Okay, I am really torn...

[BrianN]

I have been looking for and researching stoves for some time now. I need some serious input.
I thought that this would be an easy decision to make. Research, price out and buy the biggest stove that will fit comfortably in the space you have available. And, from the start, I thought I was going to get a Blaze King, no questions asked...
So, here I am now, (using Blaze King for reference) thinking that I would get the Blaze King - King. But, I have been told by a few stove dealers that I would be roasting myself out of the living room if I got that, and that I should really consider getting the Princess.
My house is 1800sqft. 900 upstairs, and 900 down (approximately) The living room is an average 250 - 300sqft.
The way I am planning the install, and I hope it works the way I plan it, is most of the heat will go up the alcove opening to the upstairs and be circulated by a ceiling fan at the top of the stairs.
Any suggestions? Should I go with the biggest, highest BTU output, or, go with some thing that will heat the sqft comfortably?
Here I thought that the purchasing of the stove would be the easy part of this renovation.

 

[pen]

How's the insulation in the home? Windows? Pretty tight place or pretty drafty?

pen

 

[soupy1957]

My two cents:

A. Buying too SMALL will disappoint you.
B. heat from a wood stove CAN become oppressive. Open windows and doors
To compensate, rather than trying to turn down the heat in the stove.
C. A stove worth having, will have functional and versatile air regulation controls.
D. There are lots of good stoves out there. Choose what makes YOU happy.

-soupy1957

 

[Todd]

Blaze King is a different animal, the King won't roast you out even with a full load because it can be turned down to such a low long output. I think either stove would work out fine but if your looking for longer burn times go with the big boy.

 

[begreen]

Are you coastal or inland BC? If coastal, you are probably getting good advice from the dealer. The Princess should be more than adequate to heat your home.

 

[ohlongarm]

I have been looking for and researching stoves for some time now. I need some serious input.
I thought that this would be an easy decision to make. Research, price out and buy the biggest stove that will fit comfortably in the space you have available. And, from the start, I thought I was going to get a Blaze King, no questions asked...
So, here I am now, (using Blaze King for reference) thinking that I would get the Blaze King - King. But, I have been told by a few stove dealers that I would be roasting myself out of the living room if I got that, and that I should really consider getting the Princess.
My house is 1800sqft. 900 upstairs, and 900 down (approximately) The living room is an average 250 - 300sqft.
The way I am planning the install, and I hope it works the way I plan it, is most of the heat will go up the alcove opening to the upstairs and be circulated by a ceiling fan at the top of the stairs.
Any suggestions? Should I go with the biggest, highest BTU output, or, go with some thing that will heat the sqft comfortably?
Here I thought that the purchasing of the stove would be the easy part of this renovation.

Get the King,especially where you live ,better to have the extra power and not need it then to need and not have. My house is similar in size but one level and given the astounding control the BK's have we've never regretted it.Remember the King needs well seasoned wood ,and likes about 16 feet of chimney to extract it's maximum potential.

 

[jeff_t]

Considering the cost difference of the stoves and 8" vs 6" pipe, I'd lean toward the Princess. Again, depending on your average temps and how tight your house is. Additionally, the King is just plain big, if the footprint is a consideration.

According to the BK propaganda, the high and low burn outputs aren't that much different. How long it will burn is.

 

[jeff_t]

Maybe I shouldn't call it propaganda. Everything in the sales brochure is fact

 

[BrianN]

How's the insulation in the home? Windows? Pretty tight place or pretty drafty?

pen

It is not really drafty, as in, I cannot feel a draft any where. But, saying that, when we shut off our stove to clean it, the temp inside will go from 20C down to 15C in a matter of hours when the outside temp is -8 or so.
We just bought the house in the summer, and with the sale was a piece of paper with an energy audit saying that the house was 78% efficient. We do plan on getting another audit done, and doing what ever upgrades we can to help with keeping the heat in.

 

[BrianN]

Are you coastal or inland BC? If coastal, you are probably getting good advice from the dealer. The Princess should be more than adequate to heat your home.

We are about 600km from the coast.

 

[BrianN]

All very good advise, and all some thing to consider.
Now, another question. How much more maintenance, or "hassle" is the CAT on the BK?
That is another thing that is making me shy away from Blaze King.
I do have another brand I am looking at. The cost for this stove is a little less than the cost of the King (I am getting a good deal on the BK)

 

[FPX Dude]

Go big or go home! I've read many a post where peeps wish they had gonne bigger, or want to be able to have longer burns, or get more heat, but if you don't have the horsepower u won't get it. I don't know of any that say they should have gone smaller.

 

[claybe]

I am assuming you want the stand alone. I have the princess insert and love it. They are very versatile as mentioned. If you have several really cold snaps then the king might be worth it if you have the space. I don't think the maintenance should be a concern. The efficiency will out weigh any additional maintenance! Oh, make sure the wife gets what she likes...might make the decision very easy Keep us updated as us BK owners love to know we are adding to the BK nation

 

[jeff_t]

We are about 600km from the coast.

Go big then.

Cat maintenance is minimal. Burn dry wood, and it shouldn't need more than a brushing off with a soft brush once or twice in a season. Expect to replace it every 6-8 years, I'm told.

 

[eddy_currents]

You wont go wrong with either, I bought the princess, and it worked great, but I found I wanted even longer burn times and the ability to burnt even longer pieces of wood so I made mod's to get that, that I posted elsewhere about, get the king,longer pieces of wood mean less cutting, less loading of wood, longer burn times. Your dealer may be right in telling you that you will cook yourself out,(as I found even with the princess) but he is assuming you will be running it hot enough to ignite the cat, in your small home that might cook you out, but you can pull the cat out and then burn even lower and not cook yourself out, you will want to pull the cat if you burn at really low temps as the cat can plug up if left in, and used continuiously at very low settings, Just what works for me with a small super insulated home.
Once you go blaze king you dont mess with anything else. whatever one you use will leave you happy.

 

[begreen]

We are about 600km from the coast.

OK, you are in a pretty cold climate zone for winter then. I thought you might be coastal which is much milder. In your region I would go for the King if the house floorplan is open and there is a good opportunity for the heat to convect to the rest of the house. There will definitely be nights where you will be opening things up and letting the stove stretch more toward its potential.

Can you post a basic sketch of the floorplan?

 

[HotCoals]

You wont go wrong with either, I bought the princess, and it worked great, but I found I wanted even longer burn times and the ability to burnt even longer pieces of wood so I made mod's to get that, that I posted elsewhere about, get the king,longer pieces of wood mean less cutting, less loading of wood, longer burn times. Your dealer may be right in telling you that you will cook yourself out,(as I found even with the princess) but he is assuming you will be running it hot enough to ignite the cat, in your small home that might cook you out, but you can pull the cat out and then burn even lower and not cook yourself out, you will want to pull the cat if you burn at really low temps as the cat can plug up if left in, and used continuiously at very low settings, Just what works for me with a small super insulated home.
Once you go blaze king you dont mess with anything else. whatever one you use will leave you happy.

My stove is shut down to low 90% of the time.
It's on it's third season..not once as the cat plugged up.
It is not recommended at all by BK to run without the cat..therefore I don't think you should give that advice.

 

[BrianN]

OK, you are in a pretty cold climate zone for winter then. I thought you might be coastal which is much milder. In your region I would go for the King if the house floorplan is open and there is a good opportunity for the heat to convect to the rest of the house. There will definitely be nights where you will be opening things up and letting the stove stretch more toward its potential.

Can you post a basic sketch of the floorplan?

Yes, we can get down to -30C here for stretches through the winter, so, I do think that the King will be able to be opened up during those times.
I will do a quick sketch this weekend and post it up.
Thanks again for all of your help.

 

[eddy_currents]

My stove is shut down to low 90% of the time.
It's on it's third season..not once as the cat plugged up.
It is not recommended at all by BK to run without the cat..therefore I don't think you should give that advice.

First regarding advice given, its not speculation, its how I run my stove winter after winter, and have for many, I dont and wouldnt recommend anything I hadnt done, and that produced a postive net effect , positive in the direction of either less wood burnt, greater ease of use, comfort, or more functionality. As to what Blazeking recommends, agreed, While I long ago lost my manual I am sure they themself stated to run the cat hotter, in the active zone, great if you can use the heat, what if thats still to much? My advice is a solution to a small home as the poster said he had and his concern about being cooked out, or the increasingly supper insulated ones as mine is. Any manufacturer will tell you to never touch, never change, never modify, never never ever do anything, I am sure their corporate lawyers would like you to never put wood in it either.
I prefer to assume my fellow wood burners to have more than two fingers of forehead, to adjust as needed to thier individual situations, and use thier own judgement. My suggestion is not to the 95% of all other users. To the typically sized and constructed homes my advice would be as yours is regarding useing the cat and its operation. I stand by my advice, for the small or supper insulated homes. Let me ask you, do you have experience heating one with a BK. Take a look at the pic I attached. Thats a north faceing wall- look at the thickness of it, few homes have that much insulation in the roof let alone wall, look at the window, on the outside is a window insulating panel of a type that goes up on the windows in the fall. If I used the blazeking as directed for fall, part of winter, and most of spring I would be to hot.

 

[HotCoals]

But yet you made the stove bigger eddy! If you would have left the stove stock and made smaller fires i doubt the princess would have heated you out and still would have had 10 hour burn times easy.
I'm not a tree hugging nut by no means but that said I don't want to unnecessarily poison the air and waste heat up the flue either..which is what you are doing sir!

 

[eddy_currents]

But yet you made the stove bigger eddy! If you would have left the stove stock and made smaller fires i doubt the princess would have heated you out and still would have had 10 hour burn times easy.
I'm not a tree hugging nut by no means but that said I don't want to unnecessarily poison the air and waste heat up the flue either..which is what you are doing sir!

Yes, I made it bigger, not to get more heat out of it as such, for greater ease of use. I "could" have done a ten hour burn as you say, but why should I not enjoy the same benifit regarding the long burn times without having to re lite the stove? Poisoning, I am not doing so, think about it, very low burning yes, smoke off the logs yes, most of it condenses right on the (cooler) insides of the stove , heavy thick black tar that just nicely burns away when I next have a hot fire, You can burn it up with a cat or a hot fire. what does go up the chimney does not go far up 4-5 feet and condenses there,There is not a lot of heat going up the chimney as evidenced by where I build up creosote, and thats good as I clean the chimeny about every 6 weeks-2 months and knock the creosote right back down into the stove to be burnt up.
Wasting heat is the last thing I am doing. We see -40 every year (though this is the first in my memory we havent) The heating season is 6 months long, I have never gone over 3 cord of birch, less with tamrack I am running one tight ship on my fuel use, wasting heat is a expression that does not apply. The one pick is of a extension for ontop of the stove that has a hinged door. this door swings out letting me check the condition of the chimney without having to climb on the roof, the next pick is with the door open, and looking up, and out just before I cleaned it. note where all the creosote forms at the stove end! not up high going out the top of the chimney. I am keeping my heat in, and (mostly) recovering the smoke deposites that you are imagininge going in the air!

 

[HotCoals]

Well eddy you are smoldering bad with the way you are burning..it is evident in the pic.

No way you are burning that off with the next hot fire..no way unless you have a chimney fire, which imo is not out of the question with those deposits.

I have no idea what is going on with that top pic?

 

[eddy_currents]

Well eddy you are smoldering bad with the way you are burning..it is evident in the pic.

No way you are burning that off with the next hot fire..no way unless you have a chimney fire, which imo is not out of the question with those deposits.

I have no idea what is going on with that top pic?

You have to read what I posted, and not just look at the pic's....I did not say I burnt it off, I said I cleaned it off at that point (swept the chimney, not tried to burn it out, Swept in back into the stove.

 

[begreen]

eddy, listen up. That is a dangerous accumulation of creosote. Good that you cleaned it, but it's evidence of a problem. Sorry to say tha you have too much stove for the home and are heading for problems with the current mods. This is a bad plan getting worse. In the least, put the cat back in.

What happens when you get this amount of accumulation and then a sudden blizzard hits with cold temps? You will open up the air, fire up the stove and that stuff will ignite. It isn't a question of will it happen, just when.

 

[HotCoals]

You have to read what I posted, and not just look at the pic's....I did not say I burnt it off, I said I cleaned it off at that point (swept the chimney, not tried to burn it out, Swept in back into the stove.

Ah..I did read it too fast ..my bad on that.
Put the cat back in and try it again.
Pretty sure you won't have to clean as much..crack a dang window or door if it gets to hot..lol.