What to expect?

[Swamp Fox]

This past Nov. I decided to replace my Vermont Castings Encore stove, which I purchased new three years ago, and have not been happy with. I decided to replace the VC with a new Blaze King. There was a Blaze King here when we purchased our place 20 years ago. It was old and I wanted to upgrade and get a more efficient stove. Anyway, in Nov. I downloaded the manual for the Blaze King from their website and studied it front to back. On Dec. 20, I ordered the stove and this past Friday, I drove over 200 miles to pick it up from the nearest dealer. I got it in the house today and put it in place. Low and behold, there is a newly revised manual (printed Jan. 18, 2006. There is something new added to the new manual! The following statements were not in the 2005 manual: "Due to high efficiencies of these units, Blaze King recommends the use of double wall stove pipe from the stove top to either wall or roof exit" (2005 manual says 22/24 guage single wall is acceptable); and "A minimum of 36" vertical rise is recommended prior to using any elbows" (this was not stated in the 2005 manual). These statements are recommendations. I have a wall exit which is only 24 inches above the stove top. The chimney is brick with a stainless steel liner in it. Last week I had the liner insulated. I have never had any draft problems. The stove sits on brick and has brick behind it and on both sides (good clearance all around). So, what can I expect with only a 24" vertical rise and then a 90 degreed elbow rather than the recommended 36" vertical rise. Is there any reason I can't use the single wall connector pipe? I have e-mailed the factory to get their response, but thought I would see what you all had to say.

 

[Todd]

Probably wont make any difference if you had good draft before and a insulated liner. Sounds like they are just recommendation's to cover their butts. I would call the place you bought it from and explain what the manual says. Tell them you want to try it with the 24" rise and if it doesn't work would they take it back.

 

[roac]

I assume you got one of the King models. If you look at their website they have a new for 2006 brochure. Look at page 4 they still list single wall clearances as "standard". I think they are trying to cover their butts for bad draft. How long is your chimney run? Which King did you get? They say you can get 40hr burn times on low, I am interested to find out what your burn times are on high and low when you get it installed and running. Good luck!!

 

[Swamp Fox]

Well, here is what the guy at Blaze King told me this morning; they wasted no time in responding to my inquiry. I was told they are recommending a vertical run of at least 36" and the use of the double wall connector pipe because the newest Blaze King stoves are so efficient, they need that because of some people having had some draft problems which caused the stove not to work. He spoke of draft being dependent on two things, velocity and heat. The 36" rise increases the velocity of the smoke/gases. The double wall connector keeps the heat within the connector pipe. Those two in combination increase the performance of the draft. I can't get a 36" rise, so I was told that using two 45 degree elbows rather than one 90 degree elbow will help. I was also told the stove might work fine with the two 45's and the single wall. I'll try that before purchasing the double wall and see how that goes.