Princess, Ashford 30 or?

[daltonhawk]

Sorry if this is too much of a repeat thread. I'd like to replace our 1999 Waterford Trinity MK II with a stove that produces more heat, burns more efficiently and has a longer burn time. The Waterford is nice looking but the performance is lacking.

We were planning to go with a BK princess but after looking at one at our local dealer today, my wife thinks it's a little on the masculine and utilitarian side appearance wise but she can live with it with the parlor legs and the ashpan with 'ruffles'. The looks aren't a total deal breaker for her but it gave us enough pause that we decided to think it over rather than putting in the order today. We heat full time with wood and she wants more than anything to reliably wake up to a bed of coals that will restart with out any hassle but good looks are a plus to.

So we're also considering a Ashford 30 with brown enamel instead. It's better looking but the downsides are an extra $800 in cost, not available until January and the efficiency and emissions specifications aren't' as good. I think we're OK with the $800 and the wait to have a stove we're really happy with but I'm concerned about the performance.

Does anyone have any experience to know if the performance difference between the Princess and the Ashford 30 is noticeable?

Are there any other options worth considering? I like the look of the Hearthstone stoves (Manchester, Green mountain) and they look good on paper but from what I hear the performance doesn't stack up. Also of consideration is Woodstock (Progress or Ideal Steel) but it's disappointing that they don't have a blower option.

 

[Highbeam]

Don’t sweat the blower or the relatively small decrease in performance between princess and ashford. Those and the IS are excellent performers.

 

[MMH]

I can’t soeak to any other of the stoves but I’m currently running an ashford; also had a bit of the same issue and I was initially looking at the princess but wife wanted better looks without completely compromising efficient etc so we went with ashford with the cast iron. According to their website your talking 80% and 0.4 g/hr for the princess vs 76% and 0.8 g/hr (efficiency and emissions respectively), which isn’t a huge difference in effiency albeit the emissions in g/hr could be argued as significant comparatively. It wasn’t a huge difference in our eyes. I’ve had no problems with the stove thus far (2nd year coming into 3rd). The only “potential issue” is some ashford owners have reported creo smell from the stove, I haven’t had this issue but I have noticed a slight odor of smoke (I’d describe as a small whif if camp fire) but I only get it when I turn the stove low, and my wife hasn’t even noticed it other than that I have no gripes. I have a 1960 sq ft home open plan new build (when we built a few years ago). Heats ours just fine. I can get 10-12 hr burns on pine with it etc and yes it’s still throwing usable heat. I also have the blower but as many here warned me, I used it a hand full of times when we first got it installed and haven’t touched the blower since. I have the eco fans and that does the job. Either one (princess or ashford) if you go with BK I’m sure you’ll be pretty happy with it. Good luck.

 

[Poindexter]

I wanted a princess to heat 1200 sqft up here. The wife said A30 or we look at stoves other than BK, so we agreed on an Ashford 30, as in I got a BK and she got the A30.

The princess can put a bit more BTU/hour, but in reality I run two loads per day until it gets down below about 30 below. At negative 25, negative 28 degrees F, I only have to load the A30 twice daily. I run three loads per day maybe two or three weeks every winter.

The princess does have a bigger firebox too, which would also contribute to me getting through my winter on two loads daily at higher outputs and colder outdoor ambients, but for domestic tranquility loading the stove a third time per day 21 times and not having her complain about the clunky look of the princess 365 times is worth it to me.

FWIW comparing max outputs the princess, if it was 100% conversion efficiency, the princess has a high enough max output to make all the heat we get out of our A30, and (@ 100 % efficient) generate all our electrcitiy too. We only buy about 12 kwh daily, pretty low consumption, but the difference is there. That is like running a 1000watt electric space heater 12 hours per day. Or a 1500 watt space heater 8 hours per day. Among battleships, destroyers and frigates, the A30 and Princess are both cruisers.

No matter what stove you pick, current production models will be a noticeable step up from 1999 technology. In 2014 we moved from a circa Y2K noncat to a BK A30.0 and cut our wood consumption at least 20%. Less splitting, less stacking, less carying wood in, less carrying ash out, less $ incoming cord wood, it all adds up.

 

[kennyp2339]

Other consideration would be that the ashford is more convective (heats the air) and the princess is more radiant (heats objects which then heats the space)
So if your living in a house that is more open with more questionable insulation / or drafty, I'd lean more towards the ashford were the convective jacket with a blower will give you more bang for you $$$, if your in a tighter house with a smaller foot print then the more convective princess would be a better fit since you would get more radiant heat and only run the blower on the coldest of cold days.

 

[daltonhawk]

Thanks for all the input. This stove will be going in a particularly drafty old log cabin end of our house. I'm planning to tear down this section in a few years and rebuild but I'm hoping a new stove can help us be a little more comfortable until then. I'm leaning towards the Ashford but haven't made the call yet.

 

[daltonhawk]

Well, we went in a different direction. My wife didn't like the looks of the Princess and she got sticker shock on the Ashford so we just ordered a Woodstock Ideal Steel. She's having a good time picking out the colors and design options and I like the performance and the thoughtfulness of the design, so I think everybody's happy.

I'm still waiting to find out how long it will be for the stove to ship but I'm really excited to try it out!

 

[begreen]

Tastes are funny. My wife saw the ideal Steel and nixed it in all of 2 seconds. For looks I would take a Princess Ultra over the steampunk look of an Ideal Steel. But if she is happy and enjoying the customizing options, that's all that matters. It's a good heater and Woodstock is a good company.

 

[Highbeam]

The IS is a good stove with lots of happy owners. Very good performance specifications and reasonable price. As far as looks, well, you can choose a plain one or an ugly as heck one. I don’t personally appreciate the excessive junk option but prefer the plain version, good to have choices I guess.

The IS is the only other stove (other than BK) that users have been able to get 24 hour burns from. If I had to replace my princess and BK was not an option then I would try for an IS.

Now, tech is changing and maybe some other brands might catch up.

 

[daltonhawk]

Yeah, I can see the IS looks being a little polarizing. We're going with fairly simple ornamentation but plain is nice too. Hopefully it looks good in person. Sounds like we'll be waiting until mid to late January to find out.

 

[begreen]

There are now several stoves entering the market with hybrid technology. I'm interested to see how the GreenMountain 80 will do in the hands of a capable burner. It's a good looking stove with a big belly. The only downside is that it's specced for 8".

 

[daltonhawk]

Agreed, the GreenMountain looks amazing with the huge glass door that is almost the entire side of the stove. Too bad the 60 is only 2CF and the 80 takes an 8" flue. That was the main thing that kept them from being on the top of my list. I'm looking forward the seeing how people like the new hearthstone cat stoves.

 

[begreen]

Yes, not sure why the 8" flue. I think all other 3 cu ft hybrids are 6". Makes it kind of an oddball. There is also the Regency F3500 that I am waiting to see more info on how it performs.

F3500 Hybrid Catalytic Wood Stove | Efficient Wood Stove by Regency

Long overnight burns with efficient burns and minimal emissions with the Pro-Series F3500 catalytic wood stove.

www.regency-fire.com

 

[Highbeam]

I’m really rooting for hearthstone to be competitive here with the gm stoves. We need more slow burning choices. The 8” pipe is dumb on a little 3 cf stove. That’s the kind of thing I hope they can revise but I’m afraid the huge glass door is the reason.

 

[begreen]

That’s the kind of thing I hope they can revise but I’m afraid the huge glass door is the reason.

Me too. The door on the Regency is also large, but the flue is 6". They are claiming up to 30 hr. burn time.