The BIG PICTURE, differences between stoves.

[Mark8]

Can you share your experiances, there are so many different types of stoves that it gets overwhelming trying to figure out what differentiates one from another. Pros and cons. Pellet stoves vs wood stoves vs inserts vs free standing, fan vs no fan and the list goes on and on. Can we have everyone's opinions why they like their stove over another style and why you made your personal choice to select the stove you have over another style or type.

A comparisons of opinions will be very interesting. For example, I see blaze king owners packing their stoves plumb full of wood, can you do this with all stoves.

Share what you like about your stove and dislikes or why you changed from one style of stove to another and how you found it beneficial for you.

This thread will be very helpful to seeing the BIG PICTURE.

 

[bholler]

Can you share your experiances, there are so many different types of stove that it gets overwhelming trying to figure out what differentiates one from another. Pros and cons. Pellet stoves vs wood stoves vs inserts vs free standing, fan vs no fan and the list goes on and on. Can we have everyone's opinions why they like their stove over another style and why you made your personal choice to select the stove you have over another style or type.

A comparisons of opinions will be very helpful. For example, I see blaze king owners packing their stoves plumb full of wood, can you do this with all stoves.

Share what you like about your stove and dislikes.

You do realize you are trying to sum up the entire site in one thread right?

 

[jetsam]

Pellet vs. wood: Both have people who like them. Pellet stoves tend to have hoppers that can jam and electronics that can go wrong. Wood stoves tend to need wood, which is heavy and messy. Hard to go into the woods and cut down some pellets. Hard to tell a wood stove "Keep it 75° in here". Venting a pellet stove can be easier/cheaper.

Insert vs. freestanding: Freestanding. An insert is a freestanding stove smashed into a cubby. Not a great idea, performance-wise. I heat my whole house with an insert, but this isn't something people even debate.

Fan vs. no fan: Get a fan. Depending on your stove and heating needs, you might use it seldom or you might use it always. Better to have it.

Best brand: That one's open to much debate. I think that if you want to do 100% of your heating with wood and keep the windows closed, BK is the best choice; clear winner in warm weather, and a strong competitor in the deep freeze. Lots of people disagree and feel that there's no issue with letting the house cool off, starting a fire and burning a small load to warm up. If that works for you, any good stove has you covered. Bottom line- Lots of good stoves out there. Pick some stoves that you might like and read the owners' threads here, both people complaining about them and praising them. Good stuff!

 

[jetsam]

You do realize you are trying to sum up the entire site in one thread right?

No, that's the BK thread.

We haven't had a lot of gas fireplace log discussion yet, but we DID have a discussion about the merits of pex vs. copper, and a pretty great Chevelle.

 

[bholler]

No, that's the BK thread.

We haven't had a lot of gas fireplace log discussion yet, but we DID have a discussion about the merits of pex vs. copper, and a pretty great Chevelle.

No that is just for the bk fan boys lol.

 

[chasechimney]

You do realize you are trying to sum up the entire site in one thread right?

You can leave ...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[Rearscreen]

Share what you like about your stove and dislikes.

Mine is a radiant heater, has weight mass, sips wood when operated correctly, 3 temp stovetop, no brown black soot ever on glass. Downside mine also has wacky levers and handles which I believe (and could be totally wrong), if were changed, would require a re-certification so it's just what it is.

 

[jetsam]

No that is just for the bk fan boys lol.

Yes, but I am formally inviting you to come in and look at BKVP's Chevelle. Tell the doorman the password is "gasket permeability".

It's really nice. Frame-off!

Don't look at any of the other posts; they're private.

 

[bholler]

You can leave ...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

And why would i leave?
I didnt say trying to sum it all up was a bad thing. I just dont know how possible it is

 

[Mark8]

Let's all be friends and make this a fun forum

 

[bholler]

Mine is a radiant heater, has weight mass, sips wood when operated correctly, 3 temp stovetop, no brown black soot ever on glass. Downside mine also has wacky levers and handles which I believe (and could be totally wrong), if were changed, would require a re-certification so it's just what it is.

You forgot to mention your stove

 

[Mark8]

Pellet vs. wood: Both have fans. Pellet stoves tend to have hoppers that can jam and electronics that can go wrong. Wood stoves tend to need wood, which is heavy and messy. Hard to go into the woods and cut down some pellets. Hard to tell a wood stove "Keep it 75° in here". Venting a pellet stove can be easier/cheaper.

Insert vs. freestanding: Freestanding. An insert is a freestanding stove smashed into a cubby. Not a great idea, performance-wise. I heat my whole house with an insert, but this isn't something people even debate.

Fan vs. no fan: Get a fan. Depending on your stove and heating needs, you might use it seldom or you might use it always. Better to have it.

Best brand: That one's open to much debate. I think that if you want to do 100% of your heating with wood and keep the windows closed, BK is the best choice; clear winner in warm weather, and a strong competitor in the deep freeze. Lots of people disagree and feel that there's no issue with letting the house cool off, starting a fire and burning a small load to warm up. If that works for you, any good stove has you covered. Bottom line- Lots of good stoves out there. Pick some stoves that you might like and read the owners' threads here, both people complaining about them and praising them. Good stuff!

I really like the idea of a pellet stove for the convenience of not cutting wood, but really don't like the idea of listening to fans running, that is really pushing me towards a freestanding stove, but others have mentioned they use the BK princess insert without a fan.

 

[bholler]

But i will add my experinces with my personal stoves. I started off with a 78 cawley lemay 600. They are cast iron stoves with an early secondary combustion system that worked very well for its age. I replaced that with my current regency 3100. It works very well and i am easily able to control the temp of my house with the stove in the basement. It burns pretty clean i only clean every 2 years. I have a fisher papa bear in my shop. It works well for what i need there which is allot of heat really fast. And because i only heat it when i am working there so i am not terribly worried about burn times. I have an englander pellet stove in my garage which is expensive to run and a pita to maintain. It is getting switched out for a direct vent gas unit like the one in the wood shop when i run out of pellets.

 

[bholler]

I really like the idea of a pellet stove for the convenience of not cutting wood, but really don't like the idea of listening to fans running, that is really pushing me towards a freestanding stove, but others have mentioned they use the BK princess insert without a fan.

Fan or no fan depends on your heat setup and distribution needs.

 

[Rearscreen]

You forgot to mention your stove

On purpose. But it's a Progress. Side note: just as I was sitting here the stove acted differently after a few sticks loaded. (this is how we get attuned to our stoves) but not a clogged cat as I know that difference. I dropped the T cap in the hearth and as suspected - creosote up to the horizontal blocking the outgoing gasses. Tomorrow a closer inspection and possible cleaning!

 

[Mark8]

Can you guys elaborate on the amount of wood a stove can handle, like I said I see BK owners packing their stoves plum full, I have a Country Elite E260 with secondary burn tubes, can I fill the Country Elite plum full like a BK or will I have a run away, what's the difference between the two.

 

[bholler]

Can you guys elaborate on the amount of wood a stove can handle, like I said I see BK owners packing their stoves plum full, I have a Country Elite E260 with secondary burn tubes, can I fill the Country Elite plum full like a BK or will I have a run away, what's the difference between the two.

You should be able to pack any stove completly full. If you cant your setup needs adjustment so you can control your stove properly

 

[Tar12]

I had considered a pellet stove at one time but after reading countless stories of failures in one form or the other they were crossed off of the list...didnt need or want the aggravation. Burn times were very important to me and that search turned up Cat stoves and that path brought me here...this great forum helped me decide what would work best for my situation and I am more than satisfied with the out come! I chose a freestanding cat stove with fans...I only use the fans for extreme cold spells...I debated early on about wether or not to have fans but decided I would rather have them and not need them than to not have them and need them...this has proven to be a wise choice....especially on those all to recent minus 30 windchill mornings when I needed to push the stove....

 

[jetsam]

I really like the idea of a pellet stove for the convenience of not cutting wood, but really don't like the idea of listening to fans running, that is really pushing me towards a freestanding stove, but others have mentioned they use the BK princess insert without a fan.

The PI is semiflush, so it sticks out into the room somewhat. This is a big advantage compared to a flush insert, but a freestanding stove has a lot more surface area in the room. If you have cold winters, you'll probably be using the fan. (My personal dividing line is about 30°F- any colder than that and the fan comes on.)

The Kuma Sequoia insert is a big insert that is designed to work with or without a fan. I've only seen a few threads on it, but their owners seem to like them.

 

[begreen]

No, that's the BK thread.

We haven't had a lot of gas fireplace log discussion yet, but we DID have a discussion about the merits of pex vs. copper, and a pretty great Chevelle.

There's a very large world outside of the BK world of burning.

 

[begreen]

You can leave ...

Likewise

 

[jotul8e2]

Can you guys elaborate on the amount of wood a stove can handle, like I said I see BK owners packing their stoves plum full.

Your stove is designed to handle everything that will fit in there, except every stove manual I have ever seen called for some space between the logs and the glass. Also, many stoves have refractory material above the burn tubes that can be damaged by rough contact, not to mention the tubes themselves.

Stoves with larger capacity (and many BK owners qualify here) can hold more, of course, but larger fire boxes allow you to use more of the available space. This is hard to visualize, but no matter the size of the fire box there is always one last piece that just will not quite fit. That one piece is negligible in a full load of a BK King, but is a pretty big percentage of the load in a Jotul 602.

 

[Mark8]

Let's elaborate about pellet stoves, is the maintenance not worth the convenience of not cutting wood.

 

[Jags]

Let's elaborate about pellet stoves, is the maintenance not worth the convenience of not cutting wood.

Good point - but then you are also including a vendor (pellets) and pricing that you have no control over. Wood actually grows on trees. Part joke but part serious.

And then there is those tiny little chainsaws to make the pellets.... (all joke).

 

[bholler]

Let's elaborate about pellet stoves, is the maintenance not worth the convenience of not cutting wood.

That depends on your perspective. I like cutting wood. I hate working on pellet stoves.