A fifteen hour Blaze King burn.

[Highbeam]

Ok i will go turn it up and report back in an hour

No, try it for a day or at least a couple of full loads! Maybe you were joking?

 

[bholler]

I did not say anything about 20 hours. I think your house needs more heat than that. You need to use a higher thermosat setting so that you can burn up most of the fuel before reloading and not lose too much house temperature as the fuel dwindles.

You need to try some things instead of arguing. You've got the stove but you need to operate it differently. If you aren't willing to even try then maybe you should go back to your noncat and be happy.

To be clear i have tried lots of different settings some resulted in a cold house when i got home because there wasnt enough heatoutput. Others resulted in a cold house because the fuel was gone when i got home. Everyone says bks are set it and forget it now you tell me i have to go turn up the thermostat partway through??? I have never heard that recomendation before on here.

 

[bholler]

The knob should be wide open pointing at 6 o'clock pointing to the floor. If not you need to calibrate it.

Yeah i figured that out after i replaced it but that doesnt change how it functions just where the pointer is. I should rotate it though

 

[bholler]

No, try it for a day or at least a couple of full loads! Maybe you were joking?

No i wasnt joking you told me to go turn up the thermostat to maintain house temp so i said i would.

 

[bholler]

And btw the house has dropped 3 degrees in the last hour

 

[Highbeam]

To be clear i have tried lots of different settings some resulted in a cold house when i got home because there wasnt enough heatoutput. Others resulted in a cold house because the fuel was gone when i got home. Everyone says bks are set it and forget it now you tell me i have to go turn up the thermostat partway through??? I have never heard that recomendation before on here.

No. Do not turn the thermostat up partway through unless you need to. If, at any time, you feel like you need more heat or less heat you can turn it up or down but the goal is to find the setting that matches the heat loss from your home for the whole load of fuel. This isn't like a noncat.

You know that it takes a certain amount of wood to keep your home warm all day. Regardless of the stove. What you need to do is burn that much wood per day by choosing the corresponding thermostat setting. Then leave it alone until the fuel is mostly gone. In no case will the BK waste wood any faster than your regence when it's doing the same job.

If your house is too cold before the fuel runs out then you chose a thermostat setting that is too low. I think that is what you're doing now.

If your house gets too hot then you chose a thermostat setting too high.

Stop short loading. Do some testing, over days, with the thermostat setting and full loads. Try and be a little bit objective and give this thing an honest try.

 

[Highbeam]

And btw the house has dropped 3 degrees in the last hour

Really? The stove half full of wood on maximum stat setting and it can't keep up?

Max stat setting is all the way clockwise.

 

[bholler]

No. Do not turn the thermostat up partway through unless you need to. If, at any time, you feel like you need more heat or less heat you can turn it up or down but the goal is to find the setting that matches the heat loss from your home for the whole load of fuel. This isn't like a noncat.

You know that it takes a certain amount of wood to keep your home warm all day. Regardless of the stove. What you need to do is burn that much wood per day by choosing the corresponding thermostat setting. Then leave it alone until the fuel is mostly gone. In no case will the BK waste wood any faster than your regence when it's doing the same job.

If your house is too cold before the fuel runs out then you chose a thermostat setting that is too low. I think that is what you're doing now.

If your house gets too hot then you chose a thermostat setting too high.

Stop short loading. Do some testing, over days, with the thermostat setting and full loads. Try and be a little bit objective and give this thing an honest try.

I have done plenty of testing through the whole season.

 

[jetsam]

Really? The stove half full of wood on maximum stat setting and it can't keep up?

I think I'd have to open a couple windows, or have it be 30 below and windy outside, for that to happen.

 

[bholler]

Really? The stove half full of wood on maximum stat setting and it can't keep up?

It is far from half full mayby 1/8 full at most and it isnt at max setting either like i said it was closed 1/4 which i guess would be about 3:00 if my knob was set correctly i just turned it up to what would be 4.5

 

[Diabel]

Well the knob on mine is open all the way at 12:00. I typically run around 9:00 below that in these temps which have been about what we averaged this winter the hiuse will loose temp if i turn it down lower.

Beholler
Are we running the same stove? Of did you mistype this?

My thermo. at 12:00 is fully closed.

I think you mistyped it.

 

[pjohnson]

That does it! I swear virtually all BK posts are related to the burn time which is soooo long, it needs to be expressed in scientific notation. Sometimes, I think I should purchase a BK just so I can make a post something like this...

"Hey guys, just bought a BK. Doesn't matter which model - they are all endorsed by the Council of Great Stoves. First burn - knew I had to have a smaller fire so that I can bake in the stove paint. Went into my kitchen and got 3 toothpicks (wood - no artificial colors/ingredients - couldn't test the moisture content as the probes were bigger than the toothpick, but felt dry). Took the wood load to the firebox and placed them on the surface. I was told in numerous forums, that a BK doesn't need a light, combustion just happens! Sure enough, as soon as I had closed the door to the BK and peered into the viewing window, and magically, the toothpicks started burning! Set the controls down for a low burn - just to get the stove up to temp. I watched the three toothpicks continue to burn like the proverbial burning bush in the Bible account - burning, but not consumed! Knowing that a BK is a 'set it and forget it', that's what I did. Checked in just before retiring for the night, and they were still burning! Pretty amazed - but went to bed. In the morning, the house was perfectly warm and no smell from the paint. Looked in the viewing window - and lo and behold - there were tiny beds of ash - just enough for me to toss in another toothpick to get it going again. A minute later - I put in 2 more toothpicks and I'm monitoring the burn right now. Amazing stove! Truly magical."

Jealous much

 

[Highbeam]

It is far from half full mayby 1/8 full at most and it isnt at max setting either like i said it was closed 1/4 which i guess would be about 3:00 if my knob was set correctly i just turned it up to what would be 4.5

That last 1/8 of a load is just the dwindling chunks of carbon. Like with any stove, there's not much energy left in that. If you had a proper stat setting throughout the burn, your house would be cooling now in anticipation of the next reload. Also, even though the stat setting is constant the actual throttle blade would be quite far open while the stove does its best to extract heat from the remaining crumbs.

Get your knob fixed and try another load at a higher setting if your house is colder than you would like at any point during the full burn cycle.

You do get that nomatter what happens, the heat from that fuel load is being dumped into your home right? What you're dealing with now is properly metering the heat so that you can maintain a comfortable range of inside temperature.

 

[bholler]

Beholler
Are we running the same stove? Of did you mistype this?

My thermo. at 12:00 is fully closed.

I think you mistyped it.

The one i am running makes almost a full turn. Where i put the knob on it is full open at 12 full close at 1.
The first pic is closed second is open

 

[Diabel]

virtually all BK posts are related to the burn time."

Wrong!

We also discuss the BK looks......!

 

[Diabel]

The one i am running makes almost a full turn. Where i put the knob on it is full open at 12 full close at 1.
The first pic is closed second is open

Got it.

Mine is the total opposite. Newer model I suppose.
Thanks for clarifying pic

 

[bholler]

That last 1/8 of a load is just the dwindling chunks of carbon. Like with any stove, there's not much energy left in that. If you had a proper stat setting throughout the burn, your house would be cooling now in anticipation of the next reload. Also, even though the stat setting is constant the actual throttle blade would be quite far open while the stove does its best to extract heat from the remaining crumbs.

Get your knob fixed and try another load at a higher setting if your house is colder than you would like at any point during the full burn cycle.

You do get that nomatter what happens, the heat from that fuel load is being dumped into your home right? What you're dealing with now is properly metering the heat so that you can maintain a comfortable range of inside temperature.

Yes i understand how wood heating works. And as i said this it the stat setting i need to maintain temp in my house with current outside temps. And by the time i get down to coals like i am now it simply doesnt put out enough btus. If i turn up the stat that will happen faster. If i turn it down the house looses temp. So what do you sugest?

 

[lsucet]

@bholler, what you need is to calibrate the knob correctly, this way we can offer better help to you regardless your testing and experience. We can compare almost apple to apple.
Nobody is saying that the BK is the best stove for you and your application, but something is not matching many of our experience. You like to go by the book as you mentioned before, why this have to be the exception to your rules?
Calibrate the knob, fill it up, spike the temperature a little and dial it in. Most of us with princess run them around 2 o'clock on the dial. Plus/minus. If you need more heat that why you have that dial, dial it up a little and find the settings that suits you best.

 

[bholler]

Got it.

Mine is the total opposite. Newer model I suppose.
Thanks for clarifying pic

No the knob was broken when it was lent to me and i put the knob on wrong i know that now but i am used to it where it is and it doesnt change the function at all so i havnt fixed it

 

[bholler]

@bholler, what you need is to calibrate the knob correctly, this way we can offer better help to you regardless your testing and experience. We can compare almost apple to apple.
Nobody is saying that the BK is the best stove for you and your application, but something is not matching many of our experience. You like to go by the book as you mentioned before, why this have to be the exception to your rules?
Calibrate the knob, fill it up, spike the temperature a little and dial it in. Most of us with princess run them around 2 o'clock on the dial. Plus/minus. If you need more heat that why you have that dial, dial it up a little and find the settings that suits you best.

I have done that and that setting for me if the knob was right would be 3. 2 works when it is in the 40s to 50s outside. We just havnt had much of that this year. Mostly 30s.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

He's never burned a BK until this year. I don't even think he's owned any cat stove until now. But yes there are people in this world who have been doing things wrong for decades. We see it all the time.

Good point.

We are all friends here, so I'm not trying to be inflammatory.

That said, think about how you feel when you get the Christmas card from friends you like, but goes on for a couple of pages about how great everything is with thier life.

BK stoves are great. We get it. Particularly in cool seasons, and the termostat is a nice feature that makes heating with wood nicer.

But to go on and on and on about it incessantly for years.... come on, brother.

 

[bholler]

And yes i go by the book. But the position of the pointer on the knob doesnt affect anything. Like i said i will go get an allen wrench set from the shop and fix it but it doesnt really matter.

 

[lsucet]

And yes i go by the book. But the position of the pointer on the knob doesnt affect anything. Like i said i will go get an allen wrench set from the shop and fix it but it doesnt really matter.

It can change cause when we know that not everyone place, location, etc is the same, we still can have a point of reference to start from there. If you are telling us you are burning at 9 o'clock, for us you are speaking another language. Why? It doesn't match our setting at all and our burning habits. Like I said possibly is not the right stove for you but at least try it in the right way.

 

[Highbeam]

And yes i go by the book. But the position of the pointer on the knob doesnt affect anything. Like i said i will go get an allen wrench set from the shop and fix it but it doesnt really matter.

I agree that the known pointer location doesn't really matter except for the sake of comparing setting with the people trying to help you dial this thing in. I also like to have the pointer point at the dial so that I can repeat the setting.

If you're really letting each load burn down to 1/8, which is about the size of one split, then that's pretty normal and if your house is warm then that's a good stat setting. If that means reloading every 8 hours then your house just takes that much wood and it is what it is. I propose that your noncat regence would be very similar in wood use, burn time, and comfort. No magic right?

The next question is just what in the heck is wrong with your house that you need 2.8 cubic feet of oak btu per 8 hours? That's a horrific amount of heat for a 2000 SF 2 story home. Red oak has 24 million btu per cord. which is 187500 per CF. The full stove holds 2.8 so lets say 525,000 btuper load. 75% efficiency means you deliver 394,000 btu to the home is 8 hours. That means 49000 btu per hour to keep the bholler house warm when it's relatively warm outside! Didn't you say 30 degrees? That's a 14000 watt space heater constantly on!
It also means you will burn 11.8 cords per 6 months

 

[Highbeam]

Good point.

We are all friends here, so I'm not trying to be inflammatory.

That said, think about how you feel when you get the Christmas card from friends you like, but goes on for a couple of pages about how great everything is with thier life.

BK stoves are great. We get it. Particularly in cool seasons, and the termostat is a nice feature that makes heating with wood nicer.

But to go on and on and on about it incessantly for years.... come on, brother.

So Ed. This site is about woodstoves and woodburning and this particular thread is about the BK. That's what we do here. Year round. Every year. If you want to talk about stoves, often the same exact discussions, this is where you go.

On and on. Incessantly for years.

If you just don't like talking about cat stoves then you are missing out on the fastest growing segment of wood heaters. You are missing out on helping those operators optimize their performance.

On and on. Incessantly for years.

You're pretty new here Ed. You can just skip the stuff you don't want to read about. I know I do.

If you have some constructive input then speak up.