Will a Blaze King Princess 32 work for my 1100 sq ft or too large?

[Groaner]

I have a Vermont Casting dutch west small unit has a combuster and burns fairly clean now, but is getting old, etc. I like to use 16-18" wood which I have 3 cords still. So being able to burn 18" is important to me. The only stove that seems to fit my requirements is the Blaze King Princess but is more stove than I need but will it work ok since it can be run at lower temps because of the temp control?
Another stove I was looking at is the Hearth Stone Shelburne which comes close to the Princess.. The idea of the long burn times is intriguing since my VC stove will only go 8 hours maybe.
Any thoughts on getting the larger stove?

Also after talking to a salesman He said he doesn't recommend Steel stoves for the living room because the can blast you out compared with cast iron or soapstone.. Huh? Is that true?

 

[stoveliker]

The salesman is not correct.
Some steel stoves may do that. Others won't. The BK won't because you can dial it down to about an output equivalent of three and a half 1.5 kW plug in electric heaters.
Also the Ashford has cast iron jacketing that further evens out the radiative load.

There are also tube stoves with such jackets - begreen has one, I believe.

I do think that any stove with a 3 cu ft firebox will get you more than 8 hrs, though it's a simple "BTU of fuel in / BTU hourly output = burn time".
The BK only gets a long burn because it can spread the BTUs you put in the firebox out over a longer time.
Or not; you can still run it at high output, leading to shorter burn times.
Max outputs will also differ for different stoves.

That said, how large is your home? Floor and room arrangement? I.e. how much can the heat spread.

Heating a single room (because the heat can't spread) with a Princess (or any BK; most have similar minimum outputs) would likely be too much. But the same would be the case for a 3 cu ft tube stove.

 

[Tron]

Any thoughts on getting the larger stove?

Due to the thermostat, the size of the BK's should be viewed as "wood capacity" and less in terms of "heat output".
I'm not sure if 18" would fit into my BK, but 3 cords is not enough wood to base a decision on that you will be using for decades.
If your dream stove only accepts 16" logs, so be it, cut the 18" logs you have into 9" ones...

 

[stoveliker]

The 30.2 models (Chinook, Ashford, and the other model I can't think of now) can take 18", but the bottom layer should best be 17" or so. Shorties at the bottom, 18" above that makes one not have trouble with the fire bricks (or the bracket holding them...) below the door.

 

[Groaner]

The salesman is not correct.
Some steel stoves may do that. Others won't. The BK won't because you can dial it down to about an output equivalent of three and a half 1.5 kW plug in electric heaters.
Also the Ashford has cast iron jacketing that further evens out the radiative load.

There are also tube stoves with such jackets - begreen has one, I believe.

I do think that any stove with a 3 cu ft firebox will get you more than 8 hrs, though it's a simple "BTU of fuel in / BTU hourly output = burn time".
The BK only gets a long burn because it can spread the BTUs you put in the firebox out over a longer time.
Or not; you can still run it at high output, leading to shorter burn times.
Max outputs will also differ for different stoves.

That said, how large is your home? Floor and room arrangement? I.e. how much can the heat spread.

Heating a single room (because the heat can't spread) with a Princess (or any BK; most have similar minimum outputs) would likely be too much. But the same would be the case for a 3 cu ft tube stove.

I also just checked the stove size and the princess is a lot larger than I thought.
27” wide and deeper, My Dutch west is only 22” but the side door loading allows me up to 19” if I need it.
I’ve had this stove for 37 years, it’s been great. I wish they still made them.
The new Jotul f 455 looks doable too. New burn Technology using a 10 year Cat.
I’m getting up in age and the wood thing has its draw backs so the less I have to cut move and use the least amount of wood per season is my priority.
I suppose I could have someone cut the wood up smaller for a smaller box stove if I have to, but still looking at options

 

[Dieselhead]

If N/S loading, 17” for bottom of the big king and princess as well. Up past first row can be 18”

 

[stoveliker]

I also just checked the stove size and the princess is a lot larger than I thought.
27” wide and deeper, My Dutch west is only 22” but the side door loading allows me up to 19” if I need it.
I’ve had this stove for 37 years, it’s been great. I wish they still made them.
The new Jotul f 455 looks doable too. New burn Technology using a 10 year Cat.
I’m getting up in age and the wood thing has its draw backs so the less I have to cut move and use the least amount of wood per season is my priority.
I suppose I could have someone cut the wood up smaller for a smaller box stove if I have to, but still looking at options

Yes, the footprint is significantly larger. I had a side-door DutchWest as well before this.

If space is an issue, get a piece of cardboard and cut out the stove size. And a second larger piece of cardboard and cut out the total clearance with and depth needed, so you can see what fits.
Or do that with painters tape on the floor for different stoves. Gives a good visual idea of what it would be like.