Either pick up a cheap IR temp gun or a magnetic thermometer. It'd be nice to know if the stove is actually getting up to temp. If the stove is getting up to temp and the house is still cold we'll have to figure out where all that heat is going! I'm sure some is going up the chimney, I can't imagine that's where all of it's going if the top of the chimney is sealed off.
Blaze King Princess Insert….it's just OK
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Either pick up a cheap IR temp gun or a magnetic thermometer. It'd be nice to know if the stove is actually getting up to temp. If the stove is getting up to temp and the house is still cold we'll have to figure out where all that heat is going! I'm sure some is going up the chimney, I can't imagine that's where all of it's going if the top of the chimney is sealed off.
Old, cruddy insulated home, big family room with BK Princess and no block off plate (I want one though) and my living room will sit 76-78F all day long on a burn. The backside of my chimney is in an uninsulated garage and it is lukewarm to the touch. What are your burn times like?
Maybe pick up a moisture meter and check your wood, from what your saying it sounds like a wood problem. These stoves need dry wood or it won't run the way its designed. If it's not the wood these guys will help you figure out what's going wrong here.
I saw this thread last night and i am picking up the same stove this weekend. it got me a bit worried. I am installing it in a large living room/interior chimney with insulated liner and block off plate. I hope to have better results, but I am taking all this information in as well.
To all those the responded to my post, I am sincerely grateful for the advice and the concern. Regarding the chimney it is 20-25' high. I don't know and not sure why it makes a difference since I am not going to make it any taller or shorter. It is fine to blame the wood. Perhaps next year I will have a better outcome since I bought next years supply already. I know that there is an almost cult-ike following for Blaze King and I would really prefer to be among y'all. I write this sitting 12 feet from the stove kinda chilled. It's 69 degrees on the coffee table. There is heat, just not like what you guys seem to get. If my dealer comes by and improves the performance, I will gladly retract this, however, as it stands, I remain unimpressed.
BKVP
Minister of Fire
Allow me to add-in. First thank you for making the purchase and your compliments regarding staff at BK.
My first observation is that one application of a stove cannot be compared to another application of a different stove because no two applications are identical. R-values, door overhangs, chimney size, length, home construction materials etc.
That being said, the insert we make is quite capable of heating quite a bit of space.
There is a finite amount of Btu 's in a pound of wood, about 8,000 +/- depending upon where you get the data. If a full fire box, let's say 50lbs of fuel is loaded into any stove, there are 400,000 Btu's in that load, regardless of stove make, combustion design etc.
So where is the 400k going? Well, depending upon efficiency, some amount is lost in the chimney system and that's ok as it is neccessary for a good draft.
In the end, I am certain the unit you chose to purchase offers you both the ability to really turn the heat up and also really turn the heat down, unlike any other choice on the market.
Again, thank you.
Chris
My first observation is that one application of a stove cannot be compared to another application of a different stove because no two applications are identical. R-values, door overhangs, chimney size, length, home construction materials etc.
That being said, the insert we make is quite capable of heating quite a bit of space.
There is a finite amount of Btu 's in a pound of wood, about 8,000 +/- depending upon where you get the data. If a full fire box, let's say 50lbs of fuel is loaded into any stove, there are 400,000 Btu's in that load, regardless of stove make, combustion design etc.
So where is the 400k going? Well, depending upon efficiency, some amount is lost in the chimney system and that's ok as it is neccessary for a good draft.
In the end, I am certain the unit you chose to purchase offers you both the ability to really turn the heat up and also really turn the heat down, unlike any other choice on the market.
Again, thank you.
Chris
Chris, thank you for the reply. The stove is very responsive to the t-stat changes and has a huge advantage on the burn time. I understand there are many variables but I am sitting 9' away from the stove that has been loaded 3/4 full about 2.5 hours ago. Having the temp in the upper 60's isn't what I expected. I know that the stove can put out great btu's….just not sure where it's all going
Well those btu's are there so they are going somewhere. The object is to find out where?
So some guessing.....
Wet wood is ussually a huge factor. In my stove The difference in wood that is 16-18% wet vs 25%wet is night and day. 25% wet will keep the room at around 73F the lower moisture wood will keep the room over 80F
Up the chimney... With no block off plate the amount of heat going up is pretty high.
From around the insert. If it is not insulated that heat is lost to the surrounding brick.
Other Room factors.
Lots of windows and poor insulation can cause you to lose heat faster then it is produced. (I would assume this isnt the case but you never know.)
Ether way I am sure you will get it taken care of. I don't think I have ever heard anyone who got rid of a princess for something else.
So some guessing.....
Wet wood is ussually a huge factor. In my stove The difference in wood that is 16-18% wet vs 25%wet is night and day. 25% wet will keep the room at around 73F the lower moisture wood will keep the room over 80F
Up the chimney... With no block off plate the amount of heat going up is pretty high.
From around the insert. If it is not insulated that heat is lost to the surrounding brick.
Other Room factors.
Lots of windows and poor insulation can cause you to lose heat faster then it is produced. (I would assume this isnt the case but you never know.)
Ether way I am sure you will get it taken care of. I don't think I have ever heard anyone who got rid of a princess for something else.
I wouldn't worry, sounds like it's being installed correctly and as long as your wood supply is good you shouldn't have any problems. The rest of us with the Princess are more than satisfied with its performance. Hopefully we can figure out what's going wrong with the OP's unit and he can join the rest of us satisfied owners.
It's wet wood. As BKVP mentioned, wood has a certain amount of heat per pound. Boiling water into steam sucks away lots of that energy.
I don't think that the lack of block off plate is an issue so long as the top is sealed off. This insert has a shroud that forces the fan's air to pass over the firebox and out into the room so any heat leaking up into the flue is minor.
Buy some kiln dried four by fours and cut them up to load into the stove. The biobricks will work too. What you need is a known source of good fuel so that you can verify that your wood is at fault.
How big is the house? how cold is it outside? I have 8 foot ceilings and a ceiling fan running on low just to keep the air in that room stirred up.
I don't think that the lack of block off plate is an issue so long as the top is sealed off. This insert has a shroud that forces the fan's air to pass over the firebox and out into the room so any heat leaking up into the flue is minor.
Buy some kiln dried four by fours and cut them up to load into the stove. The biobricks will work too. What you need is a known source of good fuel so that you can verify that your wood is at fault.
How big is the house? how cold is it outside? I have 8 foot ceilings and a ceiling fan running on low just to keep the air in that room stirred up.
Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar
Burning Hunk
eclecticcottage
Minister of Fire
I second this. Or, if you have no way to cut down the 2x4's, you can buy a bundle of kiln dried splits at pretty much all supermarkets, etc. They're not cheap, but it's a good way to test things.
We have a stove that's WAY oversized for our house but if it's in the teens/single digits (or winds more than 15 mph)we barely keep it 70 in here. It's just that leaky! We've narrowed down a few culprits that will be fixed come spring/summer. It's amazing that we can have the thing cranking and not be warm-but it's the house, not the stove. I'm sure there are people heating 2,000 sq ft with the same stove and keeping their temps up higher than ours that's heating about 700 sq ft. Our neighbors heat a bigger cottage with a smaller pre EPA stove. But thiers is more sealed up than ours. Can't compare the two. And when we were running less than seasoned wood, it was even harder to keep it warm, even at higher temps!
Thank you all. I took a closer look at the wood while it was burning in the stove and not happy with what I saw. The were 2 logs that were hissing and a little moisture off the end. OK, that clearly is bad. A lot of the wood was fine, but just in case I am taking the following corrective actions
1) Splitting everything in the pile to get for surface area for drying
2) Keeping a 3-4 days supply of resplit wood in the stove room to get it as dry as possible
3) Had next years wood delivered now. I am stacking 4 cords this week
Getting hotter fires with the these actions. Burn times are less, but all around an improvement. I think next year will be even better.
1) Splitting everything in the pile to get for surface area for drying
2) Keeping a 3-4 days supply of resplit wood in the stove room to get it as dry as possible
3) Had next years wood delivered now. I am stacking 4 cords this week
Getting hotter fires with the these actions. Burn times are less, but all around an improvement. I think next year will be even better.
I'm just north of you in Massachusetts. If the wood you are having delivered in primarily oak, you will need to let is dry out longer than 1 year. I just had 4 cord of red oak delivered about a month ago. It was just cut/split. Boy was it heavy compared to my 3 year seasoned wood. Try to get 2-3 years ahead, if possible.
I have a BK Sirocco 30 and it seems to be doing well. If I need more heat I just turn up the dial a bit. Good luck and keep us posted.
erikb45
New Member
- Feb 16, 2013
- 25
Coach, numerous members on this site have suggested to get some bio bricks or kiln dried construction lumber and pack the stove and do a test burn. This way you will know for sure if its the wood or not. Why havent you done this yet and are you willing to? Perhaps there is someone near you who can give you some really seasoned wood.
Also where are the pictures of the install and the stove chimney conditions.?
If you would like to sell the stove for a deal I would love to own a blazeking
I have the same Princess Insert and with the seasoned wood I have I get a ton of heat out of it. I keep it around the 2nd setting for air and my wood is seasoned at least 2 years. I have not had to use my furnace this year yet and it has been cold here in Pa. I think your issue is wood. It needs to be really dry in a CAT stove. My house is a 2 story house and about 2200 square feet. No issues heating it. I also installed a block off plate in the chimney and that also helped. Pete
You should get longer burn times with seasoned wood than with green wood. With dry wood (under 20%) you should be able to cruise on 1 for 10+ hours. Like the other poster mentioned if your new wood is oak better let that go a couple years and try to get some ash/maple for next year. These stoves aren't fussy about wood species so even dry pine is better than unseasoned oak.
xtrordinair
Member
I know, one of the great things about things about these stoves, as long as it's seasoned burn it.
As you know hissing is not good. Is all of your wood stored in the dry, or can rain get on it? Currently half my wood is in the dry, but the rest is stacked outside mostly uncovered. We don't see much sun from Jan to March here so in order to burn rain/snow soaked wood, I have to get it in and criss cross stack it near the stove for a week, then I stage splits standing in front of the stove for a day before loading them. This generally gets most of that surface moisture out...but not all. I don't have a cat stove, so some moisture won't bother it at all.
Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar
Burning Hunk
Rain soaking really doesn't do a whole lot to wood, the internal moisture is the main concern.Getting wet on the outside can actually help dry the inside...as counter-intuitive as it may seem.
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