Replacing an older "larger" Jotul from the late 90's with a BK?
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I loved loved loved the flames when i bought this house...but after enough time, i realied the sweet spot for heat was a well seasoned fire and choked down..........i don't care about flame ambiance anymore..i have outside firepits for this.
i wish i could have the best of both worlds, but clearly i cant...bummer.
i realize it's an upsell.......but if i can..can you advise on to why not?
Yes but the chimney won't need replaced if you stay with 6". Even if you went all new you would be increasing the cost by 30% or so to go 8"
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
The minimum BTU output of the King is larger than that of the princess.
So you'll cook yourself out of the room sooner, larger parts of the year. A King to heat only a room is frankly a bit ridiculous.
I think unanimous advice here is to not buy the King but go princess or a 30.2 firebox.
So you'll cook yourself out of the room sooner, larger parts of the year. A King to heat only a room is frankly a bit ridiculous.
I think unanimous advice here is to not buy the King but go princess or a 30.2 firebox.
All I know about wood stoves is from having my Jotul and reading this forum, so I'm as green as wet wood on this topic. Howver, this seems to be super relevant (in regards to the low output)
would you be able to explain how "severe" these minimum output differences would actually feel?
king: 14,313
princess: 12,576
sirocco: 11,993
how truly different will a 1000 btu's truly feel? I'm not trying to be sarcastic, i truly don't know
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
That's a 12% lower output for the princess, with the king as reference - or a 14% if using the princess as reference.
My point is that you seem to want a low and slow stove. Indeed you're only heating one room.
If one wants to move a little freight (heat) one does not generally buy an 18-wheeler (the biggest stove)...
Generally you want to avoid running any stove near its extreme - whether that is extreme in high output or extreme in low output.
They run best away from the extremes of their output range.
I can't tell how big the difference in comfort will be but I can tell that you'll be using the stove less if you buy a King for a single room.
My point is that you seem to want a low and slow stove. Indeed you're only heating one room.
If one wants to move a little freight (heat) one does not generally buy an 18-wheeler (the biggest stove)...
Generally you want to avoid running any stove near its extreme - whether that is extreme in high output or extreme in low output.
They run best away from the extremes of their output range.
I can't tell how big the difference in comfort will be but I can tell that you'll be using the stove less if you buy a King for a single room.
One room in California none the less. They are going to be running low and slow constantly. I would absolutely go with the sirocco plus it will save allot of money and look allot better.
That is a very very good description. Thank you for this. The room we are wanting to heat is quite large (living, kitchen, dining, hallways.....basically open floor plan with super super super tall ceilings).
And yes, this room 100% does NOT require a king that's for sure.
Our Jotul was simply perfect minus it's burn time.
However, it's somewhat of a focul point in our home, and has always appeared too small for the space it occupies.
The only upsides to the king I see are:
1) it will burn a long long long time with very little refills needed
2)it will "fill the space" visually like we prefer
the downsides:
1) might not burn low enough even when on low
2) running a stove on low all the time isn't great
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
I would not sacrifice operational efficacy and potentially comfort for aesthetics.
A Sirocco or Princess will I think already be a bit larger than your Jotul. I.e. you're improving the aesthetics per your preferences already.
A Sirocco or Princess will I think already be a bit larger than your Jotul. I.e. you're improving the aesthetics per your preferences already.
The sirocco will burn a long long time between reloading though
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
The 30 boxes are advertised to be able to do 30 hrs, and the 20 boxes should be able to do 20 hrs.
I have a 30.2 box and (with oak) have done 36 hrs.
So the advertised hours are real. Of course only at low output.
I have a 30.2 box and (with oak) have done 36 hrs.
So the advertised hours are real. Of course only at low output.
THIS is why "newbies" come to forums to seek advice and guidance. I've been on forums where I can actually help people, and always do my best to do so. However, there's always a few posters that just want to put down the new person becuase they dont' know all that much on a topic.
That doesn't seem to be the case at all on this forum. You've all been wonderful and helpful. I really think we would have just dropped in the King and not thought about it till we were sweating it out. There is some real food for thought and a real discussion that the wife and I need to have regarding which stove we select. I truly thought it was a made decision, however, through your forum I believe we may need to open the book again on which stove.
The installer is coming Friday to take a once over, measure, make sure we aren't limited by anything and do the "pre" game so to speak. If we aren't limited by anything (which i can't imagine we are as the current stove sits 23" away from the wall with the closes part of the pipe being 21", i believe we have enough clearance for anything.
I'll keep you all posted, and thank you very much
That doesn't seem to be the case at all on this forum. You've all been wonderful and helpful. I really think we would have just dropped in the King and not thought about it till we were sweating it out. There is some real food for thought and a real discussion that the wife and I need to have regarding which stove we select. I truly thought it was a made decision, however, through your forum I believe we may need to open the book again on which stove.
The installer is coming Friday to take a once over, measure, make sure we aren't limited by anything and do the "pre" game so to speak. If we aren't limited by anything (which i can't imagine we are as the current stove sits 23" away from the wall with the closes part of the pipe being 21", i believe we have enough clearance for anything.
I'll keep you all posted, and thank you very much
If you keep the 6" pipe you will have the option to use almost any stove, now or in the future. If you switch to an 8", you are extremely limited to your stove options now and in the future.
I would 100% keep the 6" pipe. Those stove options given previously are all good stoves. And if you need "The Best". it will be 1 of the 6" pipe stoves.
I would 100% keep the 6" pipe. Those stove options given previously are all good stoves. And if you need "The Best". it will be 1 of the 6" pipe stoves.
Just remember, the dealer has their best interest in mind, not yours. Some are worse than others, but they all are trying to make themselves money. Not all dealers know much about the stoves they are selling either.
BKVP
Minister of Fire
OP. Listen (read their suggestions), you'll wind up running a KE40 on low almost non stop. I'm familiar with your weather having lived in coastal Bay Area.
A Princess or SC30.2 is plenty of stove! And you could build a really sharp wood rack to use up some of that extra space. Having a few days of wood inside will just help it season a bit more.
Thanks,
BKVP
A Princess or SC30.2 is plenty of stove! And you could build a really sharp wood rack to use up some of that extra space. Having a few days of wood inside will just help it season a bit more.
Thanks,
BKVP
Thank you: We currently have a really nice decorative rusted steal "half moon" looking thing. It holds approximately 3 days worth of wood so we are super happy with that. I believe, with any of the BK stoves, that "half moon" could hold up to 5 "ish" days worth of wood since they are designed to burn low and slow and are so efficient. At least that's the hope.
The wife and I spoke last night regarding the overkill of the King, my findings from being on this forum, and how the collective suggestion was 100% to not get the King. She was pretty on board with me just selecting the princess or sirocco (those are the other two we like) and just calling it a day.
However, it was a cooler night, we were at my 8 year old sons baseball game which due to the playoffs can't end in a tie, so we they went to 4 extra innings causing us to freeze our arses off. Needless to say, she said get the King and she's done with the discussion.
It's going to take a little more nudging for me to get into a sirocco or princess.
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
The thing is that if you burn *continuously* you don't need the higher output. So the "I was freezing" is not that relevant. It would be relevant if the stove goes cold while you are away as then you need a heat blast to heat up the room again.
But burning in 24 hr cycles won't result in the room getting cold...
But then again, I can't argue with my own wife, let alone someone else's
But burning in 24 hr cycles won't result in the room getting cold...
But then again, I can't argue with my own wife, let alone someone else's
BKVP
Minister of Fire
I always say, another man giving another man advice on how to approach sensitive subjects with their wives, is like the blind leading the blind.....hahaThe thing is that if you burn *continuously* you don't need the higher output. So the "I was freezing" is not that relevant. It would be relevant if the stove goes cold while you are away as then you need a heat blast to heat up the room again.
But burning in 24 hr cycles won't result in the room getting cold...
But then again, I can't argue with my own wife, let alone someone else's
I could not agree more, we have ZERO need for max heat or even high heat. With our Jotul, it's always just choked down and smoldering which I now learned and realized is not the design or purpose of that stove.
I could not agree more the King is just too much stove for us.
With any BK, is it bad to leave it on low and slow since it has the Cat to handle that? Just throw would on, set it on super low, and just let it go. That's what they are designed for, correct?
17-16 (we won)
entered the playoffs 2nd seed
and the 9th seed gave us a run for our money.
BKVP
Minister of Fire
You will want to run on a higher burn rate after each loading to help with MC. Then once a week, let it run on high to keep firebox clean as possible.
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
You can leave it low for the majority of the time.
But there are caveats.
All that can be found in the manual which can be found here:
The bottomline is that it's necessary to run the stove high for a bit (up to half an hour) until the wood is all charred. Then one dials the (thermostatically controlled) air down. But one should do that in steps.
You do have to figure out what the lowest setting is that the stove can still sustain a burn in your system (house, chimney). One can set it too low, meaning not enough air comes in to sustain the production of smoke/gases for the cat toburn, leading to the cat to fall below its active temperature.
Also, if you dial the air down too fast, one can choke a cat.
It'll be a bit of a learning curve - more than "throw wood, dial down, walk away". But once you have a feel for the stove, it's fantastic.
Ok. The King is sold out......
But we can get the princess or SC right now.
But we can get the princess or SC right now.
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