Purely opinion I know, but: BK Ashford 20 vs 30 vs Republic

[eclecticcottage]

So we have an ongoing debate on whether we should keep the Republic or get a BK. And if we DID get a BK, whether we should stick with the bigger firebox (the Republic is a 2.2 I believe, it's in my signature at any rate) of the 30 or if we could manage with the smaller size 20. The Republic is a good stove, but just can't make it overnight when it's cold (20 or below) without it being pretty chilly in the AM. If it gets really cold (15 or below), it can be 50 in the house by morning. (load time @ 9-10pm, morning =6/6:30am). We burn a lot of pine and softwood because it's what we got for free. We just aren't sure the 20 can hack it, plus it takes a smaller log (16" vs 18") and we have many, many cord cut with the 18" in mind (and some we still need to cut smaller from when we thought we were going to use the Cone and are in the 20-24" length range).

Looking for opinions from folks, maybe someone has moved from a tube stove to a BK and can comment on whether they felt like they needed to keep the same firebox size or successfully managed with a smaller firebox. Either should have no problems fitting in where the Republic is now so that isn't a consideration.

 

[Woody Stover]

You can burn low with a cat stove so there's no reason I can see not to get a larger fire box...

 

[jatoxico]

Can't answer your specific question about tube to cat but is the current stove capable of heating the space? If during the burn cycle you tend to over heat and need to spread the heat out then the firebox size may be OK. If it can't keep up then seems you should go bigger.

 

[eclecticcottage]

It usually does fine. Lopis seem to like to burn hot, so it might burn a bit hotter than the BK would. Our biggest issue is burn time-it just can't reach the 10 hours Lopi advertises for the most part (we have done it, but typically that just means the stovetop is warm and there's enough coals to restart with the bellows). It's so hard to go by the "heats x-x sq ft" manufacturers advertise, because houses vary so much on construction. By all rights the Republic should over heat the house but it rarely does, unless we over feed it in shoulder season-despite sealing and installing attic blanket, this place is still built like a 1950's cottage, not a new build.

 

[Woody Stover]

hard to go by the "heats x-x sq ft" manufacturers advertise

Yep. I just assume those are best-case numbers...if you had a tight, well-insulated house in a moderate climate. If you see yourself continuing to burn softwoods, I would go bigger on the stove, for sure. Like I said, no worries about roasting yourself out with a cat.

 

[Dairyman]

@rdust used to have a similar sized lopi IIRC. The only benefit of the 20 series is a smaller footprint. A 30 is capable of lower btu output according to BK specs.

 

[eclecticcottage]

Yeah, I think he went from an Endeavor to a Princess (?). I was pretty much leaning towards the 30, until we saw a (used) Sirocco 20 for sale for $1600. That brought up a whole "hmmmm" situation in my head, since the main reason the Republic is still here is the relatively high cost of a new BK. $1600 is still more than we could sell the Republic for, but at least it would't be as huge of a gap. For the cost of a brand new 30, we may as well put in central heat (so it could take up the slack for the mornings) and be able to take vacations in the winter as a bonus.

 

[coldkiwi]

You could try burning hardwood in the Lopi for a longer burn.I am using the last of my pine at the moment but the last load at night is big chunks of oak.

 

[eclecticcottage]

If we got hardwood for free, we would be all over it. It just happened that a near by neighbor had to take down 70-80 beetle kill pines and gave us the wood. We burn what we scrounge

 

[coldkiwi]

My Pine came from a neighbor also, all bucked as well!

 

[Heftiger]

If you're going to burn pine, you need the 30. I just got the 30 installed, and we burn Lodgepole Pine. I'm getting just around a 12 hour burn with the temp in the high 30's, and that's with stuffing the box full. I think you'd still be disappointed if you got the 20.

 

[Highbeam]

Do NOT buy the 20 unless you require a smaller footprint. That 20 stove is BK's least logical product. The 30 sized box burns cooler if you want it and hotter if you want it, a broader range of output is possible to match the conditions. When burning at any output rate, the 30 burns for 50% longer. That's huge! I suspect that the engineering required the high burn rate from the little 20 stove in order to pass emissions.

I went from a 2.3 CF(measured at barely 2CF) noncat that heated our home beautifully to the much larger 2.85CF BK princess (measured a true 2.85). This works perfectly because the cat stove is capable of much much lower output levels, it runs cool, so the physical size of the firebox has nothing to do with the amount of heat that is produced.

The firebox size of a cat stove is more about the amount of stored fuel than it is about the heat output. You'll want the 30.

As far as your desire to switch from the non-cat to a cat stove for burntime, that is why I made the switch and it has been an excellent decision. I load the stove no more than one time per day for 90% of the 9 month heating season and up to twice per day when it is bitter cold in the single digits. Constant heat output for that entire burn cycle means the house temps stay warm with no cycles like most non-cats make.

 

[rdust]

Yeah, I think he went from an Endeavor to a Princess (?). I was pretty much leaning towards the 30, until we saw a (used) Sirocco 20 for sale for $1600. That brought up a whole "hmmmm" situation in my head, since the main reason the Republic is still here is the relatively high cost of a new BK. $1600 is still more than we could sell the Republic for, but at least it would't be as huge of a gap. For the cost of a brand new 30, we may as well put in central heat (so it could take up the slack for the mornings) and be able to take vacations in the winter as a bonus.

Yep, Endeavor to Princess(good memory!). Honestly there is absolutely no comparison between the two stoves. Even loading the same amount of wood the Princess will burn for hours longer. Initially I was worried the BK wouldn't have the top end of the Lopi and I'd be disappointed. From the first fire in the BK I knew it was the right decision. As you stated the Lopi stoves burn hot, this would have me laying on the floor in the family room to escape the heat after filling the stove for the overnight burn as I got it to settle in. The BK is a snap to run and it's insanely controllable. Loading on a hot coal bed or topping off a mostly full stove is completely controllable and every burn is darn near a copy of the last. The non cat was a different adventure with every load!

I'd skip right past the 20 and go with the 30, if you're not completely amazed after a few burns I'd be shocked. On my 5th season with the Princess and I'd do it again without a second thought. Are the BK stoves perfect? Nah, they sure go a long way towards making heating with wood "easy". It's nice not being a slave to the stove!

Just buy a used Princess, in person she's not nearly as ugly as the pictures.

 

[jeff_t]

The actual footprint of the 20 series is smaller but the clearances are greater, so it's pretty much a wash. At least for the sirocco. I didn't look at the ashford. The sirocco 30 has a smaller alcove width requirement than the 20.