2018-19 Blaze King Performance Thread Part 1 (Everything BK)
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I think there’s a difference between a flash fire in the connector pipe than a flue fire. It’s a very short lived event that does not spread to the chimney. I wouldn’t call that a flue fire.
I guess you could be using more wood if the stove is keeping the house a consistent temperature all day, where before the House temp was dropping throughout the day and then heated back up at night when you were home. If nobody is home during the day then I guess that would be saving wood. If the house needs to stay at temp all day though, there wouldn’t be a savings.
I can say I definitely started using more wood when my wife started staying home to homeschool our kids.
It scared me too! I don’t think it was just flames shooting through the bypass but perhaps flames shooting through the bypass and igniting a thin deposit. I’m sure there are varying severity of flue fires and this was fortunately minor because of low accumulation and rapid shut down of the intake.
The needle climbed very fast even after snuffing the fire in the box.
I’ll be a little paranoid for awhile now!
Have you ever read the csia white paper on flue fires? That is what is used by fire companies insurance companies etc. And according to that what you described is a flue fire.
I am barely running 13ft of pipe on mine and have no issues with light off and kindling with the little propane torch.
I’m just basing the description on real life experience. It’s alarming when it happens, there’s no doubt, it’s easily snuffed by shutting the bypass and not a big deal unless your chimney has been neglected.
Yes i agree not a big deal at all. I said that from the start. But if there was creosote burning in the venting system it was a chimney fire
My wife was none to happy initially when I told her my plans to install a indoor stove....as she had never experienced a indoor stove and was very apprehensive about it...but has grown to understand it and how to run it and loves it now and understands it saves me a lot of work as well!
What's the difference?
We're pretty dead set on a Sirocco 30 with pedestal and black door. I can see that our dealer has quoted a 30.2. I have read quite a few favorable things about the 30.1. Can I assume that the 30.2 will perform the same?
We're pretty dead set on a Sirocco 30 with pedestal and black door. I can see that our dealer has quoted a 30.2. I have read quite a few favorable things about the 30.1. Can I assume that the 30.2 will perform the same?
SuperJ
Feeling the Heat
As far as I can as far as I can tell they retested it with the EPA. so that they could use multiple catalyst manufacturers .
It's safe to say it will deliver the same BK experience.
It's safe to say it will deliver the same BK experience.
I never crack my door, load the stove and close the door.
In the beginning I experienced what you have on a few occasions. One was the day after sweeping the pipe and chimney. When the stove is in bypass flames can shoot right up the pipe and overheat it rapidly. I always try to load the stove with a split dead center in the stove so flames won’t be able to shoot right up the flue. If I see flames going right up and the cat probe is still not active I flip the bypass lever closed and say F it. Cats are cheap, I’m not having the pipe light off and start a chimney fire.
@bholler, energy consumption is proportional to indoor temp minus outdoor temp, integrated over time. If your house is spending more hours per day at 72F with the BK, then you’re moving a lot more heat to the outdoors than if it cycles down to a lower temperature during off-hours, and wood consumption will reflect this.
I suspect you’re also burning at times that you might not, if you were running another stove. Yesterday was in the 50’s all day here, peaking around 57F, and I had mine running. If I waited for temps to drop below 40F, I’d burn half as much. If that threshold was 30F, I’d burn a quarter of what I burn now.
I suspect you’re also burning at times that you might not, if you were running another stove. Yesterday was in the 50’s all day here, peaking around 57F, and I had mine running. If I waited for temps to drop below 40F, I’d burn half as much. If that threshold was 30F, I’d burn a quarter of what I burn now.
I agree with your analysis but I’m not sure about the solution.
Closing the bypass before the cat is active would likely result in a higher likelihood of volatiles building up within reach of the flames licking through an open bypass, and just a dirtier chimney all together.
In my findings after several sweeps since I’ve been running the BK, there’s never been any buildup anywhere near the flue collar to catch. The bad stuff is always at or near the top 18” to 24”.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
Now that that's sorted, just think how happy your wife will be when you tell her that you sold your saws and splitter and trailer and used the money to buy her an impressive sweater-and-mittens collection!
Hi, I got a BK Ashford 30 and I LOVE it! What a huge difference in the house from my old pellet stove. This is my first wood stove and first Catalytic stove (which I was and am apprehensive about). It has been a learning curve this off season. I have a few questions because I am so worried about doing something to wreck the cat. I may be misinformed, hence I'm here to learn...
So far, I've been mainly burning Pine, which burns quick and not as hot, but it does produce a lot of creosote when the stove is set on not all the way to low. I've been able to fill the stove and leave it to burn for 8 hours on that setting without needing to refill. Which was nice for overnight. This week, I've started to use a bit more Birch, which burns cleaner and definitely hotter, so I've not been filling the stove but only putting in a 3-4 pieces of wood in and burning it on medium, and even then my house is HOT, too hot, and I've had to refill it 3-4 times a day. My worry is that if I set it on low, I will get too much creosote (like with the Pine) and I worry about that as it's not good for the stove or the chimney but I would get longer burn time. I don't want to eventually start a chimney fire, especially if I'm not home and the dogs are. But if I set it on medium, I can only fill it a little at a time and then I'm opening the stove 3-4 times in a 24 hour period, which is not good for the cat.
As far as the cat is concerned I've been told conflicting information. The instruction book said to wait until the cat thermometer is indicating the cat is still active but barely before reloading, but the sales guy told me to wait to refill only when the cat is inactive. This last week, since I've had to refill the stove more often, I've been worried out of my mind about the cat ... sometimes I can't wait for the cat to be inactive or even on very low active before refilling (I either have to go back to work or sleep) ... so can I open it to refill even if the cat is in the mid range of active (and of course by-pass the cat before opening) or is that NEVER to be done? This week, I've just been leaving it and coming back to a cool house or waking up to a cold house.
Also, sometimes, I've forgotten to close the by-pass for 1/2 hour before I remember and close it when the stove is burning, because I'm afraid of closing it too quickly after I've opened it to reload. How long should I wait to close it if I reloaded it when the cat was still in the barely active stage?
Sorry for all the questions, but I just don't want to wreck a brand new stove ... thank you in advance.
So far, I've been mainly burning Pine, which burns quick and not as hot, but it does produce a lot of creosote when the stove is set on not all the way to low. I've been able to fill the stove and leave it to burn for 8 hours on that setting without needing to refill. Which was nice for overnight. This week, I've started to use a bit more Birch, which burns cleaner and definitely hotter, so I've not been filling the stove but only putting in a 3-4 pieces of wood in and burning it on medium, and even then my house is HOT, too hot, and I've had to refill it 3-4 times a day. My worry is that if I set it on low, I will get too much creosote (like with the Pine) and I worry about that as it's not good for the stove or the chimney but I would get longer burn time. I don't want to eventually start a chimney fire, especially if I'm not home and the dogs are. But if I set it on medium, I can only fill it a little at a time and then I'm opening the stove 3-4 times in a 24 hour period, which is not good for the cat.
As far as the cat is concerned I've been told conflicting information. The instruction book said to wait until the cat thermometer is indicating the cat is still active but barely before reloading, but the sales guy told me to wait to refill only when the cat is inactive. This last week, since I've had to refill the stove more often, I've been worried out of my mind about the cat ... sometimes I can't wait for the cat to be inactive or even on very low active before refilling (I either have to go back to work or sleep) ... so can I open it to refill even if the cat is in the mid range of active (and of course by-pass the cat before opening) or is that NEVER to be done? This week, I've just been leaving it and coming back to a cool house or waking up to a cold house.
Also, sometimes, I've forgotten to close the by-pass for 1/2 hour before I remember and close it when the stove is burning, because I'm afraid of closing it too quickly after I've opened it to reload. How long should I wait to close it if I reloaded it when the cat was still in the barely active stage?
Sorry for all the questions, but I just don't want to wreck a brand new stove ... thank you in advance.
lsucet
Minister of Fire
Follow the manual instruction of lighting a fire when cold and on reload procedures. That will give you a good starting point. Bypass needs to be closed when the cat reading is going into active zone.
about creosote regardless wood species, is normal to see buildup into the firebox and this time of the year burning low is normal a dirty glass. once it gets colder and you burn hotter it will clean up for the most part.
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lsucet
Minister of Fire
reload when you need. Just follow the procedures. You dont have to wait that the cat goes into inactive zone. give you some time. between the manual and many of us here you will get the hang out of it
As long as you don’t stall the cat, you’re always going to produce more creosote reloading with 3 - 4 sticks several times a day, than you would with just loading it full once per day. This is because you’re putting a lot of creosote into the chimney during the bypass phase after each reload.
Figure out how many sticks per day you need to keep your house warm, load the stove with that, and just choose a setting that will give you a 24 hour burn. If that setting (due to low draft or poor wood) calls the cat to fall out of the active range, increase thermostat setting very slightly and decrease wood load accordingly.
Figure out how many sticks per day you need to keep your house warm, load the stove with that, and just choose a setting that will give you a 24 hour burn. If that setting (due to low draft or poor wood) calls the cat to fall out of the active range, increase thermostat setting very slightly and decrease wood load accordingly.
SuperJ
Feeling the Heat
I burn way more wood if I try and keep the fire going.
In the shoulder season it seems like I can warm up my house pretty quick, and it drops slowly when the fire is out. I don't like lighting fires though, so sometimes I'm willing to sacrifice a couple splits to ride out the day even if I don't really need the heat. If keep it going low and slow during a warmer day (say warmer than 50f), my living room and kitchen overheats slightly to about 76
If I was willing to light a small hot fire once a day, I bet I would burn half the wood in the shoulder season.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
Wow - lots of thoughts going on here, some over thinking to, just load the stove up until you cant get anymore splits in it, set stove on high setting until you get good flames, then set the t-stat air control to the desired heat output setting, play with the stove to see what it does so you can learn it. reload as needed.
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