BK Ashford 25 (and Sirocco 25)

[Rama]

Rama thanks for posting pics, it looks even better in reality than I was imagining!

How has it been burning for you? I imagine it's been mostly low burns lately which would explain the blackened glass. Any other details about the burn, flames, fan noise etc is appreciated.

I think it burns good - only had it going for three days, then the weather got warm all of a sudden. Mind you, this is the first wood stove I've owned with only three days under my belt to boot, so not much to compare it to.

I pretty easily got 15-16 hour burns out of one load without trying too hard and it heated up our house quite well. I've kept the fan between medium (puts out plenty of air) and low (not really audible). I definitely hear the fan on high. The fan even on low really helps push out the heat. Haven't had the best luck getting the glass clean but will figure that out when it cools off again.

That looks fantastic! I hope you love it as much as I love my BK! Keep us updated.

Thanks Rick! My wife and I designed the cast stone surround, a lot of work went into it all. It used to look like this a few weeks back:

 

[SculptureOfSound]

I was wondering if that was a custom job - the arch seemed to fit so perfectly. Thought maybe you just got lucky - but I see now a lot of hard work went into it. Fantastic results! I think BK should use some of your photos (just with clean glass ) as promo material, it looks THAT good.

Awesome to hear on the long burns! Are you turning it as low as it goes to get those burn times? Also curious how long your chimney is - and is it interior or exterior?

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

Hey everyone, been a reader here for a month or so now trying to figure things out as I'm new to burning wood for heat. I went with the Ashford 25 and installed it a few weeks back. I couldn't find much discussion or pics about it specifically either but I read through the things mellow posted regarding his Sirocco 25 since its the same box different trim. Here are some pics of mine:

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Looks good Rama. Very clean install.

What will you use to fill the gap between the floor and hearth?

 

[Rama]

I was wondering if that was a custom job - the arch seemed to fit so perfectly. Thought maybe you just got lucky - but I see now a lot of hard work went into it. Fantastic results! I think BK should use some of your photos (just with clean glass ) as promo material, it looks THAT good.

Awesome to hear on the long burns! Are you turning it as low as it goes to get those burn times? Also curious how long your chimney is - and is it interior or exterior?

Thanks for the compliments! It stayed on low for most of the time and medium for 3 hours, but like I said I only used it for 3 days and I'm pretty sure I could get longer out of it. The chimney is 15', full mansory, exterior, but our winters are very mild averaging mid 30's to 50's and rarely ever going below freezing.

 

[Rama]

Looks good Rama. Very clean install.

What will you use to fill the gap between the floor and hearth?

Most likely a piece of 5/16 oak flooring plank slid in the gap as if the hearth sits on that. Bullnose the exposed edge and play with the depth -a sort of reducer if you will. I'll clean up the bottom of the stone as well to smooth out that edge.

 

[SculptureOfSound]

Thanks for the compliments! It stayed on low for most of the time and medium for 3 hours, but like I said I only used it for 3 days and I'm pretty sure I could get longer out of it. The chimney is 15', full mansory, exterior, but our winters are very mild averaging mid 30's to 50's and rarely ever going below freezing.

Wow that is awesome to hear such long burn times and no draft issues with a relatively short exterior chimney. Mine is also exterior and will be extended to 15' and I was worried the low and slow but may not work so well in that setup.

One more random question if you don't mind - how warm is the top shelf getting when it is burning? I am trying to figure out if it would get warm enough to run an eco fan. Does it get too hot to touch?

 

[Pertzbro]

Hey everyone, been a reader here for a month or so now trying to figure things out as I'm new to burning wood for heat. I went with the Ashford 25 and installed it a few weeks back. I couldn't find much discussion or pics about it specifically either but I read through the things mellow posted regarding his Sirocco 25 since its the same box different trim. Here are some pics of mine:

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Where the heck is the input and output for the fan? I dont see much for air grates or openings....

 

[mellow]

Where the heck is the input and output for the fan? I dont see much for air grates or openings....

Sucks from the bottom and blows out above the door. The fans are actually on a tray underneath, makes it real easy to clean them.

 

[Rama]

Wow that is awesome to hear such long burn times and no draft issues with a relatively short exterior chimney. Mine is also exterior and will be extended to 15' and I was worried the low and slow but may not work so well in that setup.

One more random question if you don't mind - how warm is the top shelf getting when it is burning? I am trying to figure out if it would get warm enough to run an eco fan. Does it get too hot to touch?

I may have brushed up against that shelf once and it was HOT but to be honest I didn't pay much attention to it sorry. Won't be burning again until next week or once it cools off.

 

[Rama]

Regarding long burn times and draft, I want to do some tests to try figure it out, but the last day I burned, it was the warmest of the 3 days (low of 48, high of 75) and I kept the unit on low. I got a distinct smoke smell, no mistaking it, coming from the left side of the unit in line with the door hinges and the upper left air vent, as if the vent was pushing it out. The air coming from the right vent was odorless, the left, strongly smelt of smoke. Maybe it was the wind that day, bad draft due to higher outside temperature etc., don't know. I'll play with it some more and see.

 

[gunpowda]

I'm also a first time burner, recent first time home buyer. Couldn't wait to buy a wood stove.

House has a masonry chimney so an insert was the most economical decision.

Anyway, waiting for my ashford 25 to be installed. I ordered it 2 weeks ago.

I won't be happy with a smoke smell. Is this a common problem?

On another note - these forums are great and I appreciate the wealth of experience. Looking forward to colder temps!

 

[mellow]

I won't be happy with a smoke smell. Is this a common problem?

Its a common problem during the shoulder season when you lose draft due to the warm temps outside and a cool liner. Its one of the reasons why a cat insert is highly recommended to be installed with a 15ft+ insulated liner is due to its low burning ability.

I found I had to turn mine up a bit in shoulder season to keep the liner warm to maintain draft.

Once the cold temps hit you can run it as low as your setup will allow.

 

[Pertzbro]

Its a common problem during the shoulder season when you lose draft due to the warm temps outside and a cool liner. Its one of the reasons why a cat insert is highly recommended to be installed with a 15ft+ insulated liner is due to its low burning ability.

I found I had to turn mine up a bit in shoulder season to keep the liner warm to maintain draft.

Once the cold temps hit you can run it as low as your setup will allow.

I agree. With never being a wood burner, you do have to expect to have some small amount of smoke and wood burning smell. You cannot negate that 100%. In most conditions you only get the wood burning ambiance and the nice wood burning smell outside but you can on occasion depending on draft get some small amounts of smoke on startup and reload. As long as the temps are colder (below 45F) you turn off the fan, ceiling fan and slowly open the door, you shouldn't have much of any issues with smoke.

 

[SculptureOfSound]

In shoulder season would short hot fires be less likely to smoke than a low + slow? Obviously you'd lose the nice steady heat output, but if abating smoke were the main goal, would that be the way to go?

 

[mellow]

Best I can say is try it. So many variables it changes night to night and depends on your setup. I am still burning low on mine but I have to keep a small active flame to keep the temps up, but it's still lower than a tube stove.

 

[SculptureOfSound]

@BKVP or anyone else who might know - is there any way to reduce mantle clearances other than the mantle shield that is sold with the Sirocco/Ashford?

A mantle clearance of 54" as it is, coupled with a raised hearth, means either a really high mantle or redoing the mantle with something non-combustible. Instead of using a shield that attaches to the insert, can I build a shield on the underside of the mantle?

 

[BKVP]

@BKVP or anyone else who might know - is there any way to reduce mantle clearances other than the mantle shield that is sold with the Sirocco/Ashford?

A mantle clearance of 54" as it is, coupled with a raised hearth, means either a really high mantle or redoing the mantle with something non-combustible. Instead of using a shield that attaches to the insert, can I build a shield on the underside of the mantle?

Install a MagraHearth non combustible mantle. They look as good 6" away as they do here: http://magrahearth.com/

Otherwise, no other tested option to a combustible mantle.

 

[Tegbert]

Install a MagraHearth non combustible mantle. They look as good 6" away as they do here: http://magrahearth.com/

Otherwise, no other tested option to a combustible mantle.

Do you have any pictures of the shield installed on a ashford shroud? I ordered my ashford last week with the shield and just wondering what it looks like


Lopi Rockport

 

[BKVP]

Do you have any pictures of the shield installed on a ashford shroud? I ordered my ashford last week with the shield and just wondering what it looks like


Lopi Rockport

Checking with IT staff, no pictures in-house. Perhaps someone here may have used one in an installation and can post an image.

Just a thought to moderators, is there or should there be a section where install images (by manufacturer) can be cataloged? Seems to be a often requested item.

 

[SculptureOfSound]

I've seen those magra hearths mentioned before. They look nice. Any ballpark idea what they run for say a 6 foot distressed plank?

 

[BKVP]

I've seen those magra hearths mentioned before. They look nice. Any ballpark idea what they run for say a 6 foot distressed plank?

No idea. They are distributed by Mendota I think. You mount a metal bracket to wall, slide mantel over bracket, screw from top into bracket and have a drop of a good Irish beverage.

 

[gunpowda]

AF25 installed today. Of course it was 77 degrees today.... Will be burning this weekend

 

[SculptureOfSound]

That looks really sharp gunpowda! How are you liking it so far?

 

[Paybax]

Well got my Sirroco 25 installed this week. My installer said you must have a BK or someone you know does as I knew what I wanted. Nope it was because of this forum.

We have a 2900sqft home and our older Surefire stove couldn’t heat this place suffiently and it was located in the kitchen, which is the backside of our chimney and living room fireplace. We decided to get the BK insert, remove the old woodstove and add more kitchen cabinets.

First of all the paint curing was a bit torchereous lol. However after that we have been super happy and impressed with the performance. Day 2 I tested the burn time, medium splits of Fir overnight burn. Next morning after 10 hours on low I couldn’t even top the stove back up before I went to work. I decided to grab the poker and make room, I ended up fitting in only one split. So super happy there. It heats this house amazingly, we have just over 20 foot ceilings in half of our home and NO ceiling fan but the heat stays down in our living room pretty well. 21 degrees down here and 24 upstairs (you can convert to Fahrenheit if you want). All the BK hype is real and justified!! To add our blower isn’t even hooked up yet too.

Here is a picture taken right now. We don’t have the sheet metal surround up yet and it’s dark in here. I will post another once the install is done. This is one of the rare times you will see flames in my BK lol

 

[Rama]

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AF25 installed today. Of course it was 77 degrees today.... Will be burning this weekend

Nice looking unit gunpowda! How is yours working so far?