Simple Thread: Blaze King Princess Burn Times

[Ricky8443]

My burn times were similar last winter (2015), but fortunately it was a mild winter. Overall I'm happy with the stove however. It's easy to control the temperature. I cannot keep the surround from rattling while the fan is on, prob more annoying than the less-than-advertised burn times.

 

[tarzan]

My burn times vary depending on my heating needs but my longest burn times are over 30 hours. I think my longest is closer to 36 but I honestly am not sure so all I can safely say is over 30 hours is easily doable here in the shoulder season.

On the other side of the coin, 8 to 10 hours in the coldest weather we've had since we installed the princess.

All that being said, to simplify things I can usually just stay on a 24 hour schedule in the shoulder season and a12 hour schedule in the winter.

 

[Mr. Jones]

Any idea how much a new thermostat is for a princess insert? I may have messed mine up. Bought a used one, so haven't installed it yet. Had the side off, and noticed on the closed position, the flap with the chain attached was still about an inch in the air. I thought this was wrong, so I stretched it. Guessing it stretched the coil. Anyways, now it closes all the way. There's a small hole in it, so it can't be air tight, buy I couldn't see it working right that far open when it was closed on the knob all the way. Guess we'll find out in a month or so for my first burn.

 

[begreen]

It might have been sticking. When in doubt, call BK tech support.

 

[Mr. Jones]

It might have been sticking. When in doubt, call BK tech support.

So it was supposed to close all the way when having the knob turned all the way down? I'm guessing that's the only way you'd hear a click.

 

[BKVP]

Any idea how much a new thermostat is for a princess insert? I may have messed mine up. Bought a used one, so haven't installed it yet. Had the side off, and noticed on the closed position, the flap with the chain attached was still about an inch in the air. I thought this was wrong, so I stretched it. Guessing it stretched the coil. Anyways, now it closes all the way. There's a small hole in it, so it can't be air tight, buy I couldn't see it working right that far open when it was closed on the knob all the way. Guess we'll find out in a month or so for my first burn.

It is supposed to be open about 7/8" when at room temp. Order a new thermostat from a dealer please.

 

[Highbeam]

It is supposed to be open about 7/8" when at room temp. Order a new thermostat from a dealer please.

That's weird. Mine can always be slammed shut at any temperature by turning the knob to low. Is this an insert only thing?

 

[BKVP]

The spring is very different in the PI insert than any other model we make. The entire thermostat operation is different as constructed as well.

Mr. Jones, call me Monday or Tuesday. 509-522-2730. I will walk you through removal and then have you ship to me and I'll have it rebuilt. Then return it to you and walk you through install and calibration.

Chris (BKVP)

 

[Highbeam]

The spring is very different in the PI insert than any other model we make. The entire thermostat operation is different as constructed as well.

Mr. Jones, call me Monday or Tuesday. 509-522-2730. I will walk you through removal and then have you ship to me and I'll have it rebuilt. Then return it to you and walk you through install and calibration.

Chris (BKVP)

Great service at this time, likely the busiest time of year for bk.

 

[jscs.moore]

My burn times were similar last winter (2015), but fortunately it was a mild winter. Overall I'm happy with the stove however. It's easy to control the temperature. I cannot keep the surround from rattling while the fan is on, prob more annoying than the less-than-advertised burn times.

I'm just curious...do you have a block off plate installed? That may make a difference in burn times and more efficient heating?

 

[claybe]

The spring is very different in the PI insert than any other model we make. The entire thermostat operation is different as constructed as well.

Mr. Jones, call me Monday or Tuesday. 509-522-2730. I will walk you through removal and then have you ship to me and I'll have it rebuilt. Then return it to you and walk you through install and calibration.

Chris (BKVP)

Mr. Jones you should take Chris up on this. I had to do this last year after I "tinkered" with the t-stat when I should not have (note to self listen to high beam when he tells you not to mess with it!). I got mine back and it works great. Also, do you have a block off plate? How tall is your stack? I added 3 feet last season and it made a huge difference!

 

[Mr. Jones]

Yes I will and thank you Chris. I'll call tomorrow, and maybe even take the bike for a nice hour drive and hand deliver it to you. I was being a "guy" and thought I knew better. I'm used to stoves that entirely close off when you turn the knob, or raise the lever. That's how my old downstairs unit KEJ King insert works. You'd hear a clank. It's going to be a few weeks before I'm ready to install "waiting on the liner to show up". The cat doesn't look bad, but we'll see after the first fire. Gonna use air and blow out the dust around the fans today. Just want to make sure everything is all good before I install it in the fireplace.

 

[BKVP]

If you plan on riding over, call first. I'm flying on Wednesday.

 

[ohlongarm]

I'm looking to buy a new stove, and I'm very interested in the Blaze King Princess, mostly because of the reported long burn times. I'm in MA, and close to the water, so super heating the houses isn't a priority, its more about long, even heat for me. I'm guessing I'll be keeping the T-stat at the 1.5 mark (don't know what dot that would be on the insert) as we don't like the house too hot (upper 60's, in a single level 1600 sqft ranch).

I'm just looking for what people are getting for burn times based on: wood, sqft heated, t-stat setting, average temp in house, and where you are located.

The reason I wanted to start this thread is when I search the forum, I keep getting tons of different answers, and sometimes the threads get really off topic (only sometimes ). I'm trying to figure out what I can reasonably expect with this stove, as I'm hesitant to bite the bullet on the $3,000!

Thanks for your help, and I want to say that while I don't post much, I really appreciate everyone's participation in the forum, it really has helped me out a lot over the years.

Jon

My house is exactly 1600 sq feet,I don't go for marathons, but I've had no problem keeping the stove going with usable heat for 12 hours in the dead of winter with premium wood. Shoulder season easily 15 hours. Twelve hour reloads is fine with me.Could probably do better all around but I'm running with the minimum chimney height of 12 feet. Thought of adding 3 more but too expensive for what they want and I've no skills as a do it your selfer.

 

[jetsam]

I am waiting eagerly for the weather to turn... I insulated my chimney and fireplace with Roxul a couple weeks ago, but it's still too warm to try it out.

 

[Mr. Jones]

How do you know when the cat stalls? Do you look up and see if it's glowing or not? Is it hard on the cat to stall out?

 

[Highbeam]

How do you know when the cat stalls? Do you look up and see if it's glowing or not? Is it hard on the cat to stall out?

Chimney starts smoking, cat meter falls to inactive despite fuel being present, are the big ones. The cat doesn't have to be glowing to be active. It can be hard on the cat to stall it because the cold smoke will then be passing through the cat and leaving creosote deposits which can block the catalyst.

 

[Papillon]

I can get 24 hour-ish on 8 - 9 medium splits set on 1.5 on my Sirocco 30. The lowest I can run without stalling is about 1 to 1.25 which will bring my burn time up, but there isn't much heat coming off it in the latter part of the burn.

Hi,

I am looking at the sc 30 for my house (825 sf) well insulated. You wrote that on low setting there is not much heat coming out.
What is the sf of your house ? I am afraid that the stove would be to big,,, that is why I am asking. . I really need to be able to run the stove low temp..

Lots of people here are a bit more south than I am ,, so comparing the scare foot of their house with mine is irrelevant.. because of warmer climate..

I don't want to overheat the place,,

Thank you !

 

[Papillon]

Hi,

Can I ask what size house you have ?
I have 825 sf house well insulated in quebec.. looking for the princess or the sc 30 .

 

[Tar12]

I am running a BK Princess Ultra heating a 1970 sq.ft. home that isn't very tight...straight up 13 ft of pipe...when I loaded at 6 am it was 25 degrees outside...75 inside the stove room...had wood left and plenty of coals...I had last filled the stove yesterday at 6:30 pm...after loading this am and settling the stove into cruise mode...pipe temp is 425...the Cat is 1350....the stove room is 81 degrees and at the far end of the house the bedroom is 70...t-stat is set at 2.5...I am running 3 yr old White Oak currently...I can easily get a 24 hour plus burn and have hit the 30 hour mark in shoulder season but my schedule dictates how I run this stove so I chose to run 12 hour cycles...I run my stove hotter on average than what I see some run their stoves but they appear to have tighter homes and milder climates than I. When I cleaned the pipe prior to this season(my 2nd season) I barely got a cup of light grey ash out of it and there was very,very little in the way of creosote in the firebox...the bricks are still loose and unbroken...

 

[kennyp2339]

Hi,

Can I ask what size house you have ?
I have 825 sf house well insulated in quebec.. looking for the princess or the sc 30 .

I'm heating my raised ranch about 1200 sq ft from the basement with no problems, I'm in NW NJ and we do get cold here, temps down to the negatives in mid winter aren't out of the norm.

 

[Papillon]

I'm heating my raised ranch about 1200 sq ft from the basement with no problems, I'm in NW NJ and we do get cold here, temps down to the negatives in mid winter aren't out of the norm.

I am sure it will heat my place no problem... I am more concern about overheating...that is why I was asking.

 

[kennyp2339]

Providing that you run at least a minimum of 15ft worth of chimney from stove collar to chimney cap and burn dry wood at 15% moisture content, you will be able to turn the stove down so low that it essentially becomes a warming plate with an active cat. So in other words I wouldn't worry about it heating you out of the room, BK also has a "20" series with a smaller fire box but all that will do I shorten your burn times, I believe the princess can be turned do to let a minimum of 12,500 btu's per hour which in the woodstove world is very low output.

 

[Papillon]

Providing that you run at least a minimum of 15ft worth of chimney from stove collar to chimney cap and burn dry wood at 15% moisture content, you will be able to turn the stove down so low that it essentially becomes a warming plate with an active cat. So in other words I wouldn't worry about it heating you out of the room, BK also has a "20" series with a smaller fire box but all that will do I shorten your burn times, I believe the princess can be turned do to let a minimum of 12,500 btu's per hour which in the woodstove world is very low output.

You can tune the princess to a warming plate also ? cause if it is the case.. I would go with a princess..
that is the stove I wanted at the beginning of the process but I was sure it would cook me out of here. I like interior temp around 68/70..

Thank you for taking the time to answer.. it is appreciated..

 

[MtnBURN]

We heat 800 sq ft here in the CO Rockies with a Princess. 12 ft of pipe. We burn a mix of cottonwood, cedar, and oak,

First and foremost...you will not be cooked out unless you want to be. The adjustment of this stove is incredible. Load it up....get it to cat temp...fire the cat....and turn it down. Set @ 2 oclock on the dial (or lower)....my house is a comfy 70'ish no matter the temp outside.

No regrets. Worth every cent.