A fifteen hour Blaze King burn.

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

I reserved judgement on all you BK folks for several years. I even suggested that BKVP send bholler a stove to convert him. Which he, or someone else, apparently did, to his credit.

Now I'm reading all these posts about how bholler is burning it wrong, it's his fault, can't be the stove!

I'm still trying to get my head around why some of @Ashful posts are about the wood sipping ashfords, others are about the tons and tons of wood he has to process every year to keep up.

We all need a tribe, we are a social creature. I'm here because of that. Totally get it. But if your tribe is BK stove burners? Uh oh.

We look forward to having you back among the general population soon.

 

[bholler]

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

I don't know where you came up with 11.8 cords but I am nowhere near that loading 3x a when temps drop to the 30s.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

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.

I think I'm being constructive. You're no longer being objective.

 

[Highbeam]

I think I'm being constructive. You're no longer being objective.

I meant that we welcome your constructive input. But you should know that this forum does rehash the same discussions over and over. I am trying to be objective, please correct me if I'm not.

 

[Highbeam]

I don't know where you came up with 11.8 cords but I am nowhere near that loading 3x a when temps drop to the 30s.

If you load a 2.8 cubic foot stove 3 times a day, every 8 hours, that's 8.4 cubic feet of wood per day. If you do this 180 days per year than that's 1512 cubic feet of wood. 128 cubic feet in a cord so that's 11.8125 cords of oak per year.

Are you not reloading every 8 hours?

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

I meant that we welcome your constructive input. But you should know that this forum does rehash the same discussions over and over. I am trying to be objective, please correct me if I'm not.

You are right. Sorry for the flair up. We all have overfires. Well, unless we have thermostat control. ;-)

 

[SpaceBus]

If you load a 2.8 cubic foot stove 3 times a day, every 8 hours, that's 8.4 cubic feet of wood per day. If you do this 180 days per year than that's 1512 cubic feet of wood. 128 cubic feet in a cord so that's 11.8125 cords of oak per year.

Are you not reloading every 8 hours?

No, it's impossible to load a stove to its stated capacity. Wood is not a liquid, it does not take the shape of its container. I have a feeling Bholler is not as fanatical about loading as the average forum going BK owner. He's probably not filling every nook and cranny with wood, or maybe he's using smaller splits. It doesn't really matter, because nobody is getting 2.8 cubic feet of wood in a stove with a 2.8 cubic foot fire box.

 

[Highbeam]

Now I'm reading all these posts about how bholler is burning it wrong, it's his fault, can't be the stove!

As more facts come out it is sounding like bholler is doing the best he can. If what he says is true then I can't think of a way to improve his experience. That's the conclusion I drew up in post #74 above.

That said, we all know that there is no magic and if he is really burning through so much wood per day then why isn't he roasting? That's the next logical step to improving his experience with whatever stove he chooses.

 

[bholler]

If you load a 2.8 cubic foot stove 3 times a day, every 8 hours, that's 8.4 cubic feet of wood per day. If you do this 180 days per year than that's 1512 cubic feet of wood. 128 cubic feet in a cord so that's 11.8125 cords of oak per year.

Are you not reloading every 8 hours?

Yes I am now but not for 6 months. I rarely heat for 6 months at all. I usually start mid to late October and stop early to mid March. So 4 to 5 months

 

[Highbeam]

No, it's impossible to load a stove to its stated capacity. Wood is not a liquid, it does not take the shape of its container. I have a feeling Bholler is not as fanatical about loading as the average forum going BK owner. He's probably not filling every nook and cranny with wood, or maybe he's using smaller splits. It doesn't really matter, because nobody is getting 2.8 cubic feet of wood in a stove with a 2.8 cubic foot fire box.

As long as you fill your woodstove just as densely as you stack firewood in your stacks then the math works out. All stages of the math assume normal sized splits stacked with air gaps. The firebox on a 2.8 CF BK actually provides 2.8 usable cubic feet of firebox volume unlike some other brands.

A solid 128 cubic foot block of oak would contain much more than 24 million btu.

 

[Highbeam]

Yes I am now but not for 6 months. I rarely heat for 6 months at all. I usually start mid to late October and stop early to mid March. So 4 to 5 months

Okay, lets do the math for that then. 4 months instead of 6 means 7.9 cords. That's only one part of your problem though.

The other part is where is the 49000 btu per hour going! Open windows?

 

[bholler]

And yes absolutely there are plenty of times I short load because if I can't make it to 12 hours i will be out of the house or asleep when it's time to load the stove. That is not the stove fault just my schedule. And yes opening up the stat at the end of the burn did help maintain temps. I just reloaded at 11 hours with the house at 65.

 

[bholler]

Okay, lets do the math for that then. 4 months instead of 6 means 7.9 cords. That's only one part of your problem though.

The other part is where is the 49000 btu per hour going! Open windows?

I also am by no means loading 3x a day for that entire 4 months. Plus the short loads mentioned above. Last year with the regency I used about 3.5 cords. I am guessing this year will be similar but that will depend on the winter.

 

[Highbeam]

I also am by no means loading 3x a day for that entire 4 months. Plus the short loads mentioned above. Last year with the regency I used about 3.5 cords. I am guessing this year will be similar but that will depend on the winter.

Good news, 8 cords is a lot!

So if you use 4 cords per year and burn for 4 months then that works out to 4.3 cubic feet per day (Funny that is the firebox volume of a king!) which is only 1.5 loads per day in the princess. That's a 16 hour burntime per full load on average.

You can't have it both ways. Either you reload every 16 hours or you burn way more than 4 cords per 4 months. Is there another possibility you can think of? I thought you didn't have a shoulder season. You said like a week!

A 16 hour burn cycle is very typical for forum members when heating normal homes with oak when it is in the 30s.

 

[bholler]

Good news, 8 cords is a lot!

So if you use 4 cords per year and burn for 4 months then that works out to 4.3 cubic feet per day (Funny that is the firebox volume of a king!) which is only 1.5 loads per day in the princess. That's a 16 hour burntime per full load on average.

You can't have it both ways. Either you reload every 16 hours or you burn way more than 4 cords per 4 months. Is there another possibility you can think of?

A 16 hour burn cycle is very typical for forum members when heating normal homes with oak when it is in the 30s.

First off you haven't subtracted anything for the coals and ash in the bottom of the stove. Or the fact that some were short loads and the fact that you cant actually fit 2.8 cu ft into a 2.8 cu ft stove. And no i don't load 3x a day the whole time I never said I did. I didn't with the regency either.

 

[Highbeam]

Tell you what? Spend some time with it.

First off you haven't subtracted anything for the coals and ash in the bottom of the stove. Or the fact that some were short loads and the fact that you cant actually fit 2.8 cu ft into a 2.8 cu ft stove. And no i don't load 3x a day the whole time I never said I did. I didn't with the regency either.

Okay, I can do the math for whatever changes you want to make. 1" of ash, 2"? and yes you can actually fit 2.8 cubic feet of wood into the 2.8 cubic foot stove but if you want to only partially fill it just tell me what that is. 90% full? I've actually measured, the princess volume spec is spot on if not conservative.

It doesn't matter, this is too much detail. We've gotten enough clarity today about your burn habits to know that you have room for improvement if you wanted the best performance. Fully filling the stove, not shortloading, etc. I guess it's like driving a corvette, you can either drive it fast or you can idle around the neighborhood.

 

[Diabel]

80% load


Halfass load.

 

[jatoxico]

This conversation is awesome!

BK is to be commended for pushing the wood burning technology envelope and our expectations of what a wood burning appliance can achieve; but did you see the thread where one frustrated member considered selling his BK? The gang turned on him. When you're a Jet you're a Jet all the way.

 

[Diabel]

What happened to the member from Alaska, can’t remember his name. He had a chimney clog up on him and the house fill with smoke using a Princess.

 

[SpaceBus]

I understand the BK phenomenon. They are expensive stoves and we all want validation for our decisions. This behavior is nothing compared to automotive enthusiast forums.

 

[Diabel]

I understand the BK phenomenon. They are expensive stoves and we all want validation for our decisions. This behavior is nothing compared to automotive enthusiast forums.

Good point.

My father once told me “we are too poor to buy cheap things”

 

[Highbeam]

View attachment 238605
80% load

View attachment 238604
Halfass load.

I don't know how many more splits you could have gotten into that 80% load. Looks like nearly 100% to me. You can't count the air gaps between splits because you're just trying to replicate stacked wood in the fuel storage. Not a solid block of wood.

I didn't "turn on" that one guy that maybe decided to switch to an NC30. I provided him encouragement that the NC30 has been good for me and sent him photos.

 

[jetsam]

This conversation is awesome!

BK is to be commended for pushing the wood burning technology envelope and our expectations of what a wood burning appliance can achieve; but did you see the thread where one frustrated member considered selling his BK? The gang turned on him. When you're a Jet you're a Jet all the way.

drhii, who had the secret flue that nobody was allowed to see, and whose stove, which is basically a steel box with three holes in it, filled his house with smoke every time he used it?

That dude had at least ten pages of people trying to help him with a simple problem and he wasn't having any of it from anyone who didn't think that his door gasket was causing draft reversal.

I am not so sure you can cite that one as an example of a gang turning on a former member.

 

[jatoxico]

I guess I should've added a smiley so it was crystal clear I was funnin' you fella's.

 

[SpaceBus]

drhii, who had the secret flue that nobody was allowed to see, and whose stove, which is basically a steel box with three holes in it, filled his house with smoke every time he used it?

That dude had at least ten pages of people trying to help him with a simple problem and he wasn't having any of it from anyone who didn't think that his door gasket was causing draft reversal.

I am not so sure you can cite that one as an example of a gang turning on a former member.

I started the secret flue chronicles, but I didn't read to the end. Glad to know it was mostly the same.