2016-17 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)

[Highbeam]

Yes, it's not steam but smoke.

How do you know?

 

[Niko]

In the past, as much as I could process. I think my record was 14 cords in one year, but I've had other years (last winter) when I think I only burned 6 cords. I'd guess my five year average is 8 - 10 cords per year.

I'm actually running a bit of a new experiment, with these BK's. Instead of trying to push enough wood thru the stoves to heat this joint, wearing myself thin in the process, I'm just loading them on a schedule that suits me. That means 2x loads per day in the stove on the tall chimney (right side in photo above) and 1x load per day in the stove on the short chimney (just left of gazebo in photo above). The 1x load per day is enough for our total heating probably 80% of the time on that end of the house. The 2x load per day is probably enough for our total heating 50% of the time on that end of the house, which is less than ideal, but what my schedule can manage.

We'll have to see how much oil I burn, in this new mode, but it may be less than when I was pushing 10 - 14 cords thru the Jotuls. The BK's put more heat into the house, whereas the Jotuls put more heat into the stone surrounding them, and thus the back yard. This is not a "BK is better than Jotul" thing (although they are), but a "convective works better than radiant" in a stone house, thing.

Dam dude do you have servants that feed the stoves lol? How big is the house? I see the picture from the side put kimda hard to see the sqaure footage.

 

[Ashful]

Are you talking face cord or full cord?

Full cords.

Thats a lot of wood but not as much as I thought you would be burning!

I also burned 1000 gallons of heating oil that year.

 

[Parallax]

Mine steams like crazy for hours. It's not smoke, cat is very active, but white steam. Usually white right from flue outlet just like the gas chimneys of the neighbors with furnaces. Sometimes that steam plume can extend 30 feet before dissipating.

My wood tests at 14% and is three years old. Our climate is relatively humid in the winter so steam is likely with cold flue temps that result from high efficiency.

20% mc wood is still 20% plus you know that the cat converts the hydrocarbons in smoke to even more water. Our fuel loads weigh over 40# and that's 8# of water which is over a gallon.

How can I tell the difference between smoke and steam? What a relief it would be to know it's just steam. It just doesn't seem that white. Seems too dirty to be steam.

 

[Marshy]

How can I tell the difference between smoke and steam? What a relief it would be to know it's just steam. It just doesn't seem that white. Seems too dirty to be steam.

I notice when mine smokes after a reload it's like a whitish smoke with a brown hue to it. Doesn't look like normal smoke like my old chimney. I kind of thought it was weird and might be a lot of water vapor. Seems plausible to me. I have no idea how to check what it actually is.

 

[Ashful]

Dam dude do you have servants that feed the stoves lol? How big is the house? I see the picture from the side put kimda hard to see the sqaure footage.

Nope, just me. Hence the experiment mentioned above. I was killing myself processing that volume of wood. I think I will eventually settle in on six cords per year, and just burn whatever oil and electrons it takes to compensate, but I need a few years with these BK's to dial in on that threshold.

House is just over 6600 sq.ft., and I heat an additional 1200 sq.ft. in the detached shop. Not that big by modern standards, but this joint was built and insulated to very old standards. We have other members here in houses over 10,000 sq.ft.

 

[kf6hap]

Parallax said: ↑
Yes, it's not steam but smoke.

One other point about steam, if I view it from the wrong side it looks to be quite dark and appears to be smoke. If I view it from the opposite side of the house it is clearly steam. It might have a tinge of color. It depends on where the sun is. This fooled me for a while and I even suspected the cat died.

 

[Marshy]

@Niko
Mine is solid, hardly moved up and down at all. It's held by the part of the side sheild.

@showrguy, I took these for you while I have the stove cold. I pulled the thermometer and looked under it and saw no fiber washer for a seal. The thermometer has a small aluminum washer behind the nut that rests on the stove surface. You can see the probe on the thermometer has quite a good amount of clearance to the hole.

 

[Marshy]

Nope, just me. Hence the experiment mentioned above. I was killing myself processing that volume of wood. I think I will eventually settle in on six cords per year, and just burn whatever oil and electrons it takes to compensate, but I need a few years with these BK's to dial in on that threshold.

House is just over 6600 sq.ft., and I heat an additional 1200 sq.ft. in the detached shop. Not that big by modern standards, but this joint was built and insulated to very old standards. We have other members here in houses over 10,000 sq.ft.

You are nucking futs. I'd be getting a gassification boiler. Less splitting and stacking.

 

[Highbeam]

How can I tell the difference between smoke and steam? What a relief it would be to know it's just steam. It just doesn't seem that white. Seems too dirty to be steam.

Very good question. I don't even think the smoke cops can do it. I go the other way, how can you prove it isn't steam? 1200 degree cat, 14% wood, cleanish glass, lowish burn rate, it "must" be steam. When I overload the cat at full throttle I get blue smoke.

 

[rdust]

Dam dude do you have servants that feed the stoves lol? How big is the house? I see the picture from the side put kimda hard to see the sqaure footage.

IIRC it's in the 7000sq' range.

 

[Ashful]

You are nucking futs. I'd be getting a gassification boiler. Less splitting and stacking.

I grew up in a house with many fireplaces, and we used them frequently. All extended family lived in old houses, also with fireplaces always going. Then I lived in a house for many years without a fireplace, and I really grew to miss it. So, when I went shopping for this house, fireplaces were high on the list of "must have" features.

I bought this place, and there was a Jotul Firelight 12 (catalytic) already installed in one of the fireplaces (my avatar). I discussed ripping it out, but my wife convinced me to give the stove a try, before converting it back to a fireplace. I started hanging out here, to learn about running a catalytic stove, and the rest is history.

Yes, a boiler would be less work, but I want to watch a fire! For me, it's not all about saving money, that's just a game I play with myself to justify the habit. I suspect that, given all I've spent on stoves and equipment, burning wood has cost me a lot more than I will ever save. That is, unless oil goes back to $4/gallon.

The good news is that the BK's have finally made burning wood in this house more manageable. I am amazed how much warmer they keep the joint, on far less wood, than my old Firelight 12's.

 

[Woody Stover]

How can I tell the difference between smoke and steam? What a relief it would be to know it's just steam. It just doesn't seem that white. Seems too dirty to be steam.

When the wind is right, can you get on the side of the house where the smoke is being pushed toward the ground? Sometimes I see a little smoke, but it smells more like creo than actual wood smoke so I think it is creo burning off when the stove/cat temp is higher after firing up a new load. The majority of the time the flue is clear, though.
Steam will have more of a wispy look to it in a light breeze, like it is being swirled around more easily than smoke would be. It will also disappear at a distance from the stack. If it's humid out, this may be a considerable distance away, but it will disappear quickly at that distance.

Full cords

So how many cords have you gone through so far this year?

 

[tarzan]

Teens and single digits here for the last couple days and the Princess is maintaining around 35 to 40% dirty glass!

 

[Niko]

I grew up in a house with many fireplaces, and we used them frequently. All extended family lived in old houses, also with fireplaces always going. Then I lived in a house for many years without a fireplace, and I really grew to miss it. So, when I went shopping for this house, fireplaces were high on the list of "must have" features.

I bought this place, and there was a Jotul Firelight 12 (catalytic) already installed in one of the fireplaces (my avatar). I discussed ripping it out, but my wife convinced me to give the stove a try, before converting it back to a fireplace. I started hanging out here, to learn about running a catalytic stove, and the rest is history.

Yes, a boiler would be less work, but I want to watch a fire! For me, it's not all about saving money, that's just a game I play with myself to justify the habit. I suspect that, given all I've spent on stoves and equipment, burning wood has cost me a lot more than I will ever save. That is, unless oil goes back to $4/gallon.
The good news is that the BK's have finally made burning wood in this house more manageable. I am amazed how much warmer they keep the joint, on far less wood, than my old Firelight 12's.

Im sure i missed your posts when you where buying the stoves back then, But why didnt you get the bigger stoves BK makes? If you needed to stay with 6 inch liner why didnt you get the princess?

My house is only 3,000 square feet and i have a king. After better insualtion in the attic i will see if i want another stove but i have it in the budget to get another stove upstairs. Maybe i did it wrong and should of bought to small ones. how often do you reload?

 

[Ashful]

So how many cords have you gone through so far this year?

Three cords. It's been much warmer than average, so there have been a lot of days I've just let the stoves go out.

 

[Marshy]

Im sure i missed your posts when you where buying the stoves back then, But why didnt you get the bigger stoves BK makes? If you needed to stay with 6 inch liner why didnt you get the princess?

My house is only 3,000 square feet and i have a king. After better insualtion in the attic i will see if i want another stove but i have it in the budget to get another stove upstairs. Maybe i did it wrong and should of bought to small ones. how often do you reload?

Interestingly the Princess is nearly the same output of the King. The primary difference is the size of the firebox and the flue requirements. Advantage to the king for extended burn time.

 

[Shayne]

Ideally, they probably want the connector pipe coming straight up for 3'. But as long as you have enough stack height, and a liner all the way to the top, you shouldn't have a problem. But the BKs don't seem to breathe as easily as some other stoves...

I have 15' straight and my new BK breathes a whole easier than my old one of 16 years (same stack setup). The old one would back draft when opened under low air, not the BK, not once so far. This stove has a much better stack effect than my old. No backdraft = good enough.

Yay!! Spring is coming. Saw my first chikadees of the season today, a sure arbiter of spring. And I found a wide range of Dopplebocks at the beer store on my way home, yet another indicator girls will be back in white shoes again in a few weeks.

You mean they are wearing white shoes? next time I will notice.

Three cords left to burn this year.

Hope you have not miscalculated on your wood storage this year, based on what you must be down to date.

Forecast high for the next ten days is less than -20dF.

-15dF here this morning, but ya sucks to be you, on a brighter side snowshoeing has been gr8.

But spring is coming! Yay!!

Days are longer for sure and yes it will, but whatever you are smoking up there we all need some .

Ashford 30 is running like a champ at wide open throttle.

Even with all those chickadees around? ...stay cozy.

Regards

 

[volunbeer]

This thing is humming along. Just loaded the stove with the biggest splits I have used for a burn at 75% with fan close to 75%. They are dry as this was part of 2 year old load of logs that were cribbed and bark had fallen off - about 50/50 fir and tamarack with really tight rings. To date, I have not noticed a tremendous difference in how long the burn lasts based on split size (or even the wood I am using) or how I place them in the stove, but this is the best wood I have so will see how long it goes!

Stay warm!

 

[Niko]

@Niko
Mine is solid, hardly moved up and down at all. It's held by the part of the side sheild.
View attachment 192128

What year did you buy your stove? Mine is like 3-4 years old.

 

[Marshy]

What year did you buy your stove? Mine is like 3-4 years old.

I just purchased it spring of 2016. King Ultra.

 

[Ashful]

Im sure i missed your posts when you where buying the stoves back then, But why didnt you get the bigger stoves BK makes? If you needed to stay with 6 inch liner why didnt you get the princess?

Simple: cosmetic appearance! I was awaiting the Ashford for some time, since news of it was first leaked around 2012. I even bought another two Jotuls to hold me over, when they were late releasing the Ashford, so I ended up not being one of the first customers.

The Princess and Ashford are pretty similar in size, less than 4% difference in firebox size. The King was a no go anyway, I had already installed two 6" liners for Jotuls.

 

[Tar12]

My learning curve had to be fast and furious with the Princess as it has been unseasonably cold here in Indiana. Thankfully my 2 weeks of vacation got extended by a week due to the weather! That almost broke my heart! lol This allowed some quality time with the stove...lol I have been pushing the stove pretty hard in these temps and looking forwards to the break in the weather coming up..

 

[Niko]

@Tar12 looking good..

 

[Niko]

Do you must of you guys use more smaller splits to fill the stove or do you put in big splits with air gaps?