2019-20 Blaze King Performance Thread Part 1 (Everything BK)

[jetsam]

Well here's hoping someone invents a better wash coat. Something cheap that can go to 2500° without sagging!

 

[Diabel]

I am sure one has already been invented. Not for us commoners however.

 

[Highbeam]

Well here's hoping someone invents a better wash coat. Something cheap that can go to 2500° without sagging!

Dont forget, 20,000 hour life expectancy.

 

[shoot-straight]

Remember you can temper the force of the air by distance- nossle right up on the cat, too much. Nossle 6" away, ok?

 

[Ashful]

I am sure one has already been invented. Not for us commoners however.

I think you’re right, but with a few caveats:

1. Cost. Cat stoves have always had to compete on the sales floor with non-cats, and if you start putting $1000 combustors into their purchase price, the competition is over.

2. Substrates. What is the point of a wash coat that lasts 2x - 4x linger, if the ceramic or steel substrate crumbles or distorts in less than that time, in the hands move most stove operators?

3. Regulation. Stove manufacturers have to qualify their stove with one combustorr, with an option to choose just one backup. This precludes them from qualifying the stove for sale with multiple different combustor options.

 

[Tron]

Guys,

my Blaze King will (hopefully) be installed this afternoon, and while studying the manual one question came up:

Say I run the stove in the afternoon and by bedtime the fire is at about "halftime". Now if I didn't need the stove at night (we dial down the temperature at night anyway), I suppose I could let the fire die down by closing the thermostat completely, right?

If I do that to let the stove go out, should I do that with the bypass open or closed? I suppose that the flue temperature will drop rather quickly (and the cat go inactive), so common sense tells me I should probably open the bypass in that situation, right?

On a side note, I fetched some firewood we cut fresh last spring and which has been sitting covered and well-ventilated outside. My meter shows 14-16% moisture across the board (with just one pine log peaking at 20%). Looks like the Mississippi heat is good for something, after all...

 

[Alpine1]

If the draft of your setup is strong enough, dialing the t-stat all the way down will not let the cat go out of the active range. You’d be “riding the hole” as they say. Once the cat is engaged and active, leave the bypass closed. You’ll find with use and experience that “sweet spot” on the dial that will let you have an active cat with minimal heat (if so you desire), and plenty of coals to reload the morning after.
Since November, I started my Ashford twice from cold, because of ash removal. Why would you let yours go cold?

 

[showrguy]

If the draft of your setup is strong enough, dialing the t-stat all the way down will not let the cat go out of the active range. You’d be “riding the hole” as they say. Once the cat is engaged and active, leave the bypass closed. You’ll find with use and experience that “sweet spot” on the dial that will let you have an active cat with minimal heat (if so you desire), and plenty of coals to reload the morning after.
Since November, I started my Ashford twice from cold, because of ash removal. Why would you let yours go cold?

We can’t all “ride the hole”... especially on a CAT with some time on it..

 

[Tron]

Ok, I guess I'll have to see if the residual air supply/draft is enough to keep it running or not. I might only give it a half load for those instances. I guess it won't harm the cat if it is engaged when the fire goes out as there are no harmful gases being emitted at that point. I suppose that when it sits cold, it does not matter if the bypass is open or closed, only on startup.

Why would you let yours go cold?

Well, there is really no need to heat the living room at night (and the warm air probably won't make it through the corridors to the bedroom anyway), and our thermostats dial down when nobody is at home during the workday, so I will only need it again the following evening.

Winter is not that harsh down here, so with the "away" temperature set to 65, the furnace never has to kick in until we get home in the evening. First-world-problems, I know.

 

[Ashful]

... but then you’re coming downstairs to a cold house, in the morning?

To answer your question, it’s best to just let it complete it’s normal cycle. If you want the stove out at night, plan ahead and load with less earlier in the day.

 

[Highbeam]

Ok, I guess I'll have to see if the residual air supply/draft is enough to keep it running or not. I might only give it a half load for those instances. I guess it won't harm the cat if it is engaged when the fire goes out as there are no harmful gases being emitted at that point. I suppose that when it sits cold, it does not matter if the bypass is open or closed, only on startup.



Well, there is really no need to heat the living room at night (and the warm air probably won't make it through the corridors to the bedroom anyway), and our thermostats dial down when nobody is at home during the workday, so I will only need it again the following evening.

Winter is not that harsh down here, so with the "away" temperature set to 65, the furnace never has to kick in until we get home in the evening. First-world-problems, I know.

Rather than deal with this by attempting to shut off your stove, you’ll need to do a good job of loading it so that the fire runs out of fuel as your day ends. Or just leave it running so the space stays warm.

In my moderate climate I often have to partially load the stove to be sure that it goes out before the home gets too warm and so that I can stay on my once per day reload schedule. No part of this operation includes snuffing an active fire.

 

[Tron]

... but then you’re coming downstairs to a cold house, in the morning?

No downstairs here, just ground floor all the way. If I had an upstairs bedroom, the heat would probably find it's way there...
Currently we let it cool down at night, and the thermostat is programmed to start heating up again at 5 am, so it will be warm when I get up at 5:30. The furnace would have to work a little less if the living room was warm throughout the night, but it sounds a little like a waste of wood.

So partial loads to run through the evening and if it's still burning at bedtime dial it down for the night seems the best way to go. I have sensors throughout the home, so I'll see how temperatures behave. Here's how it currently looks like.

Thanks, guys!

(Delivery delayed until tomorrow because of rain. They only have an open trailer and don't want the stove to get wet. At least they thought of that...)

 

[Highbeam]

So partial loads to run through the evening and if it's still burning at bedtime dial it down for the night seems the best way to go.

Why dial it down? Just let it burn out. If you insist on dialing it down then do not turn it down so far that you defeat the clean burn. Whatever wood is in the box before bedtime should be consumed cleanly by morning.

 

[Tron]

Ok, noted.
Thanks!

 

[Woody Stover]

... but then you’re coming downstairs to a cold house, in the morning?

It gets cold in Jackson, MS?
Wait, I just checked NWS; He's got a couple nights coming where it gets in the low 30s..fire weather. That might be it for the season, though.
At any rate, it's gonna take a long time with no fire before your house gets cold down there, unless it's got no insulation.

 

[jetsam]

No downstairs here, just ground floor all the way. If I had an upstairs bedroom, the heat would probably find it's way there...
Currently we let it cool down at night, and the thermostat is programmed to start heating up again at 5 am, so it will be warm when I get up at 5:30. The furnace would have to work a little less if the living room was warm throughout the night, but it sounds a little like a waste of wood.

So partial loads to run through the evening and if it's still burning at bedtime dial it down for the night seems the best way to go. I have sensors throughout the home, so I'll see how temperatures behave. Here's how it currently looks like.

Thanks, guys!

(Delivery delayed until tomorrow because of rain. They only have an open trailer and don't want the stove to get wet. At least they thought of that...)

You may end up just burning it 24x7 once you see what "low" is on that stove.

 

[Ashful]

Currently we let it cool down at night, and the thermostat is programmed to start heating up again at 5 am, so it will be warm when I get up at 5:30. The furnace would have to work a little less if the living room was warm throughout the night, but it sounds a little like a waste of wood.

It’s not a waste, if it’s saving you oil on the morning warm-up! Yeah, your heat loss during the night will be just a few percent higher, as heat loss is proportional to indoor minus outdoor temp, but that’s not all that much, in your climate. That’s why you’re burning though, to save on traditional fuel, right?

In my case, wood is free, and oil $3/gallon, so I’ll happily waste a few cords of “free” to save a few tanks of $3/gallon! Also, as I age and find myself awake in the middle of the night more often, I appreciate getting up to a warm house!

 

[Tron]

I would not say the house is badly insulated (it's not up to MY standards, though), and it is pretty new, so not really drafty. I still don't understand why anyone in their right mind would be ok with "stained concrete floors", which is just the top of the foundation, really, and is very chilly to walk on in winter, even when the inside temperature is high enough. All-through-the-house-hardwood-floors for the win!

In reality, heating weather is any outside temperature lower than your comfort temperature. True, a whole lot more heating is required if it's -20 than compared to 60, but still. That is one of the reasons I chose the BK, because it can be effectively used in what you guys call shoulder season and what we call winter. Back in Germany we had this 5-ton masonry stove that went through 20 lbs of firewood in two hours, just to get started (but kept the warmth for >12h after the fire had died), and we did not fire it up when it was above 50 outside, because it would just get too warm. But then, this stove really was not controllable at all. So I'll see, I may even end up running the BK most of the time on low during "winter". I know to make sure the cat is in the active range.

I have a large, wooded lot, so technically firewood is "free" for me, too. But you have to calculate chainsaw and chain wear, fuel and oil into the equation. And the fact that you touch every piece of firewood at 3-5 times before you can burn it. Our main source of heat energy is natural gas, so maybe not as expensive as oil, but it adds up. But the BK stove is a great deal for the comfort a warming fire brings, I really don't expect it to pay off anytime soon. After all, just the stove and the chimney were just short of $8k, not counting the weekends spent throwing out that nasty gas log furnace and getting the alcove nice and neat.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I would not say the house is badly insulated (it's not up to MY standards, though), and it is pretty new, so not really drafty. I still don't understand why anyone in their right mind would be ok with "stained concrete floors", which is just the top of the foundation, really, and is very chilly to walk on in winter, even when the inside temperature is high enough. All-through-the-house-hardwood-floors for the win!

In reality, heating weather is any outside temperature lower than your comfort temperature. True, a whole lot more heating is required if it's -20 than compared to 60, but still. That is one of the reasons I chose the BK, because it can be effectively used in what you guys call shoulder season and what we call winter. Back in Germany we had this 5-ton masonry stove that went through 20 lbs of firewood in two hours, just to get started (but kept the warmth for >12h after the fire had died), and we did not fire it up when it was above 50 outside, because it would just get too warm. But then, this stove really was not controllable at all. So I'll see, I may even end up running the BK most of the time on low during "winter". I know to make sure the cat is in the active range.

I have a large, wooded lot, so technically firewood is "free" for me, too. But you have to calculate chainsaw and chain wear, fuel and oil into the equation. And the fact that you touch every piece of firewood at 3-5 times before you can burn it. Our main source of heat energy is natural gas, so maybe not as expensive as oil, but it adds up. But the BK stove is a great deal for the comfort a warming fire brings, I really don't expect it to pay off anytime soon. After all, just the stove and the chimney were just short of $8k, not counting the weekends spent throwing out that nasty gas log furnace and getting the alcove nice and neat.

I had never even heard of, much less seen, a stained concrete floor until we went house shopping in Texas. Some were done better than others, but it’s definitely not my thing. We love our hardwood floors, but our huge family room/kitchen area/eating area where our insert now resides has tile. I know that’s one reason we used to feel so chilly being in that area on winter days.

We had our insert installed the first weekend of January, which is historically the time when temperatures begin their subtle climb down here. We expected to burn a little and then be done except for the occasional fire when a cold front blows in. We’ve been surprised just how much 24/7 burning we’ve done. We have a non-cat insert with no handy-dandy thermostatic control, so we do control heat output by the amount and type of wood we load (no big live oak pieces at 4:00 in the afternoon). We also have five or six people home, so we’re not really interested in letting the temperature drop too much. We have been so much happier this winter with a place to bask, and the gas furnace in that part of the house hasn’t run since the stove was installed. I’m sure you’ll enjoy that wood heat for what’s left of the season. It will be hot soon.

 

[kennyp2339]

I think I only have about 4 more weeks of burning left in this season, we have at least one more cold snap then the long range mid March and beyond shows above average temps (early spring for once) This year has been such a pleasure to burn with the BK, we had a few decent cold snaps, a few almost sub zero days and plenty of warm days, having a stove that will burn pretty clean with an adjustable thermostat paid dividends this year, before owning a BK I was burning a US stove 2500 and would go through about 6 cords a season constantly to hot or to chilly, when I installed the BK i was able to drop my wood consumption to about 4 cords a season, this year literally running the stove 24 /7 since mid November only adjusting the t-stat for heat output I put myself at just over 2 cords burnt so far, talk about wood savings and only shutting down once after x-mas to do a quick chimney cleaning, name another stove you can do that to.

 

[Tron]

It's going to be chilly until the weekend, but 75 again early next week ;-)

The stained concrete floors don't look bad, but it's the same as with tiles, they get cold to walk on. Personally I love tiled floors, but you have to have under-floor-heating to make it comfortable. Otherwise, hardwood floors all the way.

 

[Highbeam]

before owning a BK I was burning a US stove 2500 and would go through about 6 cords a season constantly to hot or to chilly, when I installed the BK i was able to drop my wood consumption to about 4 cords a season, this year literally running the stove 24 /7 since mid November only adjusting the t-stat for heat output I put myself at just over 2 cords burnt so far, talk about wood savings and only shutting down once after x-mas to do a quick chimney cleaning, name another stove you can do that to.

We hear this over and over when people make the switch from noncat to a good and properly sized cat stove. It happened to me too when moving from a modern hearthstone noncat. More comfort and at least 20% less wood. Not so much due to the efficiency improvement but due to the constant temperature control. On top of this, being able to only reload once per day has allowed me to enjoy wood burning more and have more time for other hobbies.

 

[Highbeam]

It's going to be chilly until the weekend, but 75 again early next week ;-)

The stained concrete floors don't look bad, but it's the same as with tiles, they get cold to walk on. Personally I love tiled floors, but you have to have under-floor-heating to make it comfortable. Otherwise, hardwood floors all the way.

Dangerously off topic here but I poured about 500 SF of interior slab to convert a giant sloped garage into living space. I put 2" of insulation foam under the concrete and steel troweled the surface with cool burned swirls and then clear coated it. This is the master bedroom and a living room. Because of the insulation IMO, these floors are not cold, very comfortable, unless the whole house gets cold and then you need to warm everything back up. Getting those concrete floors inside the heated space is very important for comfort.

Put foam under your concrete!

 

[jetsam]

Here's yesterday's load (about 3/4 of a load because of some odd shaped pieces). This is about 16 hours into the burn, 350° stovetop. I am guessing it has another ~3 hours of 350 stovetop in it, and probably 8+ hours of 200+ stovetop, more if you take the tegfan off the stove. I imagine this stove could go 40 hours with one of Ashful's Stove Choker Stove Blocks™ in there.

It's a whole different world for those of us who were used to the old stoves.

 

[Tron]

Not so much due to the efficiency improvement but due to the constant temperature control.

Efficiency and Emissions are certainly an advantage of cat stoves, but couldn't a non-cat stove achieve the same temperature control? I mean, it's all about burn rate control (although that obviously would need to be a bit higher than with a cat).