2018-19 Blaze King Performance Thread Part 1 (Everything BK)

[AlbergSteve]

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.

You'll have to experiment with turning the stove down a bit at a time without letting the cat go inactive. If the cat's active, it's burning off creosote.

ut 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.

If the bypass is open, it won't hurt 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.

If you wait for the cat to go inactive, you may not have coals left to do a hot start. Every time you do a cold start, that's a dirty start, putting creosote where you don't want it - up the chimney and in the atmosphere.

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.

Load the stove on your schedule. I'm burning cedar right now so I'm not getting long burns ie. not 25 hours, but 12-14. Last night I loaded before going to bed, about 10pm and at 9am this I loaded again, even though there was a quarter load left from last night. We never come home 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?

Doesn't hurt to get a good char on the wood before closing the bypass if it's inactive, otherwise close it after loading. If I have a full load, 20-30 minutes is typical.

There's a bit of a learning curve with these stoves, especially as temperatures change and the type of wood used changes - took us a couple of months. Once you've got it sorted out, it'll be just as easy as setting the furnace thermostat!

 

[lsucet]

Doesn't hurt to get a good char on the wood before closing the bypass. If I have a full load, 20-30 minutes is typical.

I dont know if the ashford is the same but the princess you have to be careful burning too hot cause you can damage bypass retainer if the bypass is open more than is needed. I dont know either if that apply to older models and newer models are improved. But for sure once the cat probe is crossing the inactive/active zone you should shut the bypass. some here go by flue temp or whatever comes to temp first (cat or flue). I almost always get the cat to temp first cause i start the fire at front and on top of the load similar to a top/down fire. That helps to get the cat to temp first.

 

[AlbergSteve]

I dont know if the ashford is the same but the princess you have to be careful burning too hot cause you can damage bypass retainer if the bypass is open more than is needed. I dont know either if that apply to older models and newer models are improved. But for sure once the cat probe is crossing the inactive/active zone you should shut the bypass. some here go by flue temp or whatever comes to temp first (cat or flue). I almost always get the cat to temp first cause i start the fire at front and on top of the load similar to a top/down fire. That helps to get the cat to temp first.

I'll amend that, yes I close the bypass immediately afyer reload if the cat is active.

 

[bholler]

@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.

Well yeah obviously i said i am burning it more and the house is more constant. I know that is why i am burning more now. But at this rate it will have to use way less wood once it gets cold to make up the difference.

 

[begreen]

Well yeah obviously i said i am burning it more and the house is more constant. I know that is why i am burning more now. But at this rate it will have to use way less wood once it gets cold to make up the difference.

Based on reports here, once it gets cold and the stove is pushed for heat the differences between technologies shrink quite a bit. I will be curious to see what you experience.

 

[rdust]

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”.

I have a 45 about 30 inches up and it will be 300+ on the outside of the doublewall 45 in no time if I get flames shooting up the bypass. 30’ of chimney has a tendency of pulling the flames pretty high up the pipe. If the flames were just licking the bypass I’d have no worries.

I have no issues sweeping the chimney a couple/few times a season.

 

[bholler]

I have a 45 about 30 inches up and it will be 300+ on the outside of the doublewall 45 in no time if I get flames shooting up the bypass. 30’ of chimney has a tendency of pulling the flames pretty high up the pipe. If the flames were just licking the bypass I’d have no worries.

I have no issues sweeping the chimney a couple/few times a season.

300 on the outside of doublewall is way to hot.

 

[moresnow]

I have routinely been told to expect wood savings of about 1/4. So far i have used considerably more wood.

Somebody with years of BK experience please go over to BH's place and check out his burning routine! Sumpin ain't makin sense. At all? How can you burn more in a stove you should only need to load every 12 to 20 hours?

@bholler. I have zero question that you are a very experienced, safe, stove operator. Not trying to offend you here. This just makes no sense. Unless your home just requires gobs more heat than most BK users?

Are you actually letting active flame occur throughout your burn? If so, you have your answer. For my setup/stove any active flame after initial char will smoke through a load lickety split! Fill us in if you get a moment. Very curious.....

 

[chemie]

@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.

Ashful , can you elaborate on this ?
Thanks

 

[bholler]

Somebody with years of BK experience please go over to BH's place and check out his burning routine! Sumpin ain't makin sense. At all? How can you burn more in a stove you should only need to load every 12 to 20 hours?

@bholler. I have zero question that you are a very experienced, safe, stove operator. Not trying to offend you here. This just makes no sense. Unless your home just requires gobs more heat than most BK users?

Are you actually letting active flame occur throughout your burn? If so, you have your answer. For my setup/stove any active flame after initial char will smoke through a load lickety split! Fill us in if you get a moment. Very curious.....

No it doesnt require more heat. But with the bk i am loading a partial load every 12 hours. In my regency i would load the same ammount of wood once a day. Ashful explained it pretty well. Yes the heat is much more constant but i was perfectly comfortable doing it the other way as well. Really the only time it was a little chilly was in the morning no big deal.

And no i am turning it down as low as i can without stalling the cat.

 

[Ashful]

@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.

Ashful , can you elaborate on this ?
Thanks

Sure, but there were two separate points, and I’m not sure which you meant.

1. Energy consumption. Power loss is proportional to the difference between heat source and heat sink, and energy is simply power integrated over time. I say “integrated” because the difference in the source and sink temperatures are both varying thru the day.

2. Burning at times when you might not, because the BK has the capability of better turn-down, so you get away with burning it on days when other stoves might roast you out of your house. More days of burning = more wood used. Bholler confirmed this is the case.

For the record, I’ve never claimed a BK burns less wood than any other stove, due to it’s technology. I have claimed that I’m doing more heating with less wood in my own situation, but have many times pointed out that’s due to two other dominant factors:

1. My BK’s are convective, and my old stoves were radiant. A radiant stove doesn’t work in my situation.

2. I have changed my burning habits to simply reload on a schedule that suits my life, rather than the heating needs of the house. If the stoves can’t keep up, I let the boiler kick in, this is different than the way I ran the old stoves.

So, I’m as curious as bholler, as to how the wood usage shakes out.

 

[bholler]

Sure, but there were two separate points, and I’m not sure which you meant.

1. Energy consumption. Power loss is proportional to the difference between heat source and heat sink, and energy is simply power integrated over time. I say “integrated” because the difference in the source and sink temperatures are both varying thru the day.

2. Burning at times when you might not, because the BK has the capability of better turn-down, so you get away with burning it on days when other stoves might roast you out of your house. More days of burning = more wood used. Bholler confirmed this is the case.

For the record, I’ve never claimed a BK burns less wood than any other stove, due to it’s technology. I have claimed that I’m doing more heating with less wood in my own situation, but have many times pointed out that’s due to two other dominant factors:

1. My BK’s are convective, and my old stoves were radiant. A radiant stove doesn’t work in my situation.

2. I have changed my burning habits to simply reload on a schedule that suits my life, rather than the heating needs of the house. If the stoves can’t keep up, I let the boiler kick in, this is different than the way I ran the old stoves.

So, I’m as curious as bholler, as to how the wood usage shakes out.

Your previous jotuls were also not very good stoves at all.

But i agree with whdt you are saying. I am cuirious as well. I do like how it heats without a doubt. We will see how it goes. I am sure it will work well. Just not sure it will work well enough for me to shell out the money for one of my own when the time comes.

 

[tarzan]

I have a 45 about 30 inches up and it will be 300+ on the outside of the doublewall 45 in no time if I get flames shooting up the bypass. 30’ of chimney has a tendency of pulling the flames pretty high up the pipe. If the flames were just licking the bypass I’d have no worries.

I have no issues sweeping the chimney a couple/few times a season.

Have you considered a pipe damper?

 

[chemie]

Sure, but there were two separate points, and I’m not sure which you meant.

1. Energy consumption. Power loss is proportional to the difference between heat source and heat sink, and energy is simply power integrated over time. I say “integrated” because the difference in the source and sink temperatures are both varying thru the.

I meant the first point. I still don’t get that when it is cold outside , to reach the same temperature say 72 dF, you use less wood than when it is warmer outside.

Other points make perfect sense.

 

[Ashful]

I meant the first point. I still don’t get that when it is cold outside , to reach the same temperature say 72 dF, you use less wood than when it is warmer outside.

Other points make perfect sense.

Hah... no, you use more wood when it gets colder out! What I meant in the original first point is that the BK may be using more wood than his old stove did at this time of year because it is keeping the house at a more consistent 72F, or whatever temperature bholler keeps his joint. With his old stove, he may have pumped the house up to that temperature morning and evening, but then let it cool in between. Those hours where the house is cooler translate to less net heat loss. Small differences per day, but adding up to a noticeable difference in wood usage over time.

 

[chemie]

Hah... no, you use more wood when it gets colder out! What I meant in the original first point is that the BK may be using more wood than his old stove did at this time of year because it is keeping the house at a more consistent 72F, or whatever temperature bholler keeps his joint. With his old stove, he may have pumped the house up to that temperature morning and evening, but then let it cool in between. Those hours where the house is cooler translate to less net heat loss. Small differences per day, but adding up to a noticeable difference in wood usage over time.

That clarifies it. I was thinking energy formulas and conversions to justify it .I even asked my wife about any formulas that I may be missing. We both couldn’t come up with an explanation. It turned out to be a misunderstanding!

 

[Ashful]

With the name chemie, I figured we’d understand one another. I did a large part of my graduate work in semiconductor physics.

 

[chemie]

I am PhD in Chemistry but specialized in Molecular Biophysics. My brother is physicist though.

 

[jetsam]

Your previous jotuls were also not very good stoves at all.

But i agree with whdt you are saying. I am cuirious as well. I do like how it heats without a doubt. We will see how it goes. I am sure it will work well. Just not sure it will work well enough for me to shell out the money for one of my own when the time comes.

If you don't like it now, you won't like it this winter.

It's a regular stove all winter. It's a Magic Stove in shoulder season.

 

[jetsam]

If we get uniforms, they need to say "GEEKS WITH CHAINSAWS" somewhere on them.

 

[bholler]

If you don't like it now, you won't like it this winter.

It's a regular stove all winter. It's a Magic Stove in shoulder season.

Its not that i dont like it. I do like it. But its not magic.

 

[dh1989]

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.

The sticks per day number is going to vary by outside temperature. I can't fully load my stove until the outside temperatures drop into the 30s or I overheat the house, even running on low. I check the daily weather forecast and take the average of the high and low temperature, then subtract it from 65. This is the forecasted heating degree days number for the day. With some trial and error you can find the amount of wood you need to heat your house to the desired temperature and divide that into the number of heating degree days. I use 1.3 lbs of wood per HDD. When I load using that formula, the fire burns out on warm days and the house stays comfortable. On cold days I end up running 2 loads a day to meet the wood weight I need, and the house still stays comfortable. I use one of the cheap orange 5 gal buckets with a luggage scale to measure the wood.

 

[AaronMColeman]

Along these lines, how do you burn times change when it gets cold? We are already having 30F day temps and 15F overnight...it’ll get negative in another 4-6 weeks.

If you get 24 hours when it’s 50 daytime and 30 night, what do you get when it’s 30 day and 10 night?

 

[lsucet]

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.

This is my load of pine tonight. Pine is okay. That is what I burn 70 to 80% every winter.

 

[lsucet]

Along these lines, how do you burn times change when it gets cold? We are already having 30F day temps and 15F overnight...it’ll get negative in another 4-6 weeks.

If you get 24 hours when it’s 50 daytime and 30 night, what do you get when it’s 30 day and 10 night?

Everything depends on your heat demand to keep the temperature you like. Everybody situation is different. Some like it hotter than other, their houses are more leaky than other, climate on specific area, etc.