Hello all , thanks for all the past info you have provided, been very helpful, we are still deciding between the Blaze King Ashford ( wife didn’t care for the looks of the Princess or Sirocco but liked the cast look of the Ashford) and the Lopi Liberty Hybrid,. , my concern with the Liberty is if we are going to be able to burn it low enough to enjoy the fire without running us out of the house, nor sure how well they idol down and haven’t been able to talk with anyone burning the new Hybrid model to find out how they preform on low burns. When I ask about the Ashford at a BK dealer, one salesman said they were cast panels that were assembled with gaskets and bolts, another salesman said they were a steel body stove , basically an Sirocco fire box with cast panels added to the fire box, unfortunately the display model has some new stoves in front of it so couldn’t get close enough to inspect, anyone know how they are made? Thanks. Sorry mods meant to post this in the Blaze King stove thread
Blaze King Ashford
- Thread starter brewer69
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
The Ashford is a steel body stove with a cast iron outer jacket. It will run at a lower output than the Liberty, but not as hot at full throttle.
If enjoying the fire is important keep in mind BK’s often run in “black box” mode with no visible flame. And keeping the glass clean is a side effect burning slow.
If we crank it up while in the room does the glass clean up to get a nice view of the fire than turn it back down for the night when we head off to bed?
Probably not without cooking you out of the room. I can clean my door glass running at max for 20 minutes or so and keep it fairly clean running at “normal” or higher. I need outdoor temperatures at -20C or colder to be able to run the stove at those temperatures. I have the Princess model.
BKVP
Minister of Fire
The Princess and King have twice (Princess) and three times (King) firebox depth. It is the depth of these two models that results in more difficulty cleaning the glass thermaly. The Ashford glass is much easier to keep clean by operating at higher burn rates.
BKVP
The Ashford's glass is vertical. Does the slight angle of the glass on the Princess and King contribute to this issue?
I was thinking it's harder for the airwash to evenly cover the interior surface of the glass if it's not vertical.
BKVP
Minister of Fire
No so much. But the fuel load sits much closer to the loading door. We've placed a false floor in the KE40, raised it 6" and glass cleaned up more easily than OEM depth of 9".
Totally worth it for that deep ash belly. Also, it's not the entire glass that gets dirty while running on low, just the bottom corners. Still plenty of clean glass to see the fireshow during warm up or whenever you want to plus to see the cat glow.
I’ve cleaned it once this year.
Attachments
![[Hearth.com] Blaze King Ashford](/talk/data/attachments/337/337898-2348687c406812f66154ffb6d451c53a.jpg?hash=n072Wp8NE2)
Last edited:
tabner
Feeling the Heat
My Ashford 20 maintains really clean glass. Even when i run it on low. the bottom left and right corners will darken up a bit, but i can still see 90%+ of the fire action if i get flames going. The only time i notice it darken up a bit more is if i have a damp piece of wood get in there. But with good dry wood, it stays over 80% clear, even when i dial it down for a 16 hour burn. I actually didn't clean the glass a single time this year.
I find that I am not looking for more ash storage (deeper belly) than my 30 model gives.
Of course no experience with a deeper belly, so "I don't know what I'm missing", but I am not in the position that I need to get ashes out but I can't because I need heat now, now, now...
This is a climate thing, though; my winters here generally have some days that are 35 or so, and on those days it doesn't matter if I let the stove go for an hour longer than normal before a reload. I take ashes out when there is a half gallon of glowing coals. They create draft and keep my home clean from flying ashes.
This may also be a basement stove thing; it's 80+ (often 85) there when the stove runs. That reservoir of heat can keep my upstairs at 70+ for a few hours even if the stove doesn't put out much heat any more.
The last two winters the most dark window I had was about 60% dark, but that means 40% usable to look at the fuel. That's enough. I don't clean the glass other than burning hot for a bit if it's near my cut off for burning for 2 weeks or more.
(I only burn when it's below 40-45 for 24 hrs or more, given that I don't do half loads, and that the stove is in the basement.)
I do remember 80% blocked windows from earlier winters when I burned at 45+.
But I don't care. It's a heating appliance to me. One that I love to operate. And one that I can leave alone for 24 hrs easily, while providing an even output. And one that I get fuel for for free.
One can quench any complaints about wood storage, wood processing mess, and other issues by simply running the home temperature 2 degrees higher when the wood stove is on as compared to when other heat is on. (As the minisplit now, it's 68-69 inside now, with the wood stove it's 69-72 inside
). Everybody loves the stove even if only for that reason ;p
Of course no experience with a deeper belly, so "I don't know what I'm missing", but I am not in the position that I need to get ashes out but I can't because I need heat now, now, now...
This is a climate thing, though; my winters here generally have some days that are 35 or so, and on those days it doesn't matter if I let the stove go for an hour longer than normal before a reload. I take ashes out when there is a half gallon of glowing coals. They create draft and keep my home clean from flying ashes.
This may also be a basement stove thing; it's 80+ (often 85) there when the stove runs. That reservoir of heat can keep my upstairs at 70+ for a few hours even if the stove doesn't put out much heat any more.
The last two winters the most dark window I had was about 60% dark, but that means 40% usable to look at the fuel. That's enough. I don't clean the glass other than burning hot for a bit if it's near my cut off for burning for 2 weeks or more.
(I only burn when it's below 40-45 for 24 hrs or more, given that I don't do half loads, and that the stove is in the basement.)
I do remember 80% blocked windows from earlier winters when I burned at 45+.
But I don't care. It's a heating appliance to me. One that I love to operate. And one that I can leave alone for 24 hrs easily, while providing an even output. And one that I get fuel for for free.
One can quench any complaints about wood storage, wood processing mess, and other issues by simply running the home temperature 2 degrees higher when the wood stove is on as compared to when other heat is on. (As the minisplit now, it's 68-69 inside now, with the wood stove it's 69-72 inside
). Everybody loves the stove even if only for that reason ;p
Ha! I just switched to the mini today for heat and thought it might be smart to set the thermostat lower so that we all appreciate the wood heat. Stoves are cold at least for a couple days.I find that I am not looking for more ash storage (deeper belly) than my 30 model gives.
Of course no experience with a deeper belly, so "I don't know what I'm missing", but I am not in the position that I need to get ashes out but I can't because I need heat now, now, now...
This is a climate thing, though; my winters here generally have some days that are 35 or so, and on those days it doesn't matter if I let the stove go for an hour longer than normal before a reload. I take ashes out when there is a half gallon of glowing coals. They create draft and keep my home clean from flying ashes.
This may also be a basement stove thing; it's 80+ (often 85) there when the stove runs. That reservoir of heat can keep my upstairs at 70+ for a few hours even if the stove doesn't put out much heat any more.
The last two winters the most dark window I had was about 60% dark, but that means 40% usable to look at the fuel. That's enough. I don't clean the glass other than burning hot for a bit if it's near my cut off for burning for 2 weeks or more.
(I only burn when it's below 40-45 for 24 hrs or more, given that I don't do half loads, and that the stove is in the basement.)
I do remember 80% blocked windows from earlier winters when I burned at 45+.
But I don't care. It's a heating appliance to me. One that I love to operate. And one that I can leave alone for 24 hrs easily, while providing an even output. And one that I get fuel for for free.
One can quench any complaints about wood storage, wood processing mess, and other issues by simply running the home temperature 2 degrees higher when the wood stove is on as compared to when other heat is on. (As the minisplit now, it's 68-69 inside now, with the wood stove it's 69-72 inside
I’m in the 1” hail, 60 mph wind, and tornado zone for tonight. Moving one car inside that normally would be exposed to those hail balls. Exciting weather day!
![[Hearth.com] Blaze King Ashford](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/337/337951-aacd9a0052cb6596952d7c2b69511d66.jpg?hash=yIUobDQN-d "[Hearth.com] Blaze King Ashford")
![[Hearth.com] Blaze King Ashford](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/337/337952-752d804449b8ddf4350be9ab34c5adff.jpg?hash=PJCAFRhYzE "[Hearth.com] Blaze King Ashford")
So you're sifting the coals with something?
I usually let it go cold on warmer days, then I can just scoop everything out of there.
That's pretty much usual for us at least every week or two from early March to late April. Just this weekend we're on a severe weather warning again.
Yes, see the pic here:
The half gallon of coals create a nice draft up the bypass that keeps ashes from flying out into the room.
(And a lower number of warmer days here than in MS - though I do do this when it won't be a problem if I delay a reload by an hour or so.)
The half gallon of coals create a nice draft up the bypass that keeps ashes from flying out into the room.
(And a lower number of warmer days here than in MS - though I do do this when it won't be a problem if I delay a reload by an hour or so.)
Without a doubt.
I think I only had the issue once this winter, when we had a cold spell and my mix of firewood contained a lot of gumtree. That stuff produces an amount of ashes you wouldn't believe.
On my princess I use the ash pan which really reduces fly ash leaving the firebox. Hot or cold. The ash pan reduces the ash depth in the firebox by about 2" of ash per fill up from the 6" ash belly. I like to keep a good inch of ash in there so at 3" of depth I clean out. This ends up being about 3-4 times per year burning 4 cords of maple. Much less when burning douglas fir.
Because I am removing an ash pan load when the ash belly is only half full I have the ability to wait for one of the relatively warm periods to let the stove cool way down. I've never had the ash fill up the ash belly. I can't imagine running a stove where you have to empty the ash every week or less to prevent overflowing through the loading door! I've heard that this can happen with some designs.
Because I am removing an ash pan load when the ash belly is only half full I have the ability to wait for one of the relatively warm periods to let the stove cool way down. I've never had the ash fill up the ash belly. I can't imagine running a stove where you have to empty the ash every week or less to prevent overflowing through the loading door! I've heard that this can happen with some designs.
Similar threads
