Is this Blaze King Any Good??

[Rcksblr]

Hi all! I own a blaze king that we use in our home. Love it. I have a 40x40 shop that I put an Englander stove in earlier this year (on a budget) and it's just not cutting it. It burns through too much wood and doesn't heat all that great.

I have been looking for another Blaze King (King model) for the shop. I came across this one (see pic) and was curious what you all thought on price and what not. It's a catalyst stove and has a double fan. Seller bought it to heat their home about 25 years ago so this one must be built in the Mid -90's. Any thing I should stay away from or be aware of? I don't NEED a stove so unless I find a deal i'll likely wait until next year.

Also the current stove pipe is 6" and this one has an 8" outlet. From what I read it sounds like this could be a problem for proper air flow if I keep the 6" pipe for a stove with an 8" outlet. Or will it be okat?

Thanks so much!

 

[ratsrepus]

you sure it's a cat stove? couldn't see the bypass handle, so its hard to tell. The higher ups here can explain the need for the 8 inch chimney with the King. how big is your shop, mines 1200 sq ft and the princess does an awesome job.

 

[Rcksblr]

you sure it's a cat stove? couldn't see the bypass handle, so its hard to tell. The higher ups here can explain the need for the 8 inch chimney with the King. how big is your shop, mines 1200 sq ft and the princess does an awesome job.

Yea its a catalyst. On the post there is other pics and you can see the Bypass handle. Owner also verified. Shop is 40x40. So 1600 Sq ft but its also pretty tall. We have a princess in our home and have been impressed with its performance. I love that I can put a couple logs on at night, close the bypass and adjust the damper and in the morning its still hot and burning. I work in the Shop super early in the mornings daily so that's the main reason for the BK. I want to be able to throw some logs in and have it burn slow through the night. I am sure the princess would heat up the space plenty as well, this one just happen to come up for sale.

Even the Englander once hot, will take the temp up to 55 degrees when its well below freezing. Problem is that takes a long time plus it just goes through so much darn wood. I process all the wood myself, so when you put in all that work its well worth the extra $$ on a stove up front to save on the amount of wood you go through each year.

 

[Woody Stover]

Sheesh, no window?? I'd keep looking..

 

[zvholk]

Wow That thing is ugly, but at least it has a fresh paint job

 

[Highbeam]

King needs an 8” chimney. Bk says no, you may not use a 6”.

 

[bholler]

Yea its a catalyst. On the post there is other pics and you can see the Bypass handle. Owner also verified. Shop is 40x40. So 1600 Sq ft but its also pretty tall. We have a princess in our home and have been impressed with its performance. I love that I can put a couple logs on at night, close the bypass and adjust the damper and in the morning its still hot and burning. I work in the Shop super early in the mornings daily so that's the main reason for the BK. I want to be able to throw some logs in and have it burn slow through the night. I am sure the princess would heat up the space plenty as well, this one just happen to come up for sale.

Even the Englander once hot, will take the temp up to 55 degrees when its well below freezing. Problem is that takes a long time plus it just goes through so much darn wood. I process all the wood myself, so when you put in all that work its well worth the extra $$ on a stove up front to save on the amount of wood you go through each year.

Just getting a bigger stove won't save you any wood. There is only a certain amount of BTUs in a given ammout of wood. And you need a given ammout of BTUs to heat your shop. A bigger stove just means you will be loading more wood less often. And no a king won't work well on 6"

 

[Woody Stover]

Just getting a bigger stove won't save you any wood. There is only a certain amount of BTUs in a given ammout of wood. And you need a given ammout of BTUs to heat your shop. A bigger stove just means you will be loading more wood less often. And no a king won't work well on 6"

Right. BKs aren't know to throw massive heat like you need in the shop for fast room temp rise. I maybe would go with a big box secondary stove of higher quality than the NC 30. Might get more heat into the room, I don't know. You could also get the side shields and a blower for the Englander, if you don't have them. That might help heat up more air, stripping it off the box quicker.

 

[Woody Stover]

Wow That thing is ugly

It's a BK tradition.

 

[Rcksblr]

Right. BKs aren't know to throw massive heat like you need in the shop for fast room temp rise. I maybe would go with a big box secondary stove of higher quality than the NC 30. Might get more heat into the room, I don't know. You could also get the side shields and a blower for the Englander, if you don't have them. That might help heat up more air, stripping it off the box quicker.

Thanks! Any recommendations on a big box secondary stove? I'm not super familiar with all the brands. Yea I do have the shields and blower on the Englander.

 

[Rcksblr]

Just getting a bigger stove won't save you any wood. There is only a certain amount of BTUs in a given ammout of wood. And you need a given ammout of BTUs to heat your shop. A bigger stove just means you will be loading more wood less often. And no a king won't work well on 6"

I hear you. I can put a couple logs on our BK and it will burn all night. Just last night I put two tamarack logs in and those burnt 12 hours and was still in the "active" zone on the temp gauge. Once hot, 2 tamaracks will burn maybe a couple hours in the Englander. Its way less efficient. But, I'm not married to the BK just want something that will be more efficient

 

[bholler]

I hear you. I can put a couple logs on our BK and it will burn all night. Just last night I put two tamarack logs in and those burnt 12 hours and was still in the "active" zone on the temp gauge. Once hot, 2 tamaracks will burn maybe a couple hours in the Englander. Its way less efficient. But, I'm not married to the BK just want something that will be more efficient

Yes bks can bun a long time for sure. But that doesn't mean that stove will use much less wood at all to heat your shop.

I switched from a regency 3100 to a princess and saw no savings in wood at all

 

[Ashful]

Run near its maximum output, I believe that BK’s efficiency may fall nearly as low as that Englander. Net wood usage = unchanged.

 

[Grizzerbear]

Is the shop insulated? Just asking cause if it isnt i would start their if you spend as much time in it as you say. It may seem like a stupid question but most shops here are uninsulated.

 

[bholler]

Another question is what type of shop is it?

 

[Rcksblr]

Is the shop insulated? Just asking cause if it isnt i would start their if you spend as much time in it as you say. It may seem like a stupid question but most shops here are uninsulated.

Yep. Its a pole building, fully insulated.

Another question is what type of shop is it?

It's a Pole Building fully insulated.

 

[bholler]

It's a Pole Building fully insulated.

Yes what is it used for

 

[Rcksblr]

Yes what is it used for

Man we use it for just about everything. I built 2 stick built additions inside the 40x40 shell. One addition is a woodworking shop the other has a bathroom and sauna inside it. I also built an area upstairs for storage and used a vapor barrier to keep out dust and also to not lose heat up there. I have a gym setup in one corner. All the other area is basically work benches and free space for working on cars/toys/tinkering and just hanging out. We're out there a lot.

 

[bholler]

Man we use it for just about everything. I built 2 stick built additions inside the 40x40 shell. One addition is a woodworking shop the other has a bathroom and sauna inside it. I also built an area upstairs for storage and used a vapor barrier to keep out dust and also to not lose heat up there. I have a gym setup in one corner. All the other area is basically work benches and free space for working on cars/toys/tinkering and just hanging out. We're out there a lot.

The stove by code cannot be in the area where cars are worked on or where there is gasoline present.

 

[BKVP]

That appears to be a KEJ1101. They were really good units, first stoves to ever me certified for clean burning in Oregon's certification program. For the application you have detailed, you might look for a furnace of some sort. If you are in WA state, be careful, few if any wood furnaces are approved for sale and a few communities may not permit them at all.

My buddy just built a 60 x 80 pole building, fully insulated and installed a waste oil furnace. It heats his shop quite well and very few VISIBLE emissions 20 minutes after start up.

Some European pellet furnaces are catching on in the country. Of course the feed stock has to be kept inside to keep it out of the weather.

Regardless of which way you go, post an update.....

 

[Rcksblr]

That appears to be a KEJ1101. They were really good units, first stoves to ever me certified for clean burning in Oregon's certification program. For the application you have detailed, you might look for a furnace of some sort. If you are in WA state, be careful, few if any wood furnaces are approved for sale and a few communities may not permit them at all.

My buddy just built a 60 x 80 pole building, fully insulated and installed a waste oil furnace. It heats his shop quite well and very few VISIBLE emissions 20 minutes after start up.

Some European pellet furnaces are catching on in the country. Of course the feed stock has to be kept inside to keep it out of the weather.

Regardless of which way you go, post an update.....

Thanks for the input! We live very rural so we don't have any neighbors or live in a community. The setup I installed this fall has 6" stove piping so I am thinking if I go with another stove I will get one with a 6" outlet. This BK has an 8" and from what I read and a few responses here that will be problematic. I can't really afford to update everything to 8" and the current setup does work good; but eventually will update it to a stove I can get longer burns. Maybe a Princess or another BK model that comes with a 6" outlet. I will definitely update if I change it out!

 

[Highbeam]

Thanks! Any recommendations on a big box secondary stove? I'm not super familiar with all the brands. Yea I do have the shields and blower on the Englander.

The NC30 is already about the biggest noncat you can get for a 6" flue unless you look at furnaces. I am not sure I understand why people think spending more money for a similar noncat stove will make it any more efficient. As mentioned in this thread, there is only so much heat in a lb of wood and the efficiencies of all noncats are pretty much the same. If the goal is to save wood, a new noncat stove won't do it. Buying a more expensive noncat stove might get you a better looking or more durable stove but it won't save you wood.

Really, heating a large outbuilding with a wood stove is always going to be a challenge since you usually aren't keeping it warm but trying to play catch up to heat the cold shop up for the weekend. You aren't able to babysit the stove. I've been doing this for several years now with an NC30 and I've gotten pretty good at it. Yes, it will eat wood during the warm up phase. I reload about every three hours and aim for 700 degree stove top temperatures. Totally safe and within the design parameters of the stove but it does seem to go through wood! Then on "cruise" it gets reloaded much less often.

A pellet stove/furnace is a pretty nice idea and pellets are cheap in our state. You can program it to turn on using a thermostat with a schedule. You can also turn some of them on via wifi from somewhere else in the world. They also can be shut off when you leave and be rendered "safe" much quicker than a woodstove with a belly full of coals. Some pellet stoves can make more heat than your nc30 and make it constantly with no cycles.

 

[Mike.O]

I would think a BK would not be the most desirable "Shop" stove. Its designed for low and slow. Shop heating from cold needs hot and fast. I honestly think your NC-30 is one of the best shop stoves out there. I don't think you'll see any noticeable difference switching out stoves. I'd run the NC-30

 

[jetsam]

There have been a bunch of posts about running Kings on 6" flues over the years. It's a mixed bag, some people do okay and some people have poor results.

Personally, whenever I see a subject line like "My New King Sucks", I assume that by the end the thread, we'll have found out that the poor thing is on a 6" flue, possibly also with multiple elbows and a short vertical.

I think a King would make a kickass shop stove, but it also sounds like your shop might need two stoves or a furnace. Maybe consider putting an 8" flue on the side away from the Englander and add the King as a second stove. Reload the King every 24 hours and use the Englander for burst heating.

 

[BKVP]

There have been a bunch of posts about running Kings on 6" flues over the years. It's a mixed bag, some people do okay and some people have poor results.

Personally, whenever I see a subject line like "My New King Sucks", I assume that by the end the thread, we'll have found out that the poor thing is on a 6" flue, possibly also with multiple elbows and a short vertical.

I think a King would make a kickass shop stove, but it also sounds like your shop might need two stoves or a furnace. Maybe consider putting an 8" flue on the side away from the Englander and add the King as a second stove.

And...some "jerky smell" in the house might be fine to one person, but others not tolerable.