Which Blaze King to Buy

[Wood Pirate]

I looked at blaze kings for the first time today. Local place is a dealer. I looked at the Ashford 30, Princess, and Sirocco 30. They seem to be no frills/ nothing fancy on the outside (which is fine by me). My questions are as follows. My main concern is that we are rarely home for long periods so I want something that I can load when I leave for work and have it still putting out heat when I get home 10 hours later.

• I have a unfinished basement install so it doesnt have to be pretty. I realize this isnt the best place for an install but its the only option in my home and seems to work ok for us. Is the basic princess the way to go or are there options other than looks on the other two that may be helpful?
• What should I be paying for one of these? Prices ranged from about $2500 to $3300. I dont mind spending the money for a better one as long as its going to last.
• The door latch on the princess seemed a little chincy. Is it anything to worry about.
• Finally, my my chimney is a 5.5x5.5 clay chimney flue about 17' high. Its only about 12 years old so I know its in good shape. I clean it a couple times a year and it was able to handle my recently removed wood boiler for a few years as well as my old timberline. It runs within the middle of the house so its not on an exterior wall. Question is, any drawback from using this without a liner for now?
• Is a 3 to 4 week lead time realistic or will it turn into 6 to 7 weeks?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Rossco]

Princess Ultra, All black with Fans.

The unfinished basement ain't gonna help with heat transfer.

 

[BKVP]

I'd like to comment on the last observation, that of turn around. Currently, if a dealer has stock, great. However, if a dealer does not have stock and also does not have the unit you desire on order, turn around could be 7+ weeks, depending upon model.

Many dealers are fortunate and saw this robust wood season coming and have stock, others....not so much.

But we are running full tilt!

 

[Rossco]

Took a few weeks for my unit to be delivered here in South Western Canada.

The dealer said they were held up waiting for the stock black door.

So maybe its an option wait.

 

[webby3650]

Took a few weeks for my unit to be delivered here in South Western Canada.

The dealer said they were held up waiting for the stock black door.

So maybe its an option wait.

The stove should have been ordered with a black door, doesn't make sense. They usually come on the same truck?

 

[webby3650]

With an unfinished basement I would go with the princess ultra with the fans. The Ashford is a great heater, but it doesn't have that big shotgun blast of heat like you will need in a basement. It's more of a mild heat, like soapstone kinda. It excels in well insulated areas!

 

[Rossco]

The stove should have been ordered with a black door, doesn't make sense. They usually come on the same truck?

Yeah but that's what they told me. They drop shipped the basic Princess without fans & door. These came in separate boxes.

I imagine the warehouse has rows of basic stoves then they simply follow the 'Ticks' and fulfil the order.

I have only ever seen a Princess Ultra with black door around here.

I dunno. Maybe the BKVP fella might chime in.

EDIT: I have the stove in a '1980's style insulated basement. Anything is better than 8" of heat sucking concrete. Even an inch of XPF will do wonders.

I(broken link removed to http://www.woodstove.com/pages/guidepdfs/BasementInstall.pdf)

 

[Poindexter]

How many square feet you got, how well sealed is your house, how thick is your insulation and how many kids you got at home?

I wouldn't spend the dough on an enameled Ashford to put it in the basement. My local dealer has one of the Ashfords in plain black, I dunno if it is cast iron or what exactly but I think it is a great looking stove. Of course my wife swooned over the Chestnut Brown and mine is in the living room. Happy wife = Happy Life.

12 hour burns that you tend morning and night only shouldn't be a problem with any of the models you have mentioned - but I don't know how dry your wood has to be for that to happen. I have eight cords on my lot right now, 1 at 22 plus percent MC and the other seven cords at 16% and under.

Dunno about your flue either, sorry, sounds big enough to me, I bet begreen will have meaningful experience based commentary when he gets here.

The main thing I have to add is once you have done all the math, if you got kids in the house get a bigger stove.

 

[Parallax]

Being new to all of this, I can't offer much. My wife and I ordered the brown enamel Ashford and we love it.

One of the BK dealers told me that he gets people with 20 year old Princess stoves coming in to order a new one. It was that kind of loyalty that first alerted him to the fact that Blaze King had something special going. When a stove gets that much love, common sense says it has to be great. I've never seen a Sirocco (except in photos) and haven't heard much about it. Though these stoves are different, they appear to share much in common. Great engineering, really well tested, phenomenal burn times and great customer satisfaction.

 

[Wood Pirate]

Wow. Thanks for all of the responses is so fast. I went to bed and woke up with a whole list of responses. Great site! I think I should have the dealer call Blaze King and just verify that 3 to 4 weeks is accurate before I pull the trigger.
How do the Woodstock Soapstone Stoves Compare? Are there any Non Cat stoves that burn clean and get similar results or is there really no comparison?

 

[1ruralmailman]

the ideal steel by woodstock is the real deal.i have seen it in person,and one will be in my living room next fall.i have talked with a couple of the beta testers as well who verified what the sales people were telling me.the down side is the last i knew the wait time on these was over eight weeks,so if you dont have one ordered the wait will be a while to get one.

 

[webby3650]

Yeah but that's what they told me. They drop shipped the basic Princess without fans & door. These came in separate boxes.

I imagine the warehouse has rows of basic stoves then they simply follow the 'Ticks' and fulfil the order.

I have only ever seen a Princess Ultra with black door around here.

I dunno. Maybe the BKVP fella might chime in.

EDIT: I have the stove in a '1980's style insulated basement. Anything is better than 8" of heat sucking concrete. Even an inch of XPF will do wonders.

I(broken link removed to http://www.woodstove.com/pages/guidepdfs/BasementInstall.pdf)

The stove is shipped basic. The dealer has to know to also order the door and the blower. They ship together, if you order it.

 

[Rossco]

The stove is shipped basic. The dealer has to know to also order the door and the blower. They ship together, if you order it.

The place i bought the unit said the supplier was waitig for BK to ship a black door hence the 7 day wait extension.

And yup, the unit, door and kit all shipped together.


On the flip side, it was a 17 day wait, not the 10 day quoted.

 

[tarzan]

Wow. Thanks for all of the responses is so fast. I went to bed and woke up with a whole list of responses. Great site! I think I should have the dealer call Blaze King and just verify that 3 to 4 weeks is accurate before I pull the trigger.
How do the Woodstock Soapstone Stoves Compare? Are there any Non Cat stoves that burn clean and get similar results or is there really no comparison?

We just got our BK Princess this Fall so not much experience with it yet but I can say that my wife and I have stove burning experience going back to when we were children and we are both amazed by this stove.

So far it has been everything it was supposed to be.

 

[BKVP]

Webby, ROSCO is in Canada. We use distributors in many places, including B.C. So the way he says it played out is entirely possible.

Second, Wood Pirate, my name is Chris Neufeld. I am the VP at Blaze King. We have no warehouse stock in any location in the USA. If your dealer in NY has the stove, buy one if you so choose. However, if he does not have it in stock, I can assure you it will be 7+ weeks before a Princess Ultra will be available from our factory. Of course, he may have it on order, which is a different matter. We ship them every week.....

Thank you.

 

[Highbeam]

My main concern is that we are rarely home for long periods so I want something that I can load when I leave for work and have it still putting out heat when I get home 10 hours later.

• I have a unfinished basement install so it doesnt have to be pretty. I realize this isnt the best place for an install but its the only option in my home and seems to work ok for us. Is the basic princess the way to go or are there options other than looks on the other two that may be helpful?
• What should I be paying for one of these? Prices ranged from about $2500 to $3300. I dont mind spending the money for a better one as long as its going to last.
• The door latch on the princess seemed a little chincy. Is it anything to worry about.
• Finally, my my chimney is a 5.5x5.5 clay chimney flue about 17' high. Its only about 12 years old so I know its in good shape. I clean it a couple times a year and it was able to handle my recently removed wood boiler for a few years as well as my old timberline. It runs within the middle of the house so its not on an exterior wall. Question is, any drawback from using this without a liner for now?
• Is a 3 to 4 week lead time realistic or will it turn into 6 to 7 weeks?

Thanks for your help.

The princess will easily burn 10 hours with no attention. I regularly do 24 hour burns and the stove is rated for 30+ hours on low. No other stove, from any manufacturer will come anywhere near the burntimes provided by the BK line. If all you need is 10 hours then there are several 12 hour max burn options but it would be like buying a car that can only just barely run freeway speeds, you want the margin of error to allow for extra cold days or poor wood. When it is bitter cold out many of us crank up the BKs and only get an easy 12 hours of burntime with lots of heat. If you were to crank up the stoves from other manufacturers with 12 hour max burntimes then you would only get a few hours.

The BK (princess) door latch is simple but seems to be quite effective. I have owned stoves with chinsy door latches that actually wear out and fail, that's no good. Big, simple, easily replacable latches are better.

The only drawback to the princess vs. the other 30 series BK stoves is looks and emissions. The older princess is rated for higher grams per hour but still low enough to be certified and allowed in WA. The princess has slightly superior efficiency.

My ultra princess has the silver door. I have a fealing that my dealer poached it from a floor stove since it wasn't boxed.

 

[kennyp2339]

Wood Pirate - I just bought / ordered the princess probably through the same dealer (Jones) last Saturday - I was told three weeks for delivery, I did a simple princess parlor all black, no blower. We'll see, also I did price this stove out, basically Jones has a pretty fair price on the princess, I paid 2900

 

[begreen]

While waiting, get the basement insulated. That will pay back for the rest of this winter and every winter to come.

 

[Wood Pirate]

Wood Pirate - I just bought / ordered the princess probably through the same dealer (Jones) last Saturday - I was told three weeks for delivery, I did a simple princess parlor all black, no blower. We'll see, also I did price this stove out, basically Jones has a pretty fair price on the princess, I paid 2900

yes it was jones. I called them back today and they did confirm what BKVP said. 7-8 weeks. Unfortunately this may sway my decision. We'll see. Im looking at all different models to make sure I definately get what I want.

 

[Parallax]

Was going to say congrats on the Princess, but if you may back out, I'll put the cork back in the juice until you pick a stove.

 

[kennyp2339]

Oh boy I hope I'm not 8 weeks now

 

[kennyp2339]

While waiting, get the basement insulated. That will pay back for the rest of this winter and every winter to come.

I thought of doing that but I'm going to take a chance and go though a season without insulation. There is a ton of work to do down there and I can only do small steps due to budget and limited time, next spring I'll start the "big project"

 

[begreen]

Understood, there's no problem with taking it one step at a time if that keeps the budget balanced better. The good news is you will notice a significant improvement once the basement gets insulated.

 

[Rossco]

Understood, there's no problem with taking it one step at a time if that keeps the budget balanced better. The good news is you will notice a significant improvement once the basement gets insulated.

Even an inch of Insulated foam will be like day vs night.

Seen a sirocco 20 in a stove store today. Looked perfect for my living area. Take away same day discounted display model.