BK Performance Questions

[Rossco]

Friend of mine is urging me to hook my OAK up. 3". Already installed by the previous owner.

They claim the freezing outside air will regulate the Thermo better.

I:E the stove needs to get real hot before the Thermo will close then the cool air will open it up again once the fire cools.

Am sure the 'Blaze King' Chap mentioned a more efficient, longer burn with OAK.

 

[HotCoals]

Friend of mine is urging me to hook my OAK up. 3". Already installed by the previous owner.

They claim the freezing outside air will regulate the Thermo better.

I:E the stove needs to get real hot before the Thermo will close then the cool air will open it up again once the fire cools.

Am sure the 'Blaze King' Chap mentioned a more efficient, longer burn with OAK.

Possibly true..i could buy into that.

 

[Rossco]

Possibly true..i could buy into that.

Yeah they (Everyone here buys King or Princess) say the OAK is essential.

I find after a few hours everything near the stove including the air is hot. So I don't know how the Thermo could react that well.

The OAK is hidden behind drywall. I would do a similar instal like this.

(broken image removed)

I like the 'Open & Closed' valve on this one.

 

[HotCoals]

Yeah they (Everyone here buys King or Princess) say the OAK is essential.

I find after a few hours everything near the stove including the air is hot. So I don't know how the Thermo could react that well.

The OAK is hidden behind drywall. I would do a similar instal like this.

(broken image removed)

I like the 'Open & Closed' valve on this one.

Interesting and they are right the t-stat is slow to react because of heat built up around the coil.
I would have to punch a hole in my brick to hook one up and that aint happening...lol.

 

[Rossco]

Interesting and they are right the t-stat is slow to react because of heat built up around the coil.
I would have to punch a hole in my brick to hook one up and that aint happening...lol.

Ah nothing a Diamond core drill couldn't fix.

Although you have great success. So why fix something that ain't broke?

My house is fairly old and drafty but I still get negative pressure in the basement and upper level.

 

[HotCoals]

Ah nothing a Diamond core drill couldn't fix.

Although you have great success. So why fix something that ain't broke?

My house is fairly old and drafty but I still get negative pressure in the basement and upper level.

Yep for the most part I can fire up then get the cat going and then turn the t-stat right down and do the long burn even in the shoulder.
I'm on a hill and have a 2 story house and the flue is a straight run all the way up.

 

[Parallax]

Was on the phone today with Chris, aka BKVP. He was extremely helpful. He gave suggestions and we're going to talk again tomorrow after my stove has cooled down. He wants to talk me through checking the cat. We're eliminating possible causes of my problems one at a time. Meanwhile, the installer is going to come out and take another look at the house to see what it would take to extend the chimney pipe higher. He said there's no brace kit to go beyond the 22 feet we're at and he's concerned about it coming down in a storm if not installed correctly. Chris gave me advice on how to burn hotter at startup. Perhaps that will be enough to take care of the issues with the neighbor. I don't think either of us wants a chimney that might collapse anywhere near our homes.

My poor neighbor. My house, built in 2006, looks out at woods that extend far beyond anything we can see. Two and a half miles of woods, all protected from logging and development because we're in a water shed. The only house around mine is the neighbor's but we have no windows looking out that way so one has the sense of being in the middle of a forest primeval. We own the lot next door (on the other side) and our next nearest neighbor beyond that lot, a Canadian couple who are only there about every other weekend, can't even be seen. When they're home, one can their porch light through the woods from windows on that side of the house. The rest of our windows point rearward, at the preserved land. Even in the front, there are no neighbors. Just the one, on the side where we have no windows.

The neighbor on that side had the very same view we have now when his house was built in 2000. It stayed that way until mine came along. Why he didn't buy both lots I do not understand. Now he looks out right onto my house. From his deck and from all his windows, he sees my home framed by woods around it. As if that wasn't bad enough, we then install a wood stove and started belching smoke in his direction, setting off smoke alarms. That's not what I want to do. Will have to figure this out.

 

[bobdog2o02]

Oak, so the stove is at least 350 degrees, and your surrounding air is 85 maybe 90. I don't think the cool air from the oak could have that much effect based on temp alone. I bet its because of the differential pressure increase that the oak presents.

 

[Parallax]

Yep for the most part I can fire up then get the cat going and then turn the t-stat right down and do the long burn even in the shoulder.
I'm on a hill and have a 2 story house and the flue is a straight run all the way up.

I've got a 2 story house and the flue is straight all the way up. Difference is rather than being on a hill, we're at the bottom of one and there are huge trees rising up all around. So it's an area where it's hard to get good draft, at least when the weather is warm. If the chimney rose above the peak of the roof this might change. But that would require us to go at least another section high.

 

[Highbeam]

I'm new to blaze king. What do you mean by needing a big temp swing to get flapper to move? Are you saying the t stat is some how affected by temperature?

The blaze king is one of the only, if not the only, current woodstoves that utilizes a thermostatic intake air system. When you set the dial you are selecting an ouput level and the intake valve will open and shut to accomplish that. It's not perfect and maybe a little slow to respond but for those of us with the proper draft from our chimneys to use the active range of the stat they work very well and are a big upgrade over a fixed intake.

Some folks have such strong drafts that they need to slam their thermostats shut so that they defeat the variable inlet mechanism. Bummer.

 

[Highbeam]

Yeah they (Everyone here buys King or Princess) say the OAK is essential.

I find after a few hours everything near the stove including the air is hot. So I don't know how the Thermo could react that well.

The OAK is hidden behind drywall. I would do a similar instal like this.

(broken image removed)

I like the 'Open & Closed' valve on this one.

Just don't neck it down like that one appears to be. Maintain the full 3" pipe size all the way out. You don't want a restriction on that OAK as these stoves are already low draft appliances. My OAK goes to the ventilated crawlspace.

 

[Rossco]

Just don't neck it down like that one appears to be. Maintain the full 3" pipe size all the way out. You don't want a restriction on that OAK as these stoves are already low draft appliances. My OAK goes to the ventilated crawlspace.

Yeah for sure. The original OAK is 4" but my adaptor plate at the stove is 3". Not gonna bother with a shut off valve.

Am sure the super chilled -20F air that we get here might influence the Thermo a little better.

 

[jeffsk7]

My big concern here is killing the fire. I want to set it and forget it like many people have talked about. Adjusting the t stat won't work when I leave for work. And letting this stove burn on setting 2 all day is over kill. And that won't give me the longer burns I was looking for. Don't see how a thermostat can only adjust to cold air when the house is warm.

 

[Highbeam]

My big concern here is killing the fire. I want to set it and forget it like many people have talked about. Adjusting the t stat won't work when I leave for work. And letting this stove burn on setting 2 all day is over kill. And that won't give me the longer burns I was looking for. Don't see how a thermostat can only adjust to cold air when the house is warm.

It's early in the season yet. Outside temps are in the 60s every day. Two things will happen as the winter progresses. One, your house will need more heat so your lowest dependable non-kill stat setting will be closer to what your house needs, and two, due to colder outside temps the chimney will draft stronger which will maintain cat activity even at lower stat settings.

These stoves work best with good draft. It could be worse, you could be in the pulse and glide world of non-cats. Wood heat is hard when you have a tiny house or small heating needs.

I'm not convinced that cold outside air will matter for the stat. I believe that OAKs are a great idea for all of the other reasons.

 

[Calentarse]

I don't have a heat pump. We have radiant floor heat but it's powered by a propane water heater and is really inefficient. Would run space heaters but would much prefer to operate the stove. I think we need to find a solution, a way to burn without smoking out the neighbor. I'm not sure if a higher chimney would do the trick. When the air is pushing down, there may be no way around this problem.

Maybe be mindful of the wind direction...if it's blowing his way perhaps you don't burn in the shoulder. Turn on the electric heaters. I imagine that'd be cheaper than a pipe extension for the few times the wind would be blowing that particular direction anyhow...

 

[Parallax]

Maybe be mindful of the wind direction...if it's blowing his way perhaps you don't burn in the shoulder. Turn on the electric heaters. I imagine that'd be cheaper than a pipe extension for the few times the wind would be blowing that particular direction anyhow...

This morning I restarted the stove the way BKVP recommended, with the door left slightly open to draw in more air. Got a much cleaner burn. Will follow up with the neighbor but this may have solved that issue. Still have an issue with not quite enough draft. Figuring that part out.

 

[Parallax]

My big concern here is killing the fire. I want to set it and forget it like many people have talked about. Adjusting the t stat won't work when I leave for work. And letting this stove burn on setting 2 all day is over kill. And that won't give me the longer burns I was looking for. Don't see how a thermostat can only adjust to cold air when the house is warm.

I'm new to all this but have been using the stove every day and long burn times have not been an issue. We've got the OAK. Our draft is not quite what it should be but the stove throttles down well and stays lit all day. If the cat crashes, it's not a big deal to disengage it when you get home and open the thermostat. The fire comes right back and then you can throttle it down again. Where we are, the outdoor temps are mostly in the 50s right now and sometimes up into the 60s, so still pretty warm.

 

[Highbeam]

This morning I restarted the stove the way BKVP recommended, with the door left slightly open to draw in more air. Got a much cleaner burn. Will follow up with the neighbor but this may have solved that issue. Still have an issue with not quite enough draft. Figuring that part out.

Wow, I had no idea that you or anybody would try to start a fire and then close the door tight. I always light the fire and then close the door handle before closing the door. This makes the door latch mechanism act as a door holder opener until the fire is ripping well enough to close the door on the gasket.

Hopefully that neighbor closes his windows as the temps drop.

 

[jeff_t]

I'm not convinced that cold outside air will matter for the stat.

The thermostat regulates stove temp, not air temp. The coil is inside a cast aluminum box crammed against the back of the stove. I don't think there is enough cold air moving thru there to influence it much. Plus, that air is warmed as it travels up the back of the stove.

Do you notice if the housing is cool, Highbeam?

Just my thoughts. I have no OAK, so maybe I'm wrong.