Want a new stove

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Lots of different opinions on what stoves look best. Luckily there are lots of options for everyone’s different taste. I personally don’t like the stoves I see on Woodstock’s website. I honestly don’t mind the look of most of BlazeKing stoves except the king and princess parlor however some like them better. I debated about getting the enameled ashford but finally decided I liked the painted better. It’s always funny when someone thinks they know what looks best for someone else.
 
It’s always funny when someone thinks they know what looks best for someone else.
Where did you see that? I just saw opinions, with the caveat "To each, his own." Except for the guy that said "I have good taste, you have bad taste." ;lol
 
  • Like
Reactions: bholler
Lots of different opinions on what stoves look best. Luckily there are lots of options for everyone’s different taste. I personally don’t like the stoves I see on Woodstock’s website. I honestly don’t mind the look of most of BlazeKing stoves except the king and princess parlor however some like them better. I debated about getting the enameled ashford but finally decided I liked the painted better. It’s always funny when someone thinks they know what looks best for someone else.
Yeah I have no problem with the look of BK's other than the king and princess.
 
Where did you see that? I just saw opinions, with the caveat "To each, his own." Except for the guy that said "I have good taste, you have bad taste." ;lol
Well the king and princess just have bad proportions no way around it. But the absolute steel and ideal steel are not very good aesthetic designs either.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ashful
woody are you paranoid?
"Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you!" ;lol
Who looks at their stove anyway, other than to ramp up a new load? I don't. Just like people that say "I like a flame show." I never sit around on the couch looking at the fire. Again, YMMV. I'm not visual, more of a verbal kinda guy. Or maybe herbal..I like trees. Music is nice too. We need a smart stove that plays the tune you want to hear. ==c
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: bholler
When I got my first BK, he had all the models including the non cat brianwood made by BK. I want the princess or the king.
Having already 6" flue was better going with the princess. When I bought my second BK, I look into all of them again. The Chinook was the one aside the princess that I looked the most but I feel that it should be a good choice for some real modern style house and decor. Soooo... I leave the place with another princess.:)
 
When I bought my second BK, I look into all of them again. The Chinook was the one aside the princess that I looked the most
I hope your eyes weren't damaged too badly. ;) J/K, I kinda like the look of the Chinook..
 
They were, are and will be damaged for ever.;)
I hope your eyes weren't damaged too badly. ;) J/K, I kinda like the look of the Chinook..
Many talk about look but the stoves are inside fireplaces, basements or all the way in the back of the house. Were nobody can see it.;lol
 
On not thrilled with the looks of the Woostocks but I was looking for performance over looks, and if she performs she looks a lot prettier.
 
@Caswellian have you looked at the Regency F3500 hybrid and Blaze King Sirocco 30?
 
I don't realize a lot of stuff; I appreciate you having my back. ==c
But yes, I did realize that the Ashford came in enamel. It's not as stunning as a lot of enamel stoves, though..
Did you get that option?
I haven't so much as changed the gasket on mine, or adjusted the latch, and the stove is nine years old. Maybe I'll slap in a new gasket this summer, just for the heck of it. ;)
Thanks, I'll check that out. Interested to see how the climate here compares to AK. I get enough horror stories from my brother in WI, to ever consider living in AK. Last week, the hundred feet of his back yard between his back door and the wood shed was covered in snow, melted and re-froze turning it into an ice rink. He fell on his butt twice trying to get more wood for the F2400. :oops:
Here, it's been so sopping wet that I don't even feel bad that I haven't stacked any wood yet...it wouldn't be drying anyway. ;hm
In your well-insulated house, how long can you wait after the stove goes out, in average weather, before you need to raise room temp? Are you near Anchorage, or inland? In moderate weather here, I can just ride on retained heat in the house after the stove goes out, for a long time, and only lose a few degrees. Long burn times aren't as important to me, since I've been burning for years and know how to easily start a fire if I've let the stove go out. ::DT::F I think I save wood burning the way I do, as opposed to keeping a smolder going all the time.
What I'm asking here is, are you convinced that you want to make the switch to a non-cat? You described your present stove as an "adequate burner."
We stay below freezing from mid October till about the first of May, with a few days in the 40's every winter that turn things to ice.
Nothing like an ice storm I experienced in Missouri, a few years back, but pretty bad at times.

You can find historic heating degree days for many locations at Worldclimate.com.
I'm about 50 miles North of Anchorage (as the crow flys) or 100 miles by road, in the Susitna Valley. We are far enough away from the ocean that we get much colder than Anchorage and warmer in the summers.
So, I lose about a degree an hour after the stove is dead around zero farenheit and maybe 2 degrees per hour around -30. Not as much extreme cold here in the last 5 years, so I've been burning less.
BTW, my current stove is a non cat and gets very warm, so I usually relight after it hits 68 and i try to manage my wood load in order to keep the house from heating above 75.
 
"@Caswellian have you looked at the Regency F3500 hybrid and Blaze King Sirocco 30?"

I am not familiar with the Regency brand and I have looked at the Scirocco on print and do like the looks, I just wish they could make a Blaze King/King sized firebox to match its good looks.
I probably don't need anything that big, but the ability to fill up the tank and set the stove to glide for 40 hours is a very attractive feature.

Sorry, I'm not accustomed to the way the messages are quoted here.
 
I'm not accustomed to the way the messages are quoted here.
I just use the reply button but the quote button might be less work, for the multiple quotes I do...
 
I did realize that the Ashford came in enamel. It's not as stunning as a lot of enamel stoves, though..
Did you get that option?
I originally ordered mine in the blue/black enamel, which was a brand new finish option from BK at the time. They had some issues getting that process going, though, so I switched my order to black paint to avoid delays. In the end, I’m happy with them, I think they look great, and my initial concerns about rust seem to be unfounded. No regrets.

I’ve still never seen a BK in blue/black enamel, but I have seen some other enamel finishes from them that looked nice.

BTW, the Victorian Fireview is very much inline with my sensibilities, in principle. However, they overdid it, to where it’s a garish, almost cartoonishly-overdone version of what I think was intended. They should have just stopped with about half the ornamentation.

What I’d really love to see is a Jotul or VC designed stove, around BK or Woodstock tech. Like the “super groups” of the 1970’s (ELP, Cream, Asia), how about a super group of stove design? I’d set the BK combustion engineers free with the VC designers, and vice versa. Anyone interested in a JotulStock, or a Vermont King? [emoji12]
 
Last edited:
"@Caswellian have you looked at the Regency F3500 hybrid and Blaze King Sirocco 30?"

I am not familiar with the Regency brand and I have looked at the Scirocco on print and do like the looks, I just wish they could make a Blaze King/King sized firebox to match its good looks.
I probably don't need anything that big, but the ability to fill up the tank and set the stove to glide for 40 hours is a very attractive feature.

Sorry, I'm not accustomed to the way the messages are quoted here.
Regency is a very well known and established brand. They do make the F5100 which has a big belly like the King. The downside is that these big stoves need an 8" flue, so greater cost for installation.
 
Regency is a very well known and established brand. They do make the F5100 which has a big belly like the King. The downside is that these big stoves need an 8" flue, so greater cost for installation.

The F5100 would also likely be a little overpowered in a well-insulated 1500 sq ft space, I would think. He said his Dutchwest was already roasting him out.

@Caswellian, have you checked out the PE Alderlea? @begreen, isn’t your house a pretty similar size, albeit in a warmer climate and with less insulation?
 
The F5100 wouldn't be my choice, but he is drooling over ultra long burntimes on low. FWIW, the F5100 is rated to run at a lower steady btu output than the BK King. I've never run one though, so this is just going by the specs. From what he has described the F3500 or Sirocco 30 sound like a good fit. In non-cat a T5 or T6 would do the job. An Enviro Boston would also.

Screen Shot 2019-02-13 at 8.39.08 AM.png
 
I ended up with an Ashford in brown enamel, but had it been solely up to me at the time I would've purchased a Sirocco 30. Although now, after having a cast-clad stove for a while, I really appreciate the even heat it puts out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ashful