2020-21 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)

[BKVP]

Or...just maybe...sip on a vintage bourbon and not think about the flame path..we already worked that out for you.

 

[AndrewU]

Or...just maybe...sip on a vintage bourbon and not think about the flame path..we already worked that out for you.

I’m partial to Single Malt Scotch. Though I can’t afford the good stuff. But at $25/bottle Finlaggen is surprisingly decent.

 

[stoveliker]

Or...just maybe...sip on a vintage bourbon and not think about the flame path..we already worked that out for you.

How can one not think about the appealing display behind that (somewhat sooty) window...

But yes, bourbon !

Edit: sport-> sooty. Autocorrect...

 

[BKVP]

I’m partial to Single Malt Scotch. Though I can’t afford the good stuff. But at $25/bottle Finlaggen is surprisingly decent.

Middleton Very Rare 35 Year!

 

[Nealm66]

I burned a 8 of the Idaho logs last night because my remaining wood isn’t quite ready yet. They burned fine and they were still fairly solid this am considering the setting I had them on. I did notice they didn’t put out quite as much heat when I cranked it up for reload which I thought was odd. Be glad when my wood on the drying rack is ready. It’s close, 19 on one and 21 on a bigger. Splits are pretty big

 

[Diabel]

I burned a 8 of the Idaho logs last night because my remaining wood isn’t quite ready yet. They burned fine and they were still fairly solid this am considering the setting I had them on. I did notice they didn’t put out quite as much heat when I cranked it up for reload which I thought was odd. Be glad when my wood on the drying rack is ready. It’s close, 19 on one and 21 on a bigger. Splits are pretty big

It will be ready next fall for sure!

 

[Raoul]

I have no doubt the answer to my question is somewhere on this forum but...

Is it safe to burn my Ashford 25 insert with the fan off for extended time? It heats the house easily and i would like to set it as low as I can and turn off the fan.
Thanks.

 

[lsucet]

I have no doubt the answer to my question is somewhere on this forum but...

Is it safe to burn my Ashford 25 insert with the fan off for extended time? It heats the house easily and i would like to set it as low as I can and turn off the fan.
Thanks.

You don't have to use the fan if it is not necessary. 90 to 95%of my burns are without the fans. Some not even have them.

 

[Tron]

You don't have to use the fan if it is not necessary. 90 to 95%of my burns are without the fans. Some not even have them.

No fans on my Chinook, either. Works fine without, although I do have the ceiling fan on for heat distribution.

 

[BKVP]

I have no doubt the answer to my question is somewhere on this forum but...

Is it safe to burn my Ashford 25 insert with the fan off for extended time? It heats the house easily and i would like to set it as low as I can and turn off the fan.
Thanks.

You're good to go.

 

[hardcore]

Well, I bought an Ashford 30 in metallic black. I made the mistake of stopping in to look at them in person. Boy, that was a mistake! I just sat and opened and closed the door. Best door hinge design I have seen. Then the owner of the shop said, pull out the ashpan. Couldn't believe how smoothly it pulled out. Just a lot of attention to detail. It came with a blower and I really like the blower design as well going right through the stove.

It's going to be a while before I actually install it. Going to remove all the laminate flooring and my current hearth and lay down porcelain wood tile in my whole living room. They had the chestnut brown enamel and it was beautiful but there is just something about a black stove that seems right.

If this thing is as good as I'm hoping, I might have to replace my cabin wood stove with the same model. Time will tell. In the meantime, lots of work to do!

 

[kennyp2339]

Last night dropped down to 14 with a stiff wind from the NW (right off the swamp by me) loaded the princess around 8pm (kicking myself in the butt for not taking a pic) but I had (3) huge 8" diameter un-split oak leads that I jammed into the fire box on a hot bed of coals, 13 hrs later the stove is still chugging along, stove top is running about 475 deg f, lots of big lumps of tree coal in the rear of the fire box and most importantly, a warm house that didnt drop below 68deg. Not bad in my book.

 

[stoveliker]

(3) huge 8" diameter un-split oak leads

Nice! Can I ask how long this has been seasoned (covered, after bucking)? I've been hesitant not splitting oak... Did you debark?

 

[kennyp2339]

Nice! Can I ask how long this has been seasoned (covered, after bucking)? I've been hesitant not splitting oak... Did you debark?

Those logs were cut 3 years ago and put into the wood shed as is 2 years w/ bark, I got this idea way back when @BKVP posted that he threw in this huge square round before leaving town. The rounds had that look to them that they should weigh a certain weight but when you pick them up they feel lighter, also had some good check marks on the ends.

 

[stoveliker]

Those logs were cut 3 years ago and put into the wood shed as is 2 years w/ bark, I got this idea way back when @BKVP posted that he threw in this huge square round before leaving town. The rounds had that look to them that they should weigh a certain weight but when you pick them up they feel lighter, also had some good check marks on the ends.

ok. Thanks.
I had some oak rounds stacked (off the ground, tarped) b/c my split-wood storage was full (I needed to work on that).
This was wood I got in April 2020 or so. Rounds of 12-18" dia. I just split all I had laying like that, and I noticed that there were already bugs (whitish larvae, possibly the Roundheaded borer larvae) under the bark, digging 1/4-1/2" tunnels. I found similar in standing dead pine that had progressed farther in. I was concerned that this would accelerate rot/punking of the wood. Split wood seems to be too dry for these bugs. But you having it 3 years w/o major issues is good news.

 

[Highbeam]

ok. Thanks.
I had some oak rounds stacked (off the ground, tarped) b/c my split-wood storage was full (I needed to work on that).
This was wood I got in April 2020 or so. Rounds of 12-18" dia. I just split all I had laying like that, and I noticed that there were already bugs (whitish larvae, possibly the Roundheaded borer larvae) under the bark, digging 1/4-1/2" tunnels. I found similar in standing dead pine that had progressed farther in. I was concerned that this would accelerate rot/punking of the wood. Split wood seems to be too dry for these bugs. But you having it 3 years w/o major issues is good news.

My bonus corona load of logs I processed this summer was “tops” which included a lot of 6” logs. I have found the Bk loves very large splits of dry fuel and my normal splits are nearly 6”. So what was I supposed to do? Just stack all of these rounds? It felt weird so I split off a little bit of most of them to open the bark. Lots of 7/8 rounds. My old neighbor got lots of the little 3” cast offs that looked like slab wood. I much prefer the 2-4 foot diameter logs!

 

[Hoytman]

Last night dropped down to 14 with a stiff wind from the NW (right off the swamp by me) loaded the princess around 8pm (kicking myself in the butt for not taking a pic) but I had (3) huge 8" diameter un-split oak leads that I jammed into the fire box on a hot bed of coals, 13 hrs later the stove is still chugging along, stove top is running about 475 deg f, lots of big lumps of tree coal in the rear of the fire box and most importantly, a warm house that didnt drop below 68deg. Not bad in my book.

Thanks for posting your stove top temps. Most don’t seem to do that, they just set the stove to run at the room temps they want. Which BK model are you running and how many square feet of home are you heating?

I wished everyone would report their stove top temps along with the information I asked you (home size and stove model). It gives someone who already has a stove but is looking to buy a new BK, it helps them determine which model stove might work best for them for a real world comparison rather than relying solely on a brochure.

 

[Nealm66]

Where should we put the stove top thermometer?

 

[Hoytman]

Shouldn’t matter as long as it’s the hottest spot on the top. Or get an average stove top temp with an IR gun.

 

[stoveliker]

Does that make sense for a stove with a shroud about 2" above the stove box? The temps there might be very low because the convection shedding of the heat is designed much better on one stove than the other.

What matters is amount of BTU s in, and the flue temps (as that is where any BTU goes that's not used to heat the room). Those numbers are condensed into the efficiency that is determined with standard testing procedures.

Stove top temp is not a good measure for folks trying to see if one stove is better than another.

 

[Holiday]

The Ashford has a cast top over the stove like mentioned, the fan blows air through this space so stove top temp doesn't tell you much from a comparison angle.
I do have one on there just for fun and it does tell me the temp stays consistent for almost the full length of the burn but you just run these stoves where you need it to heat the house based on outside temperatures and heat loss from your home more than anything.

 

[kennyp2339]

I run a princess and have the stove top thermometer in the upper left corner of the cat chamber, its lets me know when I'm cruising along better when I have a no flame fire box and the cat is doing the majority of the work.

 

[Holiday]

lets me know when I'm cruising along better when I have a no flame fire box and the cat is doing the majority of the work

Have mine top center under cat probe as it shouldn't get as much air under that area on this stove. Tells me same thing, I don't know if I've ever really burnt this thing with active flames much beyond reloading in the year and a half I've had it

 

[Nealm66]

I notice, or I think I notice, my total heat output depends on how full I load it. I can get the same cat and temp readings but have more or less total heat output. At least that’s my perception. I’ve also determined that placing one large piece on a big bed of coals at a pretty high setting should only be reserved for cold days when there’s no plans to use the kitchen oven.

 

[Holiday]

I find split size plays a small part in heat output and burn time. After that it's thermostat setting and quality or weight of the wood I put in that affects length of burn. I usually run the stove at around a 16 to 24 hour burn in general for my house.
Putting a large piece in actually provides a longer slower heat output in my experience. If it put out too much heat chances are you could have run it on a lower setting and had a longer burn.