Blaze King Ashford 25 Insert - Poor Burn Time - What am I doing wrong?

[BKVP]

BTW, I never get alerts when the @BKVP is posted. So I only find them when I am reading threads on this site.

Thanks
BKVP

 

[stoveliker]

BTW, I never get alerts when the @BKVP is posted. So I only find them when I am reading threads on this site.

Thanks
BKVP

Ok. If that's a choice (to not get overwhelmed), that's fine.
If not, this is the way to get mentions:

click on your name in the top right corner (right next to your profile pic), click on "preferences" in the second to last line.
On that page scroll down to the second section "Receive a notification when someone…"
and check the box after "Mentions you in a message".

 

[esguardian]

@stoveliker I could go lower on temps, but I found for my stove that sweet spot produces those flames, any lower and the cat falls out of the active zone pretty quickly. Yes, the ashy wood is the black blocks with ash on the outside. As soon as i poke it they crumble.

I would say home is relatively tight. There are areas of the living area that I've noticed could be sealed better, I may take on sealing things up this summer. Windows are brand new, so I know they don't leak. I feel like insulation is good. I guess I could get one those energy audits.

Did the dollar bill test - no leaks...

one thing I know I didn't do, is put a block-off plate in. The stove shop insisted this was not needed and didn't want to take the time to fabricate one. I guess I could try to do this on my own if it was going to make a difference.

@BKVP Yup I will post a pic this weekend, we don't use the stove unless it's below 50..I'm trying to conserve wood...I'm really low at this point.

Should I reach out to Blaze King customer service?

 

[stoveliker]

So you have fuel left but it stops burning.
I would suggest trying to run with a window cracked as an experiment.

Somehow the stove doesn't keep the wood burning.

 

[BKVP]

@stoveliker I could go lower on temps, but I found for my stove that sweet spot produces those flames, any lower and the cat falls out of the active zone pretty quickly. Yes, the ashy wood is the black blocks with ash on the outside. As soon as i poke it they crumble.

I would say home is relatively tight. There are areas of the living area that I've noticed could be sealed better, I may take on sealing things up this summer. Windows are brand new, so I know they don't leak. I feel like insulation is good. I guess I could get one those energy audits.

Did the dollar bill test - no leaks...

one thing I know I didn't do, is put a block-off plate in. The stove shop insisted this was not needed and didn't want to take the time to fabricate one. I guess I could try to do this on my own if it was going to make a difference.

@BKVP Yup I will post a pic this weekend, we don't use the stove unless it's below 50..I'm trying to conserve wood...I'm really low at this point.

Should I reach out to Blaze King customer service?

Throw up the picture first please...

 

[AstroBoy]

one thing I know I didn't do, is put a block-off plate in. The stove shop insisted this was not needed and didn't want to take the time to fabricate one. I guess I could try to do this on my own if it was going to make a difference.

A block-off plate could make some difference in the temperature of your living area, but it won’t affect your burn time, I wouldn’t think. The plate keeps warm air from going up the chimney outside your stove pipe, but doesn’t affect how much air your fire gets.

 

[mellow]

A block-off plate could make some difference in the temperature of your living area, but it won’t affect your burn time, I wouldn’t think. The plate keeps warm air from going up the chimney outside your stove pipe, but doesn’t affect how much air your fire gets.

A fully insulated fireplace like I mentioned to the OP would make a difference in burn times, me any many others have noticed this after doing the upgrade, a block off plate is just PART of the job. The OP has an external chimney and this WILL make a difference, I know he doesn't want to take the surrounds off because he didn't do the install but if he want's something done right he needs to roll up his sleeves and get dirty.

 

[esguardian]

welp! I decided to give it the old college try and am excited to report...I've been doing it wrong! Yesterday was about 40 degrees during the day and was dropping to 20 a night, so as a test I monitored the stove all day and took pics along the way. I loaded it up. The tapered firebox can be a challenge for loading but was able to get about 10 pieces of wood in the stove, loading it up to the gills. It was a pretty dark fire and the glass made it hard to see in, but I did get a much much longer burn than previous fires. I loaded everything at about 9:30 am on Sunday, got it really going by 10 am, and then shut air control all the way down to 12:00. Approximately 3 hours and 55 min later with the air control, all the way closed, the cat became inactive. so I throttled it open to get it back up into the active range. This time I closed it up but left the air control maybe 1/16 open and it managed to stay in the active range for 15 hours!! maybe had the fan on low for about 7 hours (this is astonishing!) I checked in and took another pic around 7:30pm (pic 3) there was still a decent amount of wood left, but was getting that ashy, black coal look and it was starting to get a lot colder in the house and our heat kicked on a couple of times, I also increased the air just a tiny bit. Around 11 pm, the stove was still going (pic 4), by midnight I was exhausted and had to go up to bed and still in the active zone, i closed the air control all the way up. This morning opened it up around 7:30am to my surprise a decent bed of coals to get another load going. The temps in our house during the day, I was able to maintain 68-70 at times, but we struggled at night to keep the house warm without our heat going on. Leaving the fan off does seem to extend the burn times. ( i think) Everytime i had the fan on medium or high, the stove would drop out of active zone, so keeping on low seems to be the solution.

This whole season was a learning experience, and now I have the thread to document everything! I just wish i didn't burn through 2 cords so quickly! I would like to take back my statement about blaze king embellishing the hours! I am ecstatic that I was able to get what I got for a low slow burn. I trust the process now. I would like to thank the academy...err everyone who helped get me on track!

 

[esguardian]

A fully insulated fireplace like I mentioned to the OP would make a difference in burn times, me any many others have noticed this after doing the upgrade, a block off plate is just PART of the job. The OP has an external chimney and this WILL make a difference, I know he doesn't want to take the surrounds off because he didn't do the install but if he want's something done right he needs to roll up his sleeves and get dirty.

I guess it couldn't hurt, once you move the surround, do you just wedge the pieces of Roxul right next to the stove on the sides and back or do you leave a gap? Is there a tutorial for making a custom block off plate?

 

[stoveliker]

congrats! sounds like a good burn.

 

[BKVP]

welp! I decided to give it the old college try and am excited to report...I've been doing it wrong! Yesterday was about 40 degrees during the day and was dropping to 20 a night, so as a test I monitored the stove all day and took pics along the way. I loaded it up. The tapered firebox can be a challenge for loading but was able to get about 10 pieces of wood in the stove, loading it up to the gills. It was a pretty dark fire and the glass made it hard to see in, but I did get a much much longer burn than previous fires. I loaded everything at about 9:30 am on Sunday, got it really going by 10 am, and then shut air control all the way down to 12:00. Approximately 3 hours and 55 min later with the air control, all the way closed, the cat became inactive. so I throttled it open to get it back up into the active range. This time I closed it up but left the air control maybe 1/16 open and it managed to stay in the active range for 15 hours!! maybe had the fan on low for about 7 hours (this is astonishing!) I checked in and took another pic around 7:30pm (pic 3) there was still a decent amount of wood left, but was getting that ashy, black coal look and it was starting to get a lot colder in the house and our heat kicked on a couple of times, I also increased the air just a tiny bit. Around 11 pm, the stove was still going (pic 4), by midnight I was exhausted and had to go up to bed and still in the active zone, i closed the air control all the way up. This morning opened it up around 7:30am to my surprise a decent bed of coals to get another load going. The temps in our house during the day, I was able to maintain 68-70 at times, but we struggled at night to keep the house warm without our heat going on. Leaving the fan off does seem to extend the burn times. ( i think) Everytime i had the fan on medium or high, the stove would drop out of active zone, so keeping on low seems to be the solution.

This whole season was a learning experience, and now I have the thread to document everything! I just wish i didn't burn through 2 cords so quickly! I would like to take back my statement about blaze king embellishing the hours! I am ecstatic that I was able to get what I got for a low slow burn. I trust the process now. I would like to thank the academy...err everyone who helped get me on track!

View attachment 294177 View attachment 294178 View attachment 294179 View attachment 294180 View attachment 294181

Well done sir!

 

[mellow]

I guess it couldn't hurt, once you move the surround, do you just wedge the pieces of Roxul right next to the stove on the sides and back or do you leave a gap? Is there a tutorial for making a custom block off plate?

Read the thread that I had pointed to, it has a lot of good info. Most have found best results attaching concrete board/micore to the firebox and possibly having roxul tucked behind the boards. Don't get lazy and just toss roxul in there as the fibers will possibly cause issues.

Link to block off plate: https://www.hearth.com/talk/wiki/make-a-damper-sealing-block-off-plate/

I would pull the insert and do this over the summer, it is wicked easy to pull that insert out, just make sure to get another gasket from BK to reinstall the liner adapter. Also a good time to extend the hearth if needed with the wide door ashes love to ride past the hearth.

 

[mellow]

I will mention it again, go outside on the next cold day with a IR gun and with your insert going take temps of the back of your chimney. It should be the same temp as outside, but I am willing to bet it won't be, that is wasted heat you are letting go of.

 

[esguardian]

I will mention it again, go outside on the next cold day with a IR gun and with your insert going take temps of the back of your chimney. It should be the same temp as outside, but I am willing to bet it won't be, that is wasted heat you are letting go of.

Thanks for the thread!, it doesn't appear that I am losing that much heat through the backside of the exterior chimney, I guess that's a good thing... but the added insulation could probably help with getting more usable heat when running low and slow in the living space...possibly? Outside temps are 28 today...

 

[begreen]

That's pretty good if the stove is heating. Usually, there is some temperature rise, even if insulated. Read off the darker square to the right to verify.

 

[mellow]

Hrmm.. I don't buy it. If your insert is going really good and has been for a while you should see a temp rise on the outside if you are taking the temp at the right location, either that or all the heat is going UP due to no block off plate.

 

[esguardian]

@mellow. I tested it at different locations on the outside of the chimney and got readings from 28 to 33 in different spots. Should the stove temp be all the way up to where I have a roaring fire?

 

[mellow]

@mellow. I tested it at different locations on the outside of the chimney and got readings from 28 to 33 in different spots. Should the stove temp be all the way up to where I have a roaring fire?

I would try and recreate this post as close as possible to see what you get: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/finally-got-around-to-insulating-my-fireplace.75755/post-1842157