flue gas temps after the cat, the stovepipe should be double-wall inside. 4' horiz. is not good, the shorter the better. Inside the 90 should be replaced with a pair of 45s and an offset.

 

[DonTee]

I’ll definitely move the chimney closer to the house. It’s setup right now to clear the eave. I didn’t have time to go up there to cut a hole for it to go through before winter.

Is the chimney chase just to protect the chimney? It’s on the south side of the house. The winds we get here are from the north quite a bit. I put the chimney on the back side of the house partly because I’ve heard the creosote will eat the metal roof. So I figure most of the time the smoke is blown back away from the house.

I like the idea of the two 45 bends versus the 90, but my wife thinks it’s ugly. I mean honestly she thinks the whole woodstove sticking into the room is ugly. But of course she likes the basically free heat it gives us.

With the chimney moved closer to the house, maybe I could get away with keeping the 90.
I have noticed with the 4’ horizontal run the creosote builds up in that section more than anywhere else. I inspect (and clean if needed) the chimney and stove pipe about once a month during burning season

I haven’t looked at the spacing requirements for the princess, but maybe I could tuck it even closer to the wall than my current stove.
Right now I have rock board behind the stove spaced off the wall with 1” spacers, and a 1” gap underneath. My plan is to put some kind of thin stone or brick up on the rock board.

So do we think the princess is big enough for my house, even with a future addition?

 

[kennyp2339]

The stove is large enough for your needs (additional built to code will be better insulated then the rest of your house) The 45's are pretty important to how the stove functions, mainly when your opening the door you dont want to get smoke roll out, also flue temps are much lower when the stove is cruising along, lower temps mean more of a chance of smoke particles condensing, hence the chimney chase to add a little more insulation then just a bare pipe.

 

[BKVP]

Great feedback. Observation about purchasing time. Because of the tax credit, consumer concerns about a myriad of issues, rising fuel costs.....

Unless you find one in stock with a dealer, it could be 12 weeks before delivery. We had hoped for an easing of demand, but that has not transpired.

On a recent call with multiple wood stove manufacturers, there can definitely be extended delivery times.

Two dear friends that manage venting component manufacturers say they too can not catch up on demand.

Dealers too have extended installation dates, again due to demand.

Just a thought for planning purposes.

 

[DonTee]

@BKVP
I plan to buy the stove in the spring. At least if there is a waiting time then it will be over the summer.
Will the tax credit still be around in 2022?

 

[BKVP]

Great question! As it is currently written, yes 26% in the year the installation is completed, with a 1 year carry over, should you not use the entire credit amount. It's also valid on 2nd homes.

However, the BBB plan Biden is pushing would change three items. Instead of being covered as 25D, it will become 25C.

The 1 year carry over goes away as does the application to a 2nd home. The percentage goes from 26% to 30%.

Some think this is good for low income families. However, most (not all) of the qualifying units are generally considered the higher end products, certainly based upon retail price.

Qualifying conditions remain unchanged at 75% HHV efficiency.

 

[DonTee]

Awesome. Thanks for the info.

 

[begreen]

I like the idea of the two 45 bends versus the 90, but my wife thinks it’s ugly. I mean honestly she thinks the whole woodstove sticking into the room is ugly. But of course she likes the basically free heat it gives us.

Function over form here. If she thinks that's ugly, what is her response to the Princess?

 

[stoveliker]

... a beauty...

 

[stoveliker]

The point is that two 45s are going to keep your indoor air quality better when you reload...

 

[kennyp2339]

If she thinks that's ugly, what is her response to the Princess?

Leave my girl out of this.

 

[DonTee]

I think she might not appreciate how the princess will stick out into the room more than the current stove. The VC stove I have now can only be loaded E/W unless the wood is cut like 10” long. It’s pretty shallow.

I prefer loading N/S like my old Timberline did

Honestly I prefer the aesthetics of the VC stoves over the BK also, but I’d rather have a good performing stove over one that just looks nice. I burn too much wood to have just an ok performing stove. I’ll take function over form.

It will still look a lot better than the old Timberline anyways.

I think my wife would appreciate if I built a chase around the chimney. She thinks the chimney is ugly as well. She wanted a masonry chimney but I said no.

 

[begreen]

A big modern stove can still be good-looking and a happy wife is important. Have you looked at the Ashford 30? Also check out the Hearthstone Manchester. The Jotul F55 and the PE Alderlea T6 can load N/S or E/W.

 

[BKVP]

I think she might not appreciate how the princess will stick out into the room more than the current stove. The VC stove I have now can only be loaded E/W unless the wood is cut like 10” long. It’s pretty shallow.

I prefer loading N/S like my old Timberline did

Honestly I prefer the aesthetics of the VC stoves over the BK also, but I’d rather have a good performing stove over one that just looks nice. I burn too much wood to have just an ok performing stove. I’ll take function over form.

It will still look a lot better than the old Timberline anyways.

I think my wife would appreciate if I built a chase around the chimney. She thinks the chimney is ugly as well. She wanted a masonry chimney but I said no.

Building the chase around the stack isn't such a bad idea. Holding stack temps on modern (2015/2020) wood heaters is a plus. Also, the clearances on the Princess to combustibles is only 6", so you should be able to get it close to the fireplace/chimney/wall. Also, the PE32 is 6" deep, so she won't mind the less frequent cleaning out of the stove. Once installed, it will "fit".

 

[DonTee]

I told my wife about buying a new woodstove in the spring. I told her about how much cleaner burning it was, and how it would fit in the space the same way as our current stove (since I can move it closer to the wall). I mentioned the tax credit as well.

So she asked me for a link to the stove. I sent her the link to the BK princess. Next time I walked in the house she has a measuring tape out and was measuring the spot where the woodstove is, with the princess specs pulled up on her phone. Lol.

Then I made a deal that involved her getting another dog (expensive), and the deal was done. I told her the latest I wanted to order the stove by was April. I think there is a dealer down south of me in Syracuse. I’ll have to contact them at some point and order the stove.

 

[begreen]

Excellent. Sounds like a keeper!

 

[BKVP]

I told my wife about buying a new woodstove in the spring. I told her about how much cleaner burning it was, and how it would fit in the space the same way as our current stove (since I can move it closer to the wall). I mentioned the tax credit as well.

So she asked me for a link to the stove. I sent her the link to the BK princess. Next time I walked in the house she has a measuring tape out and was measuring the spot where the woodstove is, with the princess specs pulled up on her phone. Lol.

Then I made a deal that involved her getting another dog (expensive), and the deal was done. I told her the latest I wanted to order the stove by was April. I think there is a dealer down south of me in Syracuse. I’ll have to contact them at some point and order the stove.

You missed the most important part...what kind of dog?

 

[stoveliker]

You missed the most important part...what kind of dog?

A Princess - too... :-D

 

[Nealm66]

Your going to love the princess. I’m not sure about the sirroco but the princess is just a perfect design for usability. My wall felt pretty hot behind my princess that’s over the 6” away so I’d recommend keeping with the rock plan even if it says it’s safe that’s just my opinion. I’m going to do the same with rock or tile. I have 3’ horizontal to keep from cutting the eve and it does seem to cause issues on reloading so I might chop into it as well someday . Metal roof as well so bummer.

 

[ratsrepus]

I’m thinking about getting a new stove in the spring, and I’m seriously considering a BK Princess. They have good reviews on here and seem like a good stove.

I’ll tell you about my chimney setup right now, and how I’m going to change it to be better in the spring.

My chimney is 6” flue. Right now it comes off the stove and goes up 3’. Then it hits a 90 and goes through the wall. The horizontal section is long, 4’. It then hits the tee outside and goes up 21’. The inside pipe is single wall stove pipe, and everything through the wall and out is Dura vent triple wall.

Changes I’ll make in the spring. I want to move the chimney closer to the house. So instead of a 4’ horizontal run it should be cut in half. Also I want to change the inside single wall stove pipe to double wall. I’m waiting until I get a new stove to make that change.

Do you see any issues running a BK Princess with this setup? From what I’ve read the min chimney height is 15’, and I have 21’ outside. Also I believe the vertical stove pipe height above the stove must be over 18”, and I have 36” before the 90. I do have a damper installed in the stove pipe, but maybe I wouldn’t need that with the BK?

I’ll wait until spring to buy the new stove. I’m hoping to get it and make my chimney changes over the summer, to be ready to heat with it by next winter.

Oh and I almost forgot. The house is around 1400 sq ft. It’s newer construction and I’m working to make it tight. There might be an addition in the future, but total footage shouldn’t be over 1800 sq ft.

Current stove is a VC Encore. Older everburn model. Things I want out of a new stove. Longer and more consistent burn times. Something I can set and forget while the wife is home and I’m out doing stuff. The VC everburn is finicky

Try it the way it is, if you have some draft issues make the changes noted here

 

[DonTee]

The dog is a Great Pyrenees. She wants it as a livestock guard dog. We’ll see how long that lasts before it ends up living in the house. We have some pet ducks that have been getting eaten by coyotes, and maybe the dog will help. I told her for the price of the dog we could buy like 200 ducklings, but she said that isn’t the point. Haha.

We have a couple Australian shepherds now that are mostly house dogs. Though they do enjoy running around in the woods. I suspect the Pyrenees will end up being the same.

I just made another deal that involves building a duck/dog house. The deal is I build that and I can build myself a decent sized firewood shed. I’m thinking 8x15 for the wood shed.
Local code says I can build up to a 10x14 structure without a permit. I figure they mean 140 sq ft.

 

[BKVP]

A Princess - too... :-D

The dog is a Great Pyrenees. She wants it as a livestock guard dog. We’ll see how long that lasts before it ends up living in the house. We have some pet ducks that have been getting eaten by coyotes, and maybe the dog will help. I told her for the price of the dog we could buy like 200 ducklings, but she said that isn’t the point. Haha.

We have a couple Australian shepherds now that are mostly house dogs. Though they do enjoy running around in the woods. I suspect the Pyrenees will end up being the same.

I just made another deal that involves building a duck/dog house. The deal is I build that and I can build myself a decent sized firewood shed. I’m thinking 8x15 for the wood shed.
Local code says I can build up to a 10x14 structure without a permit. I figure they mean 140 sq ft.

My son has no livestock. He purchased a Caucasian Shepard. The puppy is now 5 months old and weighs 150lbs. He'll need a second job to feed it and a dumpster to clean up after it.