That would be a total non-starter for me, both noise and maintenance. How are the blowers on the BKs? I put one on my SIL's T5 and on low, her fridge is louder.
Let’s buy a stove... Princess or King? Pictures
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My Pellet stove requires about 5 min of maintence per day. Scrap the Pot and Wipe the Glass. About 20 min every 1 Ton. Lots less than the BK King I had. That required hour every week at least to clean out ashes. Let it cool down and then carry out. Harmon XXV so much easier. Downside is no power it does not run. I have Battery backup for 12 hours. Then Generator
An hour? That’s crazy! I takes about 2 minutes to push the ashes down the hole and I don’t let the stove go out to do it.
I don't spend an hour cleaning out ashes a year on my stove or any of my previous stoves. Probably not even 2 years and I don't use the ash pan. It is 5 mins a month maybe. Wait a few more years when parts start to need replaced on that pellet stove. They are expensive and some are not very easy either. We just got rid of the pellet stove in the wood shop and will never have one again. On a side note propane is costing way less to heat the same shop with no work at all.
Maybe I should have added for the OP, since burning Doug fir I have not had to empty the ashes at all this year. The bed is only 2” thick and the princess has a 6” deep ash belly. This is after about 3.5 cords.
I sincerely hope that nobody ever spends an hour scooping ash from anything. Pellet stoves make ash too. Same amount.
My bk has the optional fans. I seldom use them because my house stays warm without the fans. If I am away from home too long and the house cools, I use the fans for a quicker heat up and then shut them off. I really appreciate the silence.
I really do think that some pellet stoves are quieter than others but all are loud when compared to silence.
You just made me decision for me.
i was going to go with the king, but if the princess is working for you.... it’s gonna work for me easy. I like the idea of the 6inch pipe. So much cheaper.
I was quoted for an extra 1,000 for an 8 inch pipe. Is it true that the parts for the princess are cheaper? Anyone know if it took a big hit with the new EPA regs for 2020?
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The catalyst for the pre2020 princess is the same 209$ cat as the new 2020 princess.
Lots and lots of people use a princess. It fits my home and climate really well.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
I burn 24x7 and shovel the stove out every couple weeks. There is no need to shut down a stove to clear out the ashes (though you do need a good shovel, I've melted a few cheap ones).
Avoid ash pans. Even if you like the convenience, the bottom of the firebox is a terrible spot to have an air leak, and a likely one too. Bad idea all around. Search the forum for threads where people have melted the insides of their stoves by accidentally (and sometimes intentionally) letting air in right underneath the fire.
Princess is awesome and uses a cheaper flue but the king holds a lot more fuel. Maybe you won't care most of the time, but when it gets cold, big fuel tanks are nice to have, especially if you have a job that keeps you out of the house for long periods.
Avoid ash pans. Even if you like the convenience, the bottom of the firebox is a terrible spot to have an air leak, and a likely one too. Bad idea all around. Search the forum for threads where people have melted the insides of their stoves by accidentally (and sometimes intentionally) letting air in right underneath the fire.
Princess is awesome and uses a cheaper flue but the king holds a lot more fuel. Maybe you won't care most of the time, but when it gets cold, big fuel tanks are nice to have, especially if you have a job that keeps you out of the house for long periods.
While I agree that Ashpans are a killer of many wood stoves, I’ve never heard of an Ashpan system that uses a plug like BK having issues or damage that was caused by it. I see it often with stoves that have an ash grate on the floor though.
I've run four different stoves with ash pans. The worst leak I've had was in the Buck 91 where the gasket was mounted on the front of the pan, and it relied on a spring-steel strip to hold the pan and gasket tight to the housing. I got the stove used, and by observing the burn, I quickly saw that the coals were glowing over the ash dump. I replaced the gasket, which had frayed a bit where the ends of the gasket came together. Even though it leaked there, I'm pretty sure I was nowhere near damaging the stove; There is always a bit of ash around where the air comes in, insulating the area around the dump from coal heat. Maybe it would be more of a potential problem on a BK, with their thin steel construction. The Buck hinged-lid system is far superior to fumbling with the plug and the dinky ash hole in a BK.
The Buck system, with a large ash dump opening and a hinged lid, was the best non-grated system I saw. The opening was in the left side of the floor, so it was easy to sweep the coals to the right side, open the ash dump lid, and sweep the ash into the hole. The T5 isn't too bad. The lid hinges downward, and you can put a stick under the lever to hold the lid open while you work. The hole isn't very big. And you have to make sure the lid is locked into the closed position when you're done. Beats a plug, though.
I don't recall if you ran any other stoves before the BK, but if you've never had the best ash-handling system, with a grate in the floor, you don't know what you're missing. As soon as I replace the old Englander 84, which I had to shovel out, with the Dutchwest and the grate, I knew I never wanted to go back to shoveling, trying to contain dust, and having to immediately take out a hot pan of hot ash and coals. I briefly ran the Woodstock Fireview for more heat output, but ended up fixing some air leaks in the house to where the grated Keystone could keep up more easily when it got cold out. I just run a poker through the ashes to drop them through the grate into the pan. Repeat that five-second job, until it's time to slide the barely-warm pan out and dump it after a couple weeks.
BTW, I've never replaced the ash door gasket, and I've had the stove ten years.The BKs can hold a good bit of ash, but eventually you have to deal with it. Have fun. As for me, I'll avoid your advice to avoid the ash pan.
Maybe if you don't observe how your stove is burning so that you'd see evidence of a gasket problem or a coal preventing closure, or you leave the ash door open, you might kill your stove. But you probably shouldn't have been burning wood anyway, if you weren't going to pay attention.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
![[Hearth.com] Let’s buy a stove... Princess or King? Pictures](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/258/258333-3fda39ba2082a89b92df328d3f6b931d.jpg?hash=h-W0vp1ljs "[Hearth.com] Let’s buy a stove... Princess or King? Pictures")
I have seen problems with overfireing in quads and regencies caused by the ash plug.
You guys are killin me. Decision is made about going with a blazeking.. now I’m fretting between the king or the princess. Is the king a lot larger than the princess or is it really not noticeable?
also.. is Tapatalk not working?
The difference between the 2 is huge! The King is a monster!
Go stand by a king. They really are giant but have almost the same range of heat output as the princess so it’s really about the huge fuel tank. The 8” pipe is a total old school hold over pain in the butt. I’ve seen kings in pretty small homes. The princess models are very common even in Alaska!
The catalyst that needs to be replaced every other year for many full time burners is a LOT more expensive on the king.
The princess is not dainty. It’s an honest 2.85 cubic feet unlike some other manufacturers that flat out lie about the firebox size. I removed a 2.3 “rated” cubic foot hearthstone heritage and replaced it with the princess. The wife freaked out about how huge the princess was. I was a bit worried that we would roast too but these cat stoves really are able to run cool as well as hot so we never get roasted out.
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I’m kinda wondering about space. If you see from the photos in the first page, it’s going to be a corner install.
house is 2600 square feet and insulated well.
so, am I hearing correctly that even if I went with the king, I won’t blow the doors off this place?
house is 2600 square feet and insulated well.
so, am I hearing correctly that even if I went with the king, I won’t blow the doors off this place?
2600 is pretty big. The king’s low setting is only a bit more output than the princess on low. Either of these stoves in low are making much less heat than most any noncat on low.
If I had 2600 sf, in my climate as I described earlier I would prefer the king for full time heating.
It was pretty clear you were going with the homey stove.
Who knows why he decided to swerve off into the ash pan topic? But you can only listen to a guy spew so much bull, before you have to step in and straighten him out.
So, it's down to...how much does budget play into it? More for the King with the 8" chimney, and more for the cats.
Is your insulation and air-sealing good? If so, 95% of the time, the mild conditions will be easily handled by the Princess running low and burning pretty long. Looks like a fairly new house so I'm guessing weatherization is good.
Are you frequently gone for long periods (like for an entire day) where the bigger tank might be handy? Looks like you have plenty of room in that corner for either stove. But you're also burning Pine, so factor that in on tank size.
Yep, chances of roasting yourself out are gonna be less than with just about any other brand.
Heyyyyy, wait a minute. Didn't your wife already make the decision, back on page 1??
jetsam
Minister of Fire
The only factors I'd even consider in the "princess or king" question are the flue and the price. If you have to go through a chimney and an 8" insulated liner won't fit, it's gotta be a princess. Otherwise King. The fuel tank is the reason there. (Don't get me wrong- the Princess is a great stove. I heat my house with a princess insert.) Obviously the king costs more and the 8" flue costs more.
People who don't have BKs tend to say we're insane to suggest a 4.3cf monster stove for (any number goes here) square feet of house, but those that have heated with one on a 55 degree spring day do not say that, because they know that low means LOW.
People who don't have BKs tend to say we're insane to suggest a 4.3cf monster stove for (any number goes here) square feet of house, but those that have heated with one on a 55 degree spring day do not say that, because they know that low means LOW.
lsucet
Minister of Fire
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
Im just wondering of you can post a few pics on the corner install, mainly showing the space further out pointed towards the old propane fireplace, my concerns is the window and window treatments with clearance to combustibles.
Also are you planning going straight up with the chimney or up then outside to a cleanout then back up? Also are you going to add a oak?
Also are you planning going straight up with the chimney or up then outside to a cleanout then back up? Also are you going to add a oak?
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