Just a loaded princess on year 12.

[Highbeam]

We had a little cold snap, teens and 20s, this last week so we’ve been burning full loads of softwood in this 2012 model princess. This princess continues to impress me year after year with the long, low burns. You need to load it full with dry fuel but 24 hour cycles with softwoods are no problem.

Paint is getting a little faded, some melted parts, needed new bricks, but still performs like new.

 

[NHWS]

My 2023 installation will still have good coals at 24 hours on softwoods, but won't be generating enough heat for the 1970's era 1800 sqft / 14 ft ceiling space by then. I find I'm doing 12 hour partial reloads to keep the indoors warmer. With recent overnight outdoor temps in the high 20s dF, hot reloading with around 4 splits (half what your picture shows) twice a day, and running a bit below the marked minimal air setting (at 2:30 instead of 3:00), the indoor space never drops below the mid-to-high 60s. The NG furnace is off overnight, but it brings the indoor temp up a bit to around 70 to 72 dF during the day.

First season using it, so I'm trying to be somewhat conservative about wood use. If I was sure I had enough wood for the season, keeping the indoor temps at 72 to 75 using just the stove would be easy with larger 12 hour reloads. I can process and store the wood, but I'm still looking for sources. I could cut it on my own land, but I'd just as soon leave that if I can. I like living in a dense woodland.

Paying some attention to the stove for 20 to 30 minutes after each reload. After that it's mostly set-and-forget.

There are undoubtedly other very good stoves available, but the Princess is very well suited for the PNW climate.

Cats and bricks are wear items, paint is not functional, but melted parts?

 

[Highbeam]

My 2023 installation will still have good coals at 24 hours on softwoods, but won't be generating enough heat for the 1970's era 1800 sqft / 14 ft ceiling space by then. I find I'm doing 12 hour partial reloads to keep the indoors warmer. With recent overnight outdoor temps in the high 20s dF, hot reloading with around 4 splits (half what your picture shows) twice a day, and running a bit below the marked minimal air setting (at 2:30 instead of 3:00), the indoor space never drops below the mid-to-high 60s. The NG furnace is off overnight, but it brings the indoor temp up a bit to around 70 to 72 dF during the day.

First season using it, so I'm trying to be somewhat conservative about wood use. If I was sure I had enough wood for the season, keeping the indoor temps at 72 to 75 using just the stove would be easy with larger 12 hour reloads. I can process and store the wood, but I'm still looking for sources. I could cut it on my own land, but I'd just as soon leave that if I can. I like living in a dense woodland.

Paying some attention to the stove for 20 to 30 minutes after each reload. After that it's mostly set-and-forget.

There are undoubtedly other very good stoves available, but the Princess is very well suited for the PNW climate.

Cats and bricks are wear items, paint is not functional, but melted parts?

If you load half loads twice a day isn’t that the same as a full load once per day?

Yeah, my bypass gasket retainers melted and cracked. The newest model princess has an improved bypass gasket retainer design that apparently hasn’t been so prone to melt out, still welded on though. That’s great for when/if I ever need to replace this 2012 model. I’d be happy to pay to get the retainers replaced but it seems to work fine after I bent them back pretty much into place.

Oh and I’ve replaced the door gasket once. OEM gasket which is holding up well. New cats every 10-12k hours.

 

[NHWS]

If you load half loads twice a day isn’t that the same as a full load once per day?

That's what I originally thought, but it doesn't seem to work that way. My best guess is that the low-and-slow setting on the stove is still higher than I really need, and burns through the hemlock and alder too quickly. A full load of wood all burning at once will burn up more at a time than a half load will - or a 3/4 load (a fresh half load plus the remaining wood from the last half load). I suppose I could do some experiments to determine the actual half life of the burning wood, and then integrate the series to find the optimal schedule, but even I'm not geeky enough to bother.

 

[NHWS]

Yeah, my bypass gasket retainers melted and cracked. The newest model princess has an improved bypass gasket retainer design that apparently hasn’t been so prone to melt out, still welded on though. That’s great for when/if I ever need to replace this 2012 model. I’d be happy to pay to get the retainers replaced but it seems to work fine after I bent them back pretty much into place.

Oh and I’ve replaced the door gasket once. OEM gasket which is holding up well. New cats every 10-12k hours.

I'll have to remember to watch the bypass gasket retainer. Thanks for the pointer.

Only one door gasket in 12 years? Better than I expected.

I've already bought my next cat. I'll most likely get a replacement from BK, but having one in stock means not idling the stove while waiting for it. The downside is that the in-stock one will be out, or mostly out, of Midwest's warranty before it is used.

 

[Diabel]

I used to be able to get 24h burn with very little heat and or ash left at that point (softwood). I found myself usually reloading after 16-18h. It was messing with my schedule. This year I switched to 12h loads, I find it works much better. Load when I get up and load around supper. I might be using more wood but I have plenty of that. I also only burn on the weekends when I am there able to tend to the fire all weekend. On a side note I think my cat is starting to fail. 5 yrs of weekend burning and not all winter. Little surprised by that. Will be ordering new cat come spring for sure.

 

[Highbeam]

I'll have to remember to watch the bypass gasket retainer. Thanks for the pointer.

Only one door gasket in 12 years? Better than I expected.

I've already bought my next cat. I'll most likely get a replacement from BK, but having one in stock means not idling the stove while waiting for it. The downside is that the in-stock one will be out, or mostly out, of Midwest's warranty before it is used.

One new gasket in 12 years so really you could say I’m getting 6 years per gasket but the current one was installed better than factory so it looks like I’ll get more life out of it.

The cat warranty will be reduced on the spare since it is sitting there waiting. These cats are from applied ceramics and I have found the quality and consistency to be excellent. I am not concerned about the warranty on such a low cost consumable item anyway. The warranties are prorated and completely expire at 12000 hours.

 

[Highbeam]

I used to be able to get 24h burn with very little heat and or ash left at that point (softwood). I found myself usually reloading after 16-18h. It was messing with my schedule. This year I switched to 12h loads, I find it works much better. Load when I get up and load around supper. I might be using more wood but I have plenty of that. I also only burn on the weekends when I am there able to tend to the fire all weekend. On a side note I think my cat is starting to fail. 5 yrs of weekend burning and not all winter. Little surprised by that. Will be ordering new cat come spring for sure.

I agree that if 24 hour cycles aren’t enough that 12 hour top offs are the next most reasonable schedule. I also want to load in the dark because I’m embarrassed by the smoke show.