Looking to invest in a new stove and looking for some feedback. House is a single-family ranch in Worcester MA 1100SF. Right now I have a Dutch west with a 15 foot stainless steel liner in the chimney. The stove I am looking to purchase is Blaze King sirocco 25 insert. Is this a good stove? I was also worried about the draft since my chimney is 15 foot. Also had a friend tell me it would be cheaper just run my furniture which is a Lochinvar Noble Fire Tube Combi Boiler not sure if that is true or not 1 cord vs 4 months of gas bill. Any direction would be nice thank you.
Blaze King sirocco 25 insert
- Thread starter Will1019
- 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.
darktower007
Feeling the Heat
jetsam
Minister of Fire
If you're only worried about cheaper, the question becomes, "How much is the gas bill and how much is the wood bill?" (And are you willing to get your own wood, or are you going to buy it?) Getting your own wood has startup costs too.
Have you not used the furnace to get an idea of where the numbers will fall ? Around my area right now a full cord of seasoned oak will run around $200 give or take some. If you can heat your house on 1 full cord a season then I don’t see how you can beat that.
But I’m guessing your going to need more than 1 cord to heat only with wood. If you can stay warm all winter on only 1 cord that sounds pretty good.
darktower007
Feeling the Heat
I’m biased here but I was wanting the Sirocco insert... but it didn’t fit my hearth opening. So I had to go with the Ashford 25. That being said... it’s suppose to be a nice stove.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
This is my first season with this stove. So far I love it. We haven’t had any really cold weather yet but it will pump out the heat or you can throttle it back and be comfortable. I think that’s what I am most impressed with so far. You can pack it full and turn it down and not have to open windows or be so hot you are miserable.
I would buy it again.
I would buy it again.
If you are wanting longer burns than the BK is the way to go, it can be run low and slow so it won't run you out of the room it is installed in but can be run higher during cold snaps. Just be prepared for sticker shock unless you can find a used one.
shoot-straight
Minister of Fire
darktower007
Feeling the Heat
+1
Here’s what I experience shopping around... I called 7 dealers working 500 miles of me (very few in Tennessee!) the results were astounding.
1 near me was terrible. Zero help.
He was charging $4200 for a dang Neo 2.5!
The other down the road had some kid up front who didn’t know a Jøtul from a lopi.
No3 in NC never answered my call nor returned it.
No4 was Rude
5&6 would not budge on price at all.
7 came after I reached out to BKVP and he gave me a contact.
Hearth Appliance Sales in Tennessee has been great to work with! I sent a deposit this week and it should be in mid December.
Long story short.. call around and ask questions. I’m looking forward to my Ashford 25!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Green is ground, white is common/Nuetral, black is hot or power or 120.
You could go to home depot/lowes and by a plug and wire it. But those having connectors on them I would assume they plug into something. Is there nothing in the manual about them?
You could go to home depot/lowes and by a plug and wire it. But those having connectors on them I would assume they plug into something. Is there nothing in the manual about them?
darktower007
Feeling the Heat
Looking forward to what you discover on the wiring.. I have an Ashford 25 inbound next week or so... and will probably have the same questions [emoji51]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You should have gotten a pigtail (power cord) with a 110 plug on it. If I remember right the two fans plugged together just matching colors and then the pigtail plugged in and there was a screw hole for the ground under the stove. It was just matching colors.
Maybe you didn’t get the power cord?
Maybe you didn’t get the power cord?
You can probably get by with 3 cords. I'm a little south of you and go through 4+ but I'm heating 2800sf.
Can someone please send me a picture? Put it up on the way is a manual said and the fan control made of pop and now smells like electric fire think it burned out.
The manual should be clearer with that picture in it. Miswiring should not be possible. The connection points should also be explicitly labeled in the stove.
The manual is pretty clear on this. I’m guessing they don’t plug the fans together because you have the option of running the power cord out eiither the right or left side of the stove. They even supply you with a screw to mount the green grounding terminal.
Yes, good point about providing the option to wire the cord to the left or right side. That is a nice option. Maybe it would be safer to have it prewired to one side with instructions for moving it to the other side? This is not to knock BK's documentation, in general it's pretty good. This is just one area where it needs improvement. Will1019's experience illustrates this need.
I read the new manual and it is improved, but then, I understand wiring and am comfortable reading and using a schematic. Not everyone is. The manual's language and pictures could be more helpful on this topic. Electricity can be lethal at worst and damaging if something is improperly wired. Not everyone understands electricity. This part of the install should be very clearly instructed to avoid equipment or human harm.
To improve the installation process the schematic should be on the same page as the blower installation. The terminal connection location should have a close-up picture of it. The terminals on the stove and the cord should have very clear labeling. And the manual's writing in this paragraph could be clearer.
Complete the wiring assembly by connecting the loose end of rheostat to power cord. Then connect other loose end of power cord to loose end of fan interconnect wire harness.
Loose end is bad terminology. Instead of implying that the user know what a loose end is, more specific language together with an illustration or photo of the open rheostat terminal (or spade lug connector) and open (color) connector on the interconnect wire harness would make this a safer and more idiot proof process. This together with a label on each open connector would help assure a safer and proper installation.
pyrojoe
Member
I'm looking at getting the Sirocco 25 as well. Is there an option to hardwire the fan rather than go to a 3 prong plug?
I actually hardwired mine. We didn’t want to have a cord laying across the front of our hearth. I ran mine down through the ash clean out for the fireplace into the attached garage below. I don’t know if this is up to “code” but it’s worked for me.
