Thinking of switching to blaze king wood stove

[Coastalboat]

Hey folks ,

I currently have a PE summit in my home which is my primary source of heat , this is my second season with the stove and I am very unhappy with it , it struggles to heat my home and not to mention it eats wood( currently burning a rounded up wheel barrow load of wood every 24 hrs) . So my question is will a blaze king princes 32 be a better option and produce more heat or even more heat for a longer period of time.

Thanks

 

[stoveliker]

Rather than changing stoves, recognizing that the PE is a good stove, it's good to first bsee why this is happening.

What is your chimney height? Too much draft would give symptoms similar to what you describe.
Have you checked for air leaks? (Gaskets -dollar test - or elsewhere)

And what size home (and insulation) are you heating?

 

[Coastalboat]

The stove is installed in my basement, the double wall pipe goes up approximately 30” then a 90 elbow then increases to 7” chimney goes through the wall about 20” then tees and up about 19 feet approximately.

I’ve tried adding a damper with zero change . I run the air control a little less or sometimes half to get the heat I need usually that will give me stt of 500 but only for a few hrs.

There seams to be a good seal on the door far has I can tell.

 

[bholler]

Hey folks ,

I currently have a PE summit in my home which is my primary source of heat , this is my second season with the stove and I am very unhappy with it , it struggles to heat my home and not to mention it eats wood( currently burning a rounded up wheel barrow load of wood every 24 hrs) . So my question is will a blaze king princes 32 be a better option and produce more heat or even more heat for a longer period of time.

Thanks

Please go through your setup for us. Chimney size height and type. What is the moisture content of your wood? What is your burning procedure?

 

[bholler]

The stove is installed in my basement, the double wall pipe goes up approximately 30” then a 90 elbow then increases to 7” chimney goes through the wall about 20” then tees and up about 19 feet approximately.

I’ve tried adding a damper with zero change . I run the air control a little less or sometimes half to get the heat I need usually that will give me stt of 500 but only for a few hrs.

There seams to be a good seal on the door far has I can tell.

Ok disregard my previous post.

What moisture content is your wood at?

What happens when you close the air more?

 

[Coastalboat]

I usually open the air up all the way when reloading till the fire gets going good then shut it down between half and closed . The temp will stay around 500 for few hrs after that it drops off and very little heat out put from the stove o can keep my hand above the stove less then a inch with no discomfort, but if I open the door to the stove I can hardly put my hand next to the remaining wood/coals but none of that heat is getting in the house it seams.

My moisture content is around 15-16%

 

[bholler]

I usually open the air up all the way when reloading till the fire gets going good then shut it down between half and closed . The temp will stay around 500 for few hrs after that it drops off and very little heat out put from the stove o can keep my hand above the stove less then a inch with no discomfort, but if I open the door to the stove I can hardly put my hand next to the remaining wood/coals but none of that heat is getting in the house it seams.

My moisture content is around 15-16%

What procedure are you using to test your wood?

What happens when you close the air down more than half way?

What pipe temps are you seeing?

 

[stoveliker]

It's not obvious that your chimney would have too much draft.

You may have to close the air more.

 

[kennyp2339]

Maybe post a pic when the stove is loaded and been burning after you set your air to your normal desired setting and waiting 15-20min that way we can see the firebox and judge the flames and coal bed.
The first gain to the princess is the deeper belly so you can hold more coals / ash before having to empty out.
What stove did you have before the pe? 7" chimney suggests that you had something else before this one. Also I'd be tempted to get a king with a 7" flue right there.

 

[Coastalboat]

To me if the stove was over drafting wouldn’t you have a raging fire all the time with little to no control?

There was no previous stove there , the dealer where I bought the stove sold me the 7” chimney… im guessing that’s all he had

 

[bholler]

To me if the stove was over drafting wouldn’t you have a raging fire all the time with little to no control?

There was no previous stove there , the dealer where I bought the stove sold me the 7” chimney… im guessing that’s all he had

I missed the 7" part. That's probably part of the problem. To much volume and not enough velocity to work properly

 

[bholler]

And again what is your procedure for testing moisture content?

What happens when you close the air down more?

 

[Coastalboat]

Testing moisture on a split face of wood and if I shut down right away it will just smoulder if I get up to 500 and shut down it will continue to burn . I will get some pics next reload.

 

[Dieselhead]

Testing moisture on a split face of wood and if I shut down right away it will just smoulder if I get up to 500 and shut down it will continue to burn . I will get some pics next reload.

You gotta split the piece you are testing and see what it is in the middle of that piece. It’s tough to tell if that’s the method you’re using from the description of your process.

 

[all night moe]

the dealer where I bought the stove sold me the 7” chimney

Is that the exterior dia?

 

[Coastalboat]

That is how I’m testing moisture I spilt a piece and then check moisture.

The inside diameter is 7” on the chimney

 

[ABMax24]

You should definitely see stove top temps above 500F, can you get it to hold 650F to 700F? You will get more heat from the stove that way, of course it will burn the wood down faster.

The chimney sounds acceptable, although not real common, in Canada up or down sizing the flue 1" is generally acceptable.

What species of wood are you burning? I'm inclined to believe this is related to the wood, wet wood would give you most of the issues.

 

[Coastalboat]

I can get above 500 yes but not for long.
To be honest it seams a lot of the heat is going up the chimney, when the stove is open all the way to get up burning good the stove pipe is almost like roaring.

I’m burning spruce , yellow and white birch and fir

Here is a few pics , the first one is reloading , the second is before I shut it down and the third is with the air open about 3/4”

 

[stoveliker]

Hence my suggestion to look at over draft.

Despite the numbers seeming ok, I'd put a draft gauge in to see.
(And use the hole later for a flue probe.)

 

[bholler]

I can get above 500 yes but not for long.
To be honest it seams a lot of the heat is going up the chimney, when the stove is open all the way to get up burning good the stove pipe is almost like roaring.

I’m burning spruce , yellow and white birch and fir

Here is a few pics , the first one is reloading , the second is before I shut it down and the third is with the air open about 3/4”

View attachment 291174 View attachment 291175 View attachment 291176

Shut the air down more you will get more heat and longer burns.

 

[ABMax24]

It's not overdraft, if it was the stove top would get well over 700F with how full it is being loaded. How are the stove top temps being measured?

I'm definitely leaning toward wet wood, those smallish (I assume spruce) rounds in the third pic look suspect, generally mine have a split in them once they've dried below 20%. Can you split some of those and check the moisture content, make sure the wood has had enough time to come up to room temp, up to 24hrs can be required for the wood to warm up if stored outside.

 

[all night moe]

Yes, that is a good point. If I have to put wood in directly from the porch, it will take more air to heat up. I do full, for five minutes or so, throttle back to 3/4 open and wait another 5min. Then my temps are usually pretty good and I'll go down to a 1/4 or better.

 

[Highbeam]

As far as your first question, no, I would not recommend a princess to solve the problems you’re having. The summit is a capable heater.

7” is very common in Canada. Should not be the cause of your problems.

 

[bholler]

As far as your first question, no, I would not recommend a princess to solve the problems you’re having. The summit is a capable heater.

7” is very common in Canada. Should not be the cause of your problems.

If they had more height I would say the 7" shouldn't be a problem. But when the elbows and horizontal run are figured in they are right at required height. So 7" may be enough to push them over the edge

 

[kennyp2339]

Here is a few pics , the first one is reloading , the second is before I shut it down and the third is with the air open about 3/4”

Im scratching my head here, your fire behavior seems normal to me, I honestly thought that with the air control closed at 3/4 you would still be seeing vigorous flames in the firebox, perhaps the wood isnt as dry as you think (maybe a bad moisture meter, or one with a weak battery?)
BTW fir those viewing, the pics look like its right to left.