What sized Blaze King? Princess or King 40?

[lxm]

I am looking for some advice on which stove to get. The house is only 1100 SQ FT... BUT it has 20 foot ceilings and is right on the ocean/its quite windy and that exposes any weakness in the place.

I was originally thinking the Princess was the way but there is a Harman Absolute 63 installed here and it cant seem to keep up in the cold days and is rated for 3600 SQ FT! I realize this is under optimal conditions with 8 foot ceilings but its giving me concern to be under doing it with the Princess. If it can handle it I would rather not deal with the 8 inch pipe and size difference but of course comfort is King

 

[begreen]

Has a temperature reading been done near the peak of the ceiling? What method(s) is being used to circulate hot air that rises up there?

How much glazing is there? Is it well insulated?

The Harman is going to max out at around 61,000 BTUs if pushed hard. When it gets very cold, that may not be enough if the house is leaky with a lot of windows. I'm not sure the BK stoves will provide much more. If it needs to be run constantly at highest output, the advantage of low and slow burns will be moot. A better approach might be to do what is necessary to reduce the heat loss.

Is a good supply of fully seasoned, dry firewood available. In order to get maximum output, the wood must be below 20% internal moisture content.

 

[stoveliker]

The advantage of even heat with the thermostat remains.

Yet, I would go as large as you can if you can't improve the thermal envelope of the home (of have a ceiling fan help move the heat away from the ceiling).

 

[EbS-P]

6” versus 8” for the King. Will you install new double wall? Have you priced 8”?

 

[Todd]

Sounds like you need a more radiant wood stove with those tall ceilings.

 

[BKVP]

The top end Btu's don't vary much between the KE40 and the PE32, you will only be getting a larger fuel tank. The Harman wood stoves are mostly regarded as great heaters, so moving to one our units may not be the answer, except that the heat is constant, whether run at low or high heat output.

I like BeGreens idea of getting temps off the ceiling...but also check around doors and windows. The heat being generated by the Harman is going somewhere, so where is that?

The high winds combined with your tall stack likely will influence the burn rate of your current stove. I'd go buy an inexpensive IR gun and get some readings.

BKVP

 

[ohlongarmisle]

I am looking for some advice on which stove to get. The house is only 1100 SQ FT... BUT it has 20 foot ceilings and is right on the ocean/its quite windy and that exposes any weakness in the place.

I was originally thinking the Princess was the way but there is a Harman Absolute 63 installed here and it cant seem to keep up in the cold days and is rated for 3600 SQ FT! I realize this is under optimal conditions with 8 foot ceilings but its giving me concern to be under doing it with the Princess. If it can handle it I would rather not deal with the 8 inch pipe and size difference but of course comfort is King

Better to have the extra btu's and not need than to need and not have,by ceilings are 10 ft and no problems here in NE Ohio.

 

[Burnin Since 1991]

Better to have the extra btu's and not need than to need and not have,by ceilings are 10 ft and no problems here in NE Ohio.

yep, you can't make a bigger fire in a small stove. You can make smaller fires in big stoves though which helps in the shoulder season!

 

[kborndale]

Better to have the extra btu's and not need than to need and not have,by ceilings are 10 ft and no problems here in NE Ohio.

The king and princess on high will put out pretty much the same btus, the king will just do it for a longer amount of time.

 

[beefhoof]

Bigger firebox is better,cut larger wood blocks.Less dinking around with tiny pieces.The pe 32 has a better cooktop.

 

[Rblack]

I am looking for some advice on which stove to get. The house is only 1100 SQ FT... BUT it has 20 foot ceilings and is right on the ocean/its quite windy and that exposes any weakness in the place.

I was originally thinking the Princess was the way but there is a Harman Absolute 63 installed here and it cant seem to keep up in the cold days and is rated for 3600 SQ FT! I realize this is under optimal conditions with 8 foot ceilings but its giving me concern to be under doing it with the Princess. If it can handle it I would rather not deal with the 8 inch pipe and size difference but of course comfort is King

Are your bedrooms upstairs? We went from a Vermont castings Defiant which I’d all cast iron, to a Princess 32. Our bedrooms are on 2nd level. We have open loft type house. It would get extremely warm upstairs and rest of house was heated well too with that stove. The Blaze King is built of steel not cast iron so our 2nd level doesn’t get as hot as it used to. We have a blower on the Princess that seems to throw the heat a little farther quicker than the cast iron. My house is around 1800sq. ft. Other than the basement it heats everything else fine without needing the furnace on. The 40 is big, and heavy too. The princess worked fine for me. I went from 8” flue down to 6”. They put a reducer at top piece where it goes thru roof, then it’s back to 8” above roof line. Whichever model you get, I would highly recommend getting the blower that is offered. It will help to keep your catalytic temp needle in the safe temp zone, otherwise it will constantly be pegged past the normal zone. Hope this helps

 

[Highbeam]

If the harman pellet stove at full blast 61000 can't keep up then I wouldn't swap it for a woodstove. I would add a woodstove and use both until/unless you can reduce the heat loss.

 

[Highbeam]

Are your bedrooms upstairs? We went from a Vermont castings Defiant which I’d all cast iron, to a Princess 32. Our bedrooms are on 2nd level. We have open loft type house. It would get extremely warm upstairs and rest of house was heated well too with that stove. The Blaze King is built of steel not cast iron so our 2nd level doesn’t get as hot as it used to. We have a blower on the Princess that seems to throw the heat a little farther quicker than the cast iron. My house is around 1800sq. ft. Other than the basement it heats everything else fine without needing the furnace on. The 40 is big, and heavy too. The princess worked fine for me. I went from 8” flue down to 6”. They put a reducer at top piece where it goes thru roof, then it’s back to 8” above roof line. Whichever model you get, I would highly recommend getting the blower that is offered. It will help to keep your catalytic temp needle in the safe temp zone, otherwise it will constantly be pegged past the normal zone. Hope this helps

There is no normal or safe zone on the cat meter. The only use of that meter is to know when the cat is active and you should close the bypass. Your blower is simply cooling the gauge so it spins down artificially.

 

[Rblack]

There is no normal or safe zone on the cat meter. The only use of that meter is to know when the cat is active and you should close the bypass. Your blower is simply cooling the gauge so it spins down artificially.

That makes sense. I should have thought of that. So I guess don’t get too concerned if that needle pegs out past the operating range on the dial? Seems like the only way to bring it back down is to turn the thermostat down. When I do that the flue temp drops into the creosote making zone. I’m not sure how to avoid that though.

 

[Highbeam]

That makes sense. I should have thought of that. So I guess don’t get too concerned if that needle pegs out past the operating range on the dial? Seems like the only way to bring it back down is to turn the thermostat down. When I do that the flue temp drops into the creosote making zone. I’m not sure how to avoid that though.

Correct, do not try and keep that cat meter low.