2017-18 Blaze King Performance Thread PART 2 (Everything BK)

[BKVP]

Don't forget the camera!

Dude...really!

 

[Ashful]

In short, a Princess that we can load once a week in shoulder season.

You mean an Ashford, but I get your point.

You reminded me of this perennial image:

 

[aaronk25]

Sounds like you badly need to upgrade to a king!

PS sell me the princess

Edit to here they call that style of house a cabover. Usually it's a bedroom above the garage and they're notorious for being colder than the rest of the house. The fix is to spray foam the ceiling of the garage with 2 part, and maybe double insulate any north or west facing walls in the bedroom.

Ok deal....let’s do it. I got to switch out the chimney, but I’ve been thinking about the king. The princess actually is probably sized right for the house as it is ok with me (especially the wife) if the furnace kicks on every couple hours on a -20f night.

The issues with high burn comes down to the need for 100% heat output and oak leaves coals at full burn. The coals would heat the house at 20f alone, but when it’s really cold they take up fire box space.


As far as the garage your ideas are great. I think I’ll just say screw it and get a better insulated garage door and keep the garage at 70f too! The. I won’t been the spray foam insulation in the ceiling.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[becasunshine]

Well, it’s a pellet stove... of course it’s struggling. Definitely don’t compare woodstove btus to a pellet stove. Night and day difference.

I don't miss the pellet stove we had in our house in town.

 

[webby3650]

I don't miss the pellet stove we had in our house in town.

I don’t miss mine either. Not one bit!

 

[Ashful]

The issues with high burn comes down to the need for 100% heat output and oak leaves coals at full burn. The coals would heat the house at 20f alone, but when it’s really cold they take up fire box space.

I used to have a constant issue with this, since my heat loss is very high. My solution was to use an ash rake to plow the ashes under and to the rear of the stove, which causes the coals to rise to the top. Rake the coals forward, and throw just a single split or two on top. Run the stove on high, which will cause the exposed coals to burn down rapidly, while those one or two splits keep the cat working and heat output up.

I do this most evenings, when I get home from work, then do a full reload two hours later on the smaller remaining coal bed.

 

[ratsrepus]

ashful, do you really have ll those stoves and fireplaces. what are you heating, an old castle?

 

[BKVP]

ashful, do you really have ll those stoves and fireplaces. what are you heating, an old castle?

You asked for it! Picture time Ashful!

 

[allan5oh]

Ohhhhh a bigger freestanding stove....ummmmm. Not on a 6" flue, but then again my stack at home is 8" already. ummmm.

New test unit at your home? Call it the Emporer

Should I hold off on a buying a princess ultra or just go ahead?

 

[BKVP]

New test unit at your home? Should I hold off on a buying a princess ultra or just go ahead?

Nothing new in my home. Go get your Princess Ultra!

 

[jetsam]

You asked for it! Picture time Ashful!

At least one of these photos should depict at least one of those vengeful Scottish stonemasons' ghosts, so we can see for ourselves why you are forbidden insulation in your haunted castle...

 

[Ashful]

ashful, do you really have ll those stoves and fireplaces. what are you heating, an old castle?

You asked for it! Picture time Ashful!

Yes, two fireplaces, each with a BK Ashford 30.1. They do an awesome job, really only limited by my willingness to keep them fed.



Ignore that Jotul Firelight in the first photo, I just haven't gotten 'round to taking a newer photo with the Ashford in that fireplace.

House is essentially three smaller houses slammed together. The 1770's part seems to be built over and around an earlier house that was built on this site about 40 years earlier. The 1890's part is a bit of an insulatin nightmare (balloon framing with blown-in polystyrene), which is going to be mostly torn down and rebuilt in the relatively near future.

 

[Tegbert]

Yes, two fireplaces, each with a BK Ashford 30.1. They do an awesome job, really only limited by my willingness to keep them fed.

View attachment 221154 View attachment 221155

Ignore that Jotul Firelight in the first photo, I just haven't gotten 'round to taking a newer photo with the Ashford in that fireplace.

House is essentially three smaller houses slammed together. The 1770's part seems to be built over and around an earlier house that was built on this site about 40 years earlier. The 1890's part is a bit of an insulatin nightmare (balloon framing with blown-in polystyrene), which is going to be mostly torn down and rebuilt in the relatively near future.

View attachment 221156 View attachment 221159

So what’s the deal with the huge fireplaces? Was it because they needed the heat because of no or poor insulation so they just packed it full of wood to get the most heat out of it? Or was it just a look type thing?


Lopi Rockport
Blaze King Ashford 25

 

[kennyp2339]

So what’s the deal with the huge fireplaces? Was it because they needed the heat because of no or poor insulation so they just packed it full of wood to get the most heat out of it? Or was it just a look type thing?


Lopi Rockport
Blaze King Ashford 25

I would lean towards more of look thing, if it were for heating, the ceilings would be much lower

 

[allan5oh]

What's the actual dimensions of the firebox on a princess ultra standalone? Seems there's some variation between the models. I also read something about ordering it without the ash plug gets you more space?

Current clunker is advertised at 2.0 cu ft. Actual usable dimensions are 11 deep, 22 wide, and only 9" high due to the burn tubes. Actual depth is closer to 14" but you have to keep the front free of wood or it will disrupt the airflow. So that's about 1.1 cu ft.

 

[Highbeam]

New test unit at your home? Call it the Emporer

Should I hold off on a buying a princess ultra or just go ahead?

Get the ultra, you’ll love it if you can get over the unique look. Deep ash belly, highest efficiency other than the king, unlikely to smell of smoke, cheaper, etc. Seems that this model is currently too dirty to meet the next emissions standard cut so you may not have the option for this stove in the future.

My princess is humming along right now keeping my dog warm since I reloaded last night at 7, 15 hours ago. I’ll reload tonight sometime.

 

[ratsrepus]

hey there Mr BKVP dude. I take it you have something to do with Blaze King?

 

[kf6hap]

All the Princess Info is right here:

(broken link removed to http://www.blazeking.com/EN/wood-princess.html)

 

[Tegbert]

hey there Mr BKVP dude. I take it you have something to do with Blaze King?

He’s the Vice President.


Lopi Rockport
Blaze King Ashford 25

 

[Ashful]

So what’s the deal with the huge fireplaces? Was it because they needed the heat because of no or poor insulation so they just packed it full of wood to get the most heat out of it? Or was it just a look type thing?


Lopi Rockport
Blaze King Ashford 25

It’s for cooking. A woman needed to be able to stand at that hearth and cook the family’s meals, without having to stoop to avoid hitting her head.

These are very small for cooking fireplaces, at only 5 feet width. More typical would be 8 feet or wider. I believe that’s because this house was built at a transitional era, and the owners planned on using cast iron cook stoves. The fireplaces may have been intended to be temporary (until they installed a cast iron stove), or backup, in case this whole new-fangled stove thing didn’t work.

You would NOT build a large fire in a cooking fireplace, but typically would have two or three small fires / coal beds going at once. My fireplaces are so small they only had room for one pot crane in each, so very unusual based on other 18th century houses with cooking fireplaces.

One is in the original kitchen of the house, and the other is in the summer kitchen. A prior owner added our current “modern” kitchen in the 1890’s addition.

 

[allan5oh]

All the Princess Info is right here:

(broken link removed to http://www.blazeking.com/EN/wood-princess.html)

That just says the 2.85 for all models.

 

[ratsrepus]

I figured he was. I wanted to ask him how deep the bottom of the ashford 30 was from the door. I like the dept of the princess, and have heard that the ashford is not as deep. I'm looking to replace the Oslo F500 I have in my house, and although i haven't seen one in person I have heard that the ashford is ascetically a little more pleasing to look at . The Princess, well not being the best looking girl on the block I know for a fact is a great heater, and the old saying that (if you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife). What do you folks think?

 

[lsucet]

Freestanding Princess 2.85. The insert is the one with smaller fire box but not by much.

 

[Ashful]

@ratsrepus, the belly of the Ashford is probably 3 inches below door sill. I understand the Princess is deeper, but I’m plenty happy with my Ashfords.

The Ashford is slightly smaller too, but only 7%, I wouldn’t let that be a factor.

 

[ratsrepus]

@ratsrepus, the belly of the Ashford is probably 3 inches below door sill. I understand the Princess is deeper, but I’m plenty happy with my Ashfords.

The Ashford is slightly smaller too, but only 7%, I wouldn’t let that be a factor.[/QUOT

Better looking stove too isn't it? hows those cast panels on the sides work. maybe you could post a close up pic, thanks.