Calling on Blaze King Princess Insert Owners

[HuskyNewman]

Just got off the phone with Majestic. I was told without some further information, like numbers from the tag, they could not provide any information about it. The woman I was talking to stated that it sounded as if it may have been modified, because she believed that it should have had the fireproof lining on the sides too. Though I don't know why someone would remove the side linings, there is plenty of room in there. She also does not believe that Majestic made a wood burning stove insert, but this could be from 1978, so who knows what they had back then.

She of course recommended not burning in the unit until I figured out what I had, or to replace it entirely to be safe. I told her I'd been burning it hard for at least 11 years now, and haven't had a problem. Luck? Possibly..............

 

[webby3650]

The king is never overkill!
Just for future reference, you don’t have an insert. You have a pre fabricated Fireplace.

 

[webby3650]

Just got off the phone with Majestic. I was told without some further information, like numbers from the tag, they could not provide any information about it. The woman I was talking to stated that it sounded as if it may have been modified, because she believed that it should have had the fireproof lining on the sides too. Though I don't know why someone would remove the side linings, there is plenty of room in there. She also does not believe that Majestic made a wood burning stove insert, but this could be from 1978, so who knows what they had back then.

She of course recommended not burning in the unit until I figured out what I had, or to replace it entirely to be safe. I told her I'd been burning it hard for at least 11 years now, and haven't had a problem. Luck? Possibly..............

This Fireplace almost certainly predates the lady on the phone... and many here, myself included. It has not been modified, it’s just old!

 

[HuskyNewman]

I am comfortable with placing the Princess Insert in the prefab, running a 6" liner through the existing triple wall, and calling it good. But, I don't think it is going to heat my house the way I want. So, I am leaning toward blocking off the prefab, getting rid of the chimney, and going with a freestanding unit.

 

[webby3650]

Then you should find a different place for a freestanding stove and leave the fireplace intact.

 

[HuskyNewman]

Then you should find a different place for a freestanding stove and leave the fireplace intact.

Webby3650.....I am thinking that I would place a King Classic on the hearth extension into the room. I would probably have to extend it some to make it work. Or, I might just rip the hearth extension off, cut the carpet out and place it on the floor. Then block off the fireplace hole, and tile from the floor up to wherever I decide to end it.

 

[Heftiger]

In my last house we replaced an oil parlor stove with a King. It was a 1500 sq ft, early 2000’s build with vaulted ceilings. I was concerned the King would be too much. It wasn’t. I was able to turn it down for lonnnnng burns. And turn it up to heat the house up real nice.

 

[HuskyNewman]

In my last house we replaced an oil parlor stove with a King. It was a 1500 sq ft, early 2000’s build with vaulted ceilings. I was concerned the King would be too much. It wasn’t. I was able to turn it down for lonnnnng burns. And turn it up to heat the house up real nice.

Heftiger....I appreciate your input. I have slight concern that the king would be too much, but given the control I would have over the output, I think I would be fine.

I do wonder if there would be a creosote problem since the stove would not spend much time on a high output setting.

 

[webby3650]

wonder if there would be a creosote problem since the stove would not spend much time on a high output setting.

This is a concern. If you are unable to let er rip on occasion then the buildup can get pretty bad. I see a lot of buildup in the firebox and behind the side shields on BKs that don’t have a chance to run.

 

[Niko]

I have the king in my downstairs which if roughly 1500 square feet and my upstairs the same 1500. Now in the past to get heat upstairs I did kinda keep the downstairs hotter which didn't want me to stay down their. I got the king for a really great price so I purchased it. In reality I should of got a princess downstairs, cause I just purchased another princess for my upstairs so I don't have to run the king so hot downstairs.. But I am 100 percent happy with my king as I do run it lower which and my family now can enjoy our bottom floor.

bottom floor temp now is like 75 degrees

 

[HuskyNewman]

If you are unable to let er rip on occasion then the buildup can get pretty bad.

Webby....In my mind, I believe that I will be able to let er rip for an hour or so after the slower burn overnight. Now I certainly could be wrong, I guess if it kept my house at 72F set on medium low, then I might not be able to let er rip. Or, I would just throw like 3 splits in and let er rip for a while.

I am kind of unsure about the constant BTU output versus what BTU output I need to heat my house to 70-72F, especially when we have cold spells that drop the temps to below 0F for days on end, with winds of 20mph to boot. I want to heat with wood 24/7, but not worried about it heating if I no one is home for 24 hours or longer. That rarely happens though.

 

[HuskyNewman]

Now in the past to get heat upstairs I did kinda keep the downstairs hotter

Niko....I appreciate your feedback. I am not too concerned about the heat making it out of the stove room to the upper levels. The wall that separates the stove room to the next level of my house has a 7.5 foot by 3 foot open area. It extends from the ceiling of the stove room down to the floor of the next level, so the heat from the stove room just pours through there. Then there is the 3 foot opening for the stairs to go up there. The ceiling for that is flat, no header, so heat pours through there too.

For the heat to get to the highest level, where the bedrooms are, there is just the 3 foot opening for the stairs, again, no header. But, I like my bedroom a little cooler, so they will be fine.

 

[jetsam]

Webby....In my mind, I believe that I will be able to let er rip for an hour or so after the slower burn overnight. Or, I would just throw like 3 splits in and let er rip for a while.

You don't have to play with small loads to get a low fire with a BK. You can go from raging inferno to low burn by twisting a knob and walking away.

I have an increasing amount of creosote in my stove right now, but it'll be clean as a whistle by January. It's all just extra fuel for the next hot fire.

In the unlikely event that you feel there's too much buildup in the stove, take the opportunity to clean the flue. Let it go out on a relatively warm day, let the house cool off some (the colder you let the house get, the longer you can do a high burn for), and sweep the flue. Burn a hot load to warm back up- this will also clean the inside of the stove.

Wastes some wood, but it'll clean the stove right up.

In your climate, I kind of doubt you will ever need to worry about this.

 

[Heftiger]

I used to open a window or the front door if I needed to do an extended hot burn. It gave us the opportunity to get some fresh air in the house.

 

[begreen]

A woodstove is an area heater. When sizing a stove the location needs to be considered as well as the house layout and insulation.

How open is the floorplan on this floor? What area do you want to heat (1440 sq ft.)? Where is the current fireplace location? How well insulated is the house? Are there other factors that might affect area heating like high ceilings? A sketch can answer the first 3 or questions.

Unless you need really long burntimes the Princess may be more than sufficient for your requirements. Installing one freestanding will be the safer approach and probably will heat better.

 

[HuskyNewman]

You don't have to play with small loads to get a low fire with a BK.

Jetsam.... My thought on the small load was to actually put it on high to help keep creosote down.

In your climate, I kind of doubt you will ever need to worry about this.

Right. What I am trying to wrap my head around is if the BTU the King puts out on high, roughly 48000, is going to be enough to keep my house 70-72F when it is 0F outside. I am going to post some pictures and try to explain my house a little better.

 

[HuskyNewman]

How open is the floorplan on this floor? What area do you want to heat (1440 sq ft.)? Where is the current fireplace location? How well insulated is the house? Are there other factors that might affect area heating like high ceilings?

Begreen.... Floor plan is basically totally open. The area I want to heat is 1583 square feet. It is all on the level of the wood burner or higher. The 1440 square feet is because we keep our spare bedroom closed, so not much heat goes in. The insulation I'm not too sure about. 1978 construction. 2x4 outside walls with R11 Owens Corning. Attic is 2x4 with a thin layer of blown in insulation. Wood single pane windows. Some pictures to hopefully clear things up.


Area of wood burner level is 494 sq ft. Next level up is 544, and upper most level is 545. Nice open floor pan, and the heat can travel easily. Normally when burning, the bedrooms are a little cooler than the lower levels, and I am totally fine with that.

I am stuck about whether the King's high output of roughly 48000 BTU (barring all the variables) will keep my house at 70-72F when the outside temp is 0F. I understand that it is made to put out a regulated level of BTU for an efficient, long burn, but if I have a need for more BTU to keep the house up to temp, I cannot get it from the King, but I still don't want my furnace to kick on either. At that point, a 10-12 hour burn on high doesn't matter much to me because it isn't keeping my house at the desired temp.

I am very hard to please as you can see!

Thank you all once again for the thoughts, opinions and information.

 

[HuskyNewman]

I used to open a window or the front door if I needed to do an extended hot burn. It gave us the opportunity to get some fresh air in the house.

We did this quite often when I was growing up. We had a stove at each end of the house trying to run us off!

 

[jetsam]

We did this quite often when I was growing up. We had a stove at each end of the house trying to run us off!

Those old stoves would do it, too. My grandmother regarded a cherry-red glow as normal operation.

 

[begreen]

Begreen.... Floor plan is basically totally open. The area I want to heat is 1583 square feet. It is all on the level of the wood burner or higher. The 1440 square feet is because we keep our spare bedroom closed, so not much heat goes in. The insulation I'm not too sure about. 1978 construction. 2x4 outside walls with R11 Owens Corning. Attic is 2x4 with a thin layer of blown in insulation. Wood single pane windows. Some pictures to hopefully clear things up.
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Area of wood burner level is 494 sq ft. Next level up is 544, and upper most level is 545. Nice open floor pan, and the heat can travel easily. Normally when burning, the bedrooms are a little cooler than the lower levels, and I am totally fine with that.

I am stuck about whether the King's high output of roughly 48000 BTU (barring all the variables) will keep my house at 70-72F when the outside temp is 0F. I understand that it is made to put out a regulated level of BTU for an efficient, long burn, but if I have a need for more BTU to keep the house up to temp, I cannot get it from the King, but I still don't want my furnace to kick on either. At that point, a 10-12 hour burn on high doesn't matter much to me because it isn't keeping my house at the desired temp.

I am very hard to please as you can see!

Thank you all once again for the thoughts, opinions and information.

Good info thanks. The house has poor insulation. Increasing the attic insulation will improve the picture, year round. Adding storm windows will also help a lot. My thought is that it's not a big deal if the furnace kicks on occasionally when the temp outside is 0F with a strong wind. It might actually help circulate the heat and stop pipes from freezing.

If you want higher BTU output than the King, there are several stoves that have that, but personally I would address the heat loss rather than try to use brute force to overcome that loss. It's a better investment that will save you every year for the life of the house. With a good reduction of the heat loss a Princess might be fine.