2022-2023 BK everything thread

[Nealm66]

You're right! Who needs a door. Couldn't wait any longer so I fashioned a screen out of 1/4" mesh. By-pass open and thermostat on high. The fire took off great and we're burning a couple sticks in the back. Not exactly how I'm planned on using the stove, but we have a fire!

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Holy cow! Wait for the door! Lol

 

[Ashful]

A buddy of mine moved to Utah for a while and said they don’t stop for red lights or pedestrians lol. I met some other folks that said the same thing

I guess any stories are best reserved for another thread, but you're not a "pedestrian" in many parts of Philly, you're just another "target".

 

[Nealm66]

Whew, I was outside early this am and got chilled and stuffed a full load of Doug fir in the princess. 43 outside and 73.6 inside. I’ve been burning a bunch of cedar and cotton wood and forgot how much more heat the fir puts out

 

[Dieselhead]

You're right! Who needs a door. Couldn't wait any longer so I fashioned a screen out of 1/4" mesh. By-pass open and thermostat on high. The fire took off great and we're burning a couple sticks in the back. Not exactly how I'm planned on using the stove, but we have a fire!

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@BKVP be like

 

[Highbeam]

@BKVP be like

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He's only a long walk away from the BK factory too. No loaner doors from the dealer?

 

[PropTwister]

He's only a long walk away from the BK factory too. No loaner doors from the dealer?

They have a brushed nickel and a gold door, but not willing to loan me one. I knew they were back ordered when I bought the stove but I was hoping by the time I got the hardwood floor cut out, hardy backer/tile laid down and the stove installed, the dealer would get one in. Clearly, I was wrong though. Not upset with the dealer though as he was upfront about not having a door. But you're right, I'm not far from the factory and actually grew up in the Walla Walla Valley.

 

[PropTwister]

I received and put my new stove door on a couple hours ago, (thank you @BKVP ) and my Blaze King 40 is up and running. To folks trying to decide on a new stove, I can't emphasize enough how valuable great customer service is.

I do have a couple questions. With the thermostat set at 3 o'clock, the cat thermometer sits at about 1 o'clock and there is very little glow from the cat. If I move the thermostat to 4 o'clock, the cat thermometer moves to about 3 o'clock and glows bright. Does that sound about right? I was thinking about turning the thermostat down to about 2 o'clock when I go to bed tonight. Even if the cat isn't glowing, will it still keep burning through the night as long as the cat thermometer is still in the active zone? Thanks.

 

[Nealm66]

It should as long as the wood is dry. Enjoy!

 

[Nealm66]

It probably will at 1 but something you need to play with

 

[Stump shot]

I would leave the thermostat at 3 o'clock for the night and see how it does. Most BK won't stall at 3 o'clock.

 

[Highbeam]

I received and put my new stove door on a couple hours ago, (thank you @BKVP ) and my Blaze King 40 is up and running. To folks trying to decide on a new stove, I can't emphasize enough how valuable great customer service is.

I do have a couple questions. With the thermostat set at 3 o'clock, the cat thermometer sits at about 1 o'clock and there is very little glow from the cat. If I move the thermostat to 4 o'clock, the cat thermometer moves to about 3 o'clock and glows bright. Does that sound about right? I was thinking about turning the thermostat down to about 2 o'clock when I go to bed tonight. Even if the cat isn't glowing, will it still keep burning through the night as long as the cat thermometer is still in the active zone? Thanks.

Good job getting a door.


Regardless of whether the cat glows or not, so long as the cat meter stays up above the active line you’re good.

Depending on fuel quality, chimney height, etc. your lowest setting that keeps the cat active may be different than anybody else’s. You’ll need to experiment to find your lowest low.

I like to stay a good bit above the lowest low because flue temperatures go way down as you approach the ragged edge of cat stall.

 

[Ashful]

As Nealm and Highbeam already explained, every install is going to have different times for even slightly different knob positions.

Put a piece of white masking tape on the dial, mark 4 o'clock, and do 3 - 4 consecutive burn cycles at that setting. Average the number of hours required from fresh load to inactive cat (likely close to 14 hours at 4 o'clock in a BK40, scaling up expectations from my 30), and mark that on the tape.

Repeat this at 3 o'clock and 5 o'clock dial settings. Heck, do a few loads at WOT, you won't hurt the thing. Mark the hours next to each setting.

Once that is done, you can re-label the dial with something nicer than masking tape and sharpie (I use color coded triangle pointers of PVC electrical tape), and then you'll have a reference that correlates to your stove on your chimney, for any desired burn rate. Over time, you'll develop a good internal sense as to whether the day calls for a 10 hour burn or a 40 hour burn... or if it makes more sense to only install a half load of wood and set it at the 10 hour mark for something quick and hot before the next warm spell.

 

[Nealm66]

Eventually you’ll know what time it is !

 

[Nealm66]

You can also try and find the spot that keeps your main living space at a desired temperature. It seems to work pretty good for me most of the time within a few degrees. Would be interesting to see what kind of reload cycle that ( finding the desired heat settling) would put you at with the big king.

 

[Nealm66]

I would let the house warm through completely before I tried to find the setting

 

[njk4o5]

for you guys with Ashford 30s, seems like you can run your stoves wide open throttle and it wont burn your house down like my VC would, about how long of a burn do you get when you leave it wide open?

 

[Ashful]

for you guys with Ashford 30s, seems like you can run your stoves wide open throttle and it wont burn your house down like my VC would, about how long of a burn do you get when you leave it wide open?

I've been running one load per day at WOT, recently. The thermostat in the stove self-regulates, it won't overfire. It takes about 4-6 hours from filling the box with fresh cold white oak, until cat is hovering on edge of inactive. Ash or Walnut do the same in about 3-5 hours, most of the variability being my own ability to play Tetris.

The beauty of these things is that, with the turn of a knob, I can stretch the same load to 24 - 36 hours, walnut vs oak.

 

[PropTwister]

Thanks Everyone, I really appreciate the input. I ran the thermostat at 3 o'clock for about 13 hours. When I got up this morning, I cranked it up to about 5 o'clock for another 4 hours before I did the reload. There was still hot coals and unburnt wood in the box, but the cat had dropped back to about the 12 o'clock position and I wanted more heat. I will try marking that thermostat and experimenting with burn times and find the wife's comfort setting. It's a learning process, but hey, that's what life's all about! Thanks again for all your help.

 

[Ashful]

It's a learning process, but hey, that's what life's all about!

Case in point, Nealm and I clearly have different ways of approaching this, he is looking at room temperature and I'm only looking at burn hours. But we both have found what works for us. There's more than one way to skin this cat, and you'll find what works for you, after a few weeks.

 

[Highbeam]

I've been running one load per day at WOT, recently. The thermostat in the stove self-regulates, it won't overfire. It takes about 4-6 hours from filling the box with fresh cold white oak, until cat is hovering on edge of inactive. Ash or Walnut do the same in about 3-5 hours, most of the variability being my own ability to play Tetris.

The beauty of these things is that, with the turn of a knob, I can stretch the same load to 24 - 36 hours, walnut vs oak.

That's a pretty awesome range of available steady outputs and really the biggest benefit of these stoves. You'll have some biased anti cat folks trying to tell you that the 4-6 hour high burn doesn't make much heat or that these stoves have no high end but 3 cubic feet of white oak in 4 hours is a lot of output.

 

[Nealm66]

Case in point, Nealm and I clearly have different ways of approaching this, he is looking at room temperature and I'm only looking at burn hours. But we both have found what works for us. There's more than one way to skin this cat, and you'll find what works for you, after a few weeks.

One more thing I’ll add is I had mine shooting for around 72 and it does pretty good but it varies more towards the higher side more than lower in my house. So I guess I’d recommend shooting a little lower than desired at first to see if yours does the same.once the bones of the house heat up it’s tough to cool it down vs turn it up. Have fun.

 

[Ashful]

That's a pretty awesome range of available steady outputs and really the biggest benefit of these stoves. You'll have some biased anti cat folks trying to tell you that the 4-6 hour high burn doesn't make much heat or that these stoves have no high end but 3 cubic feet of white oak in 4 hours is a lot of output.

Agreed. I don't get how people always claim these stoves have no top end. They self limit, so I guess the top end is theoretically lower than a non-cat. But on the other hand, overfiring your stove on a daily basis is no economical way to heat your home, which is probably where I'd land trying to consume just shy of 3 cubic feet of white oak in less than 4 hours on any non-thermostatic stove.

But I'm past trying to argue with people about it. The forum is full of poeple who buy a BK and then come back stating they didn't believe the hype, until they had a chance to see it for themselves. In the grand scheme of a household budget, these things are cheap enough that those doubting it can put their money where their mouth is, if arguing about it is so important.

You, webby3650, and bholler are among the very few forum regulars I've ever seen give objective opinions on them, both pro and con, having actually owned and burned BK's and non-cats on the same hearth and chimney, for any amount of time. That's worth more than I can ever say about them, having only ever owned cat stoves.

 

[PropTwister]

Agreed. I don't get how people always claim these stoves have no top end. They self limit, so I guess the top end is theoretically lower than a non-cat. But on the other hand, overfiring your stove on a daily basis is no economical way to heat your home, which is probably where I'd land trying to consume just shy of 3 cubic feet of white oak in less than 4 hours on any non-thermostatic stove.

But I'm past trying to argue with people about it. The forum is full of poeple who buy a BK and then come back stating they didn't believe the hype, until they had a chance to see it for themselves. In the grand scheme of a household budget, these things are cheap enough that those doubting it can put their money where their mouth is, if arguing about it is so important.

You, webby3650, and bholler are among the very few forum regulars I've ever seen give objective opinions on them, both pro and con, having actually owned and burned BK's and non-cats on the same hearth and chimney, for any amount of time. That's worth more than I can ever say about them, having only ever owned cat

One more thing I’ll add is I had mine shooting for around 72 and it does pretty good but it varies more towards the higher side more than lower in my house. So I guess I’d recommend shooting a little lower than desired at first to see if yours does the same.once the bones of the house heat up it’s tough to cool it down vs turn it up. Have fun.

Reloaded this morning and found the temp that the wife is comfortable at. On our wall thermostat that is 72 and the house is running stable at that 72 with the stove thermostat at about 4 o'clock and the cat thermometer sitting right up at 3 o'clock and glowing bright. The part that I'm scratching my head on is if I turn the stove thermostat up to the 5 o'clock position the cat thermometer will actually run up out of the high zone to about its 5 o'clock position. I'm thinking that's not a good thing but wondering why it goes that high if it can't over fire? From what I'm experiencing, I will never be able to run at WOT.

 

[Nealm66]

It’s probably the new cat acting weird. I wouldn’t make your mark yet. You might find 70 is a better spot to shoot for and your house bones are probably not completely done warming up yet and it might range from 70-72 more so if you shoot for 70. I can say for certain my wife at her age doesn’t like 74 lol

 

[Nealm66]

Another thing is reloading schedule. 70 might be a real pita reload schedule in the king burning so long. Will be interesting to see where you end up