Shipping a Blaze King to save money?

[fortydegnorth]

just sold our house and we are under contract for another house. We had a Hearthstone Clydesdale insert and really enjoyed wood heat in our last house. My parents are using a Jotul Oslo, but only casually heat part time, I'm not impressed with the maintenance of keeping air leaks out of the jotul. I'd like to try a Blaze King since they now have much nicer styling with the Ashford 30. I was never a fan of the princess or king's looks.

We don't have a lot of dealers in the southwest Ohio area. I've called about every one in the state and one in Indiana. Prices are around $3100-3900. The higher prices are enamel for the most part, but they are all around $3000 and up. I can look towards Colorado or the west coast and find them for ~$2300. I do my own installs, so that's not an issue. Do you think it's worth saving a few hundred to buy from Somewhere west and ship it to Ohio? Unloading isn't an issue, we have fork lifts. Any dealer recommendations for a great price?

We'd likely get a pretty bare bones ashford 30, no enamel, likely no blower or convection deck. The house is an 1100 square foot ranch, with a half finished basement. Stove would be on the main floor, middle of the house with a pretty open floor plan. An addition of 450 square feet is to happen in the next year or two, that's the reason for the larger stove.

 

[webby3650]

$2300 out west? I think you need to check your source again. Doesn't sound right, shipping should only be in the $250 range. If that price is correct I'd say go for it!

 

[nikolays]

I was under impression that Blaze King forbids dealers to sell outside of their servise area. They will price it for you but won't sell.

 

[fortydegnorth]

I was under impression that Blaze King forbids dealers to sell outside of their servise area. They will price it for you but won't sell.

I wasn't aware of that, but if that's the case I guess I'll have to decide locally what to do. I'm not looking until fall of 2016 so I have plenty of time to search for a decent deal. $3400 is a lot to invest in a stove for me, especially when I add in install materials. We can run the furnace on natural gas cheap. A lot to think about. Thanks for the replies.

 

[pvfjr]

$2300 out west? I think you need to check your source again. Doesn't sound right, shipping should only be in the $250 range. If that price is correct I'd say go for it!

That only undercuts my purchase price by $242. And I bought during the coldest part of the year...

 

[fortydegnorth]

Disclaimer, the low price I got was an open box display model. Not even sure if they'd ship it and it was $2,250. I did call a couple dealers in the Washington/Oregon area and they seemed to be around $2700. I'll try locally when the winter demand is over and no one is pondering wood heat. I'd be okay with spending $2500-2800 locally, but some of the prices were $3500 and that's a little high for my budget. I'll post what I find in the next few months.

 

[Highbeam]

Rather than ship you could use this as an excuse to visit the coast! Throw that little stove in your pickup for the ride home.

 

[jeff_t]

Well, here at 42.08N, I was quoted $3800 for a Princess parlor with blowers, plain black door, and no ash pan. Out the door, sales tax included. That's from the only decent dealer I know of in southern Michigan and northwest Ohio. The rest that are listed on BK's dealer search suck. Maybe they'll sell you a stove, but none of them would help me when I needed parts.

By comparison, my King was a floor model I got for $2450.

Rumor was that the disparity between west vs east coast pricing was gonna go away with a change in distributors, but that is obviously not the case.

I would most definitely get the blowers. They make a huge difference in heating capability, aren't super expensive, and you don't have to use them if you don't want to. They sure push the heat off the stove, and there's no substitute if you don't have them.

 

[jeff_t]

Rather than ship you could use this as an excuse to visit the coast! Throw that little stove in your pickup for the ride home.

Thought about that

We've been holding off on revisiting Yellowstone until the kids were old enough to appreciate and remember it.

 

[pvfjr]

Thought about that

We've been holding off on revisiting Yellowstone until the kids were old enough to appreciate and remember it.

Visit Crater Lake! Or Mt Rainier!

 

[rdust]

By comparison, my King was a floor model I got for $2450.

So was my Princess, I paid 1200.

 

[Poindexter]

After shipping to Alaska I paid about $3900 for my enameled Ashford 30. I have ZERO regrets. I am still splitting wood for "free" but that sucker cut $4500 off my oil bill (nine cords) in one season.

I could see giving your business to the nearest dealer who is not a Richard to deal with, but I wouldn't want my warranty support any further from the house than absolutely necessary.

M2c.

 

[BKVP]

I was under impression that Blaze King forbids dealers to sell outside of their servise area. They will price it for you but won't sell.

Correct.

 

[BKVP]

Well, here at 42.08N, I was quoted $3800 for a Princess parlor with blowers, plain black door, and no ash pan. Out the door, sales tax included. That's from the only decent dealer I know of in southern Michigan and northwest Ohio. The rest that are listed on BK's dealer search suck. Maybe they'll sell you a stove, but none of them would help me when I needed parts.

By comparison, my King was a floor model I got for $2450.

Rumor was that the disparity between west vs east coast pricing was gonna go away with a change in distributors, but that is obviously not the case.

I would most definitely get the blowers. They make a huge difference in heating capability, aren't super expensive, and you don't have to use them if you don't want to. They sure push the heat off the stove, and there's no substitute if you don't have them.

Jeff_t,

To be clear...no rumor, we did fix that disparity. Shipping 1 or 2 stoves at a time to a dealer can vastly affect the stoves retail price. Dealers in the PNW enjoy huge discounts on freight costs as freight carriers slug it out. I encourage shopping to occur because while we did fix the disparity issue, what retailers charge can vary depending on overhead. Dealer support if warranty is required is worth more when someone needs it.

Chris

 

[Deano31]

I was set on getting a blaze king then my uncle purchased the ideal steel after seeing his stove perform I called Woodstock and picked up my stove the following week I am loving this stove I believe in the spring they offer free shipping figured I would throw it at you if you have not checked them out

 

[kennyp2339]

I was lucky enough to have a dealer 40 min from the house, In November 2014 I paid nearly $3,000.00 for a bare bones princess ultra, no blower, no convection deck, no ash pan. I spend another estimated $450.00 on the blower kit and convection deck (which you need if you don't have an open floor plan)
Yes in my book this was a big purchase, it did seem quite expensive and lots of research (thanks hearth) was done, and yes if I had to do this over again, without a doubt I would take my check book out right now and pull the trigger.

 

[LocustBurner]

I was set on getting a blaze king then my uncle purchased the ideal steel after seeing his stove perform I called Woodstock and picked up my stove the following week I am loving this stove I believe in the spring they offer free shipping figured I would throw it at you if you have not checked them out

I got the free shipping last spring and a major discount on a "loaded" Woodstock Ideal Steel was part of the deal.
Go for the soapstone.
You won't find more friendly, or more knowledgeable customer service reps than
these New Englanders, IMO.

http://www.woodstove.com/

 

[xman23]

What was your parents air leak issue with the Oslo?

 

[Highbeam]

I got the free shipping last spring and a major discount on a "loaded" Woodstock Ideal Steel was part of the deal.
Go for the soapstone.
You won't find more friendly, or more knowledgeable customer service reps than
these New Englanders, IMO.

http://www.woodstove.com/

I got 99$ shipping on my 600$ Englander nc30. The op didn't ask for other, cheaper, stoves that you might like. He asked for a cheap way to get his chosen Ashford.

So 40n, do you value local dealer support? Or are you the kind of guy that can rotate your own tires?

 

[begreen]

As noted, working with a good local dealer is important. FWIW, very few Jotul owners chase leaks in their stoves. It can happen, but remember we hear the problems here usually and less often the successes. Jotul also makes big steel stoves that are cast iron clad like the Ashford. The F55 is worth looking at if Jotul is what is sold in your neighborhood.

 

[fortydegnorth]

I got 99$ shipping on my 600$ Englander nc30. The op didn't ask for other, cheaper, stoves that you might like. He asked for a cheap way to get his chosen Ashford.

So 40n, do you value local dealer support? Or are you the kind of guy that can rotate your own tires?

I'm just not the type that worries about dealer support. We have free oil changes on a new car and it's never been back to the dealer in two years. I've never had a warranty on a stove, nor have I ever bought new. I build my own dump beds for trucks, I re-build my own houses, price means everything to me because I'm cheap. Lol. I'd buy new, I'd appreciate a warranty and I like the concept of a blaze King, but I still have a budget. When I saw $2250 my first thought was to ship it, but it's from a dealer. If they're unable to "export" stoves then I'll move on. Summer and fall is a long time to look and who knows I may get an Ashford yet.

 

[fortydegnorth]

What was your parents air leak issue with the Oslo?

Just several gaskets. Nothing major or abnormal. It was just a challenge tightening up everything and took a fair amount of trial and error. I'm convinced it still leaks but it's not my stove and it works for them.

 

[fortydegnorth]

I was set on getting a blaze king then my uncle purchased the ideal steel after seeing his stove perform I called Woodstock and picked up my stove the following week I am loving this stove I believe in the spring they offer free shipping figured I would throw it at you if you have not checked them out

I like the progress hybrid but personally I don't like the ideal steel at all. No offense, probably a great heater, but to me it's not attractive. This will be a center piece, visible from 3 main rooms and I'm picky about looks. I won't count out Woodstock but I don't think it'll be the IS.

 

[Deano31]

I understand my IS is my basement stove my wife would not let that in my living room I have a Hampton hi300 insert in their because of the look that's what she wanted so I totally understand good luck with whatever stove you go with

 

[begreen]

This is the reason we settled on the T6.