Experience going from old/cheap to BK or WS?

[snaple4]

I’m still saving up for a nice stove, probably WS but who knows; thought I would ask for us who have a cheap EPA stove (such as as a Home Depot’s, Lowe’s ...) or an old smoke dragon ( I have both) and moved to a premium stove what your experience has been.
I have a cheap Lowe’s SH 2k stove and have to keep adjusting the I air. Even then I either have secondaries and an active flame or nothing. I ended up using more wood than I think I should. I will say, my wood could be drier; 2 year hardwood.
Anyway back to experience, I hope to buy soon and wanted some more thoughts.

thank you!

 

[Dustin]

I started out burning old and junky. Thought it was all I would ever need. It was an old kodiak stove with the air control as two big knobs on the front.

Today, I burn a blazeking KE40.
Worth. Every. Penny.
You may ask why..

Burning for us isn’t just for fun. It’s our only source of heat for our 2800 square foot house unless we want to pay astronomical propane bills. And by astronomical I mean about 300 bucks every three weeks to keep the house at 68-70 degrees MAX.

I run my stove on 24 hour load cycles generally depending on heating needs. Right now it’s running on low, 74 in the house, 44 outside. I lit the fire at 8pm when it dipped to 70 in here.

I’ve had the old Kodiak, two Quadrafires (Tube) and one Jotul (tube). I’ll never have another tube stove. Nothing wrong with them, but for my primary heating needs here the steady burn of a thermostatically controller cat stove does the job.

 

[Highbeam]

I currently have a cheap nc30 in the shop and a BK in the house. Both their jobs very well.

It’s worth the extra money for better technology in the house stove because long, steady, efficient burns make for a very comfortable home.

In the shop I just want heat. As much heat as can safely be delivered. That dang Home Depot stove is surprisingly durable, clean burning, and easy to use.

 

[stoveliker]

I had a DutchWest Federal Airtight 264CCL cat stove from 1983 and now have a BK Chinook 30.2.
Located in the basement. I had to play a lot with the (3!) air knobs on the DW. It worked ok, but the control offered by the thermostat on the BK is just phenomenal. My first few fires clearly use less wood than the old stove.

I'm still learning, but (and you can ask my wife), I'm very happy and satisfied with this stove. Could not have made a better choice.

Purely economical (if using free wood) it's not necessarily a good deal unless you plan to use it a long time (i.e. don't plan on moving soon), as they are pricey. But the hours saved splitting and stacking (b/c less usage) and, above all, the simple satisfaction of a smoothly operating "wood to heat machine" is worth a lot - to me.

 

[daleeper]

Went from an old pre epa Earth Stove to Blaze King. Earth stove worked well enough, but blaze king took it to a whole different level of wood burning experience. So much cleaner burn and more control over the burn time, with dry wood.

 

[Poindexter]

Not going back. I had an Ovation Country Flame something, EPA non cat before the BK Ashford 30. I keep the house at about the same temeprature, but I am off the rollercoaster of heat and cold, now the house is warm, pretty much all the time.

I had a daughter with many hair products move out the same summer the BK went in. My data is confounded by that. Minimum, I am burning 20% less wood to keep the house at the same temperature. And buying 20% less wood. And toting around 20% less wood. Stacking, minimum, 20% less wood.

The range for the data I have is I am burning 20-35% less wood. Saying I am burning 35% would require all the assumptions to be correct. Saying I am burning 20% less is worst case. Realistically, 25-30% is probably correct.

As an 8-10 cord annual burner, that is a chunk of change every year.

 

[Todd]

Years ago back in my old house I went from a Hearthstone Homestead to Woodstock Fireview and my house temps were more even and a bit higher while my wood consumption went down by a little over half a cord.

Later I switched to a Blaze King Princess and the house got even warmer, maybe too warm for the shoulder seasons. I also went back up in wood consumption probably because of the larger firebox and burning low and slow in the Spring and Fall when I really didnt need to.

In the end at that home I went back to Woodstock Keystone and burned a little NG in the shoulder seasons and kept my wood consumption down to 2.5 to 3 cords where I liked it.

Now I'm retired living off grid in a small log cabin burning a tiny Jotul 602 loading it every 4-5 hrs. I figure I shouldnt go over 2.5 cords with this stove.

 

[Highbeam]

Not going back. I had an Ovation Country Flame something, EPA non cat before the BK Ashford 30. I keep the house at about the same temeprature, but I am off the rollercoaster of heat and cold, now the house is warm, pretty much all the time.

I had a daughter with many hair products move out the same summer the BK went in. My data is confounded by that. Minimum, I am burning 20% less wood to keep the house at the same temperature. And buying 20% less wood. And toting around 20% less wood. Stacking, minimum, 20% less wood.

The range for the data I have is I am burning 20-35% less wood. Saying I am burning 35% would require all the assumptions to be correct. Saying I am burning 20% less is worst case. Realistically, 25-30% is probably correct.

As an 8-10 cord annual burner, that is a chunk of change every year.

I still have the daughters with many hair products but I too saw a 20% reduction in wood consumption when moving from a modern EPA noncat to my bk cat stove. Or going the other way, to switch back to a noncat would increase my wood consumption by 25%! I love that math trick. Much better comfort and lower time investment with a slow burning cat stove.

That 20% savings easily and quickly pays for the catalyst that I need to replace every two years in a very tangible manner. The huge increase in comfort, and time savings by only loading once per day also has value but it is just gravy. All modern stoves (except big box store stoves) are very expensive so it's not like your paying a significant premium for a good cat stove.

 

[BKVP]

I never had any daughters! But both my sons appreciated having to cut, stack and haul less wood when I went from a smoke dragon....to the (my) first EPA stove.

However I didn't save much money because the boys each had to have 1960's muscle cars, pickemup pick up trucks and they lost all my tools....I wish I'd had daughters sometimes.

 

[Tar12]

I started out with what I could afford...and that wasnt very much! lol Went to fuel oil and then to a no name plate stove and then to a Woodmaster boiler that I ran for 26 years and then old age caught up to me and my son left the nest...I decided I wasnt feeding that hungry boiler anymore and discovered this site and settled on a BK Princess....best decision I ever made! Headed into season 5 with it ...mild days I let my Woodstock Fireside Franklin take the chill off...when the cold settles in for good the Princess in ran 24/7....I dont see myself owning anything else anytime soon.

 

[Agent]

@BKVP - My boy is only 2.5 years old and already I'm missing some screwdrivers and numerous sockets. More to come I suppose.

Regarding the original question, I've gone from a 1970s Big Buck Stove, to a NC-30, to a BK Princess (though the princess was an entirely different house).

Two take aways - 1) UPGRADE TO AN EPA STOVE ASAP!! Even the cheap ones.
2) The premium efficiency stoves get you very close to the even and trouble-free heat output of conventional heat systems. There's no more sweating yourself out of rooms, nor getting up extra early to refill on those cold days.

 

[kennyp2339]

I went from a Country Hearth 2500 (US Stove - tractor supply) to a BK Princess 6 years ago. I also saw a reduction of wood consumption ball park of 20% or so, but the 2 big take aways for me was quality of the new stove, the older on which I only used for 3 full heating seasons was literally falling apart and turning into a maintenance nightmare and burn times, I use to think a 12hr burn was when you can shift the ashes and light a new fire off of the last remaining glowing coals, nope during the height of the cold season here I'll switch to a 10 or 12 hr reload schedule, if its warmer out I generally get between 16-20hrs per load of wood (thats with heat you can feel coming off the stove, or maintaining a certain temp in a certain room, for me its 70deg in the upstairs living room (not the stove room)

 

[jetsam]

I went straight from pre-EPA stoves to BK.

If you heat 100% with wood, it is a night and day difference. More heat, less wood, nice even heat that goes all day if that's what you want.

After a few years of heating 100% with the BK, I am moving to heating with partly wood and partly electric now that I have solar- and it's been pretty good for that too (just run the stove low and slow on 24 or 12 hour cycles, let the electric pick up whatever load's left over).

Because it's thermostatic, it doesn't put out as much heat on the high end as a smoke dragon in 'run you out of the room' mode, but there's no reason to run it that high anyway. You don't get behind on your heat when you can tell the stove to go for 12, 18, 24 hours.

Buy a brush, use it often. Start getting ahead on your wood and you won't need the brush so much. Don't plan on actually getting 24 hour burns until you're ahead on your wood (won't work with wet wood).

I honestly think I would have also been happy with a cheap steel tube stove if I'd got it before I had the BK, but there's no going back now... I am spoiled by the thermostat.. I like lighting two or three fires a year.


My absolute biggest selling point here: Imagine being able to sleep through the night all winter. You go to bed, get up 12 hours later, and the stove is putting out nice heat and full of red hot coals. Throw a few splits on and the fire is roaring. It's like magic if you are used to smoke dragons.

 

[Diabel]

You go to bed, get up 12 hours later

Sweet!

 

[brenndatomu]

I have a cheap Lowe’s SH 2k stove and have to keep adjusting the I air. Even then I either have secondaries and an active flame or nothing. I ended up using more wood than I think I should. I will say, my wood could be drier; 2 year hardwood.

Classic symptom of marginal wood...not so much the quality of the stove...although a WS or BK may tolerate it a little better since they are "smoke eaters"
But all in all, any stove will work better on drier wood (water doesn't burn, and all that) 3 years CSS on many hardwoods will almost guarantee that its dry enough to be "premium" firewood.
I'd stock up on wood so that it can all be CSS 3 years before using...that, and a new premium stove...you'll be a happy camper!

 

[TradEddie]

I'd easily say that I consume 30% less wood with an EPA insert than the old 1970's smoke dragon slammer, but it's the longer burns that make the biggest difference to me. The downside is that you really, really need properly seasoned wood, which means more planning and more storage space.

TE

 

[MTASH]

I went from a Schrader to a BK Ashford. Using the same amount of wood, but instead of 10 hours/day I now burn 24 hours/day and save hundreds of gallons of propane.

Even heat, waking up to a warm house, and not having to start a fire every day after work is a big deal for me.

 

[snaple4]

Classic symptom of marginal wood...not so much the quality of the stove...although a WS or BK may tolerate it a little better since they are "smoke eaters"
But all in all, any stove will work better on drier wood (water doesn't burn, and all that) 3 years CSS on many hardwoods will almost guarantee that its dry enough to be "premium" firewood.
I'd stock up on wood so that it can all be CSS 3 years before using...that, and a new premium stove...you'll be a happy camper!

We moved into this house 2 years ago so I’m building up the supply. I’m a bit behind what I want to be due to wife, kids, work, and renovations. Have about 7-8 cords stacked but just have to wait. Thought about a solar tent but I just don’t have the time.

I just cobbled together a heat pump from spare parts to help get me through this season with less wood usage. Next year hope to have good wood and maybe a new stove.

thabk you everyone for your responses.

 

[brenndatomu]

We moved into this house 2 years ago so I’m building up the supply. I’m a bit behind what I want to be due to wife, kids, work, and renovations. Have about 7-8 cords stacked but just have to wait.

Yup, it takes most people some time to build up a proper 3 year rotation...sure stinks dealing with less than dry wood the first year or two though!

 

[begreen]

Sweet!

I couldn't do that even if I wanted to. Either the cats wake me up or my bladder does.

 

[rgiacomazzi]

I started out burning old and junky. Thought it was all I would ever need. It was an old kodiak stove with the air control as two big knobs on the front.

Today, I burn a blazeking KE40.
Worth. Every. Penny.
You may ask why..

Burning for us isn’t just for fun. It’s our only source of heat for our 2800 square foot house unless we want to pay astronomical propane bills. And by astronomical I mean about 300 bucks every three weeks to keep the house at 68-70 degrees MAX.

I run my stove on 24 hour load cycles generally depending on heating needs. Right now it’s running on low, 74 in the house, 44 outside. I lit the fire at 8pm when it dipped to 70 in here.

I’ve had the old Kodiak, two Quadrafires (Tube) and one Jotul (tube). I’ll never have another tube stove. Nothing wrong with them, but for my primary heating needs here the steady burn of a thermostatically controller cat stove does the job.

I just bought a house and sounds like the stove we have is the old kodiak you used to have. We can't find any infl online about it. We can't figure out how it works! No flue? Fire gets put out when closing the door when the knobs are open all the way. We are stupped and cold!

 

[begreen]

The wood may be unseasoned and the draft weak due to the lack of liner.

 

[jetsam]

I couldn't do that even if I wanted to. Either the cats wake me up or my bladder does.

I do it twice week, on my days off!

...and then there's the other 5. :/

 

[jetsam]

I just bought a house and sounds like the stove we have is the old kodiak you used to have. We can't find any infl online about it. We can't figure out how it works! No flue? Fire gets put out when closing the door when the knobs are open all the way. We are stupped and cold!

If the fire goes out and the house fills with smoke, the flue is plugged (flue/chimney damper closed, squirrel nest in flue, giant block of creosote in flue...)

If the fire just goes out, that's a normal symptom of wet wood and/or insufficient air intake. Get the fire lit before closing the door (leave it cracked open until you get the larger splits actively burning).

If the fire still goes out with the door shut, maybe you have the air intake closed, or maybe there's a blockage in there (such as the previous owner added tinfoil to make his dry wood burn overnight, or the intake is packed full of ash).

Step one is to sweep the flue! Get an appropriately sized brush and rods and run it through through whole system.

You can get an inspection camera long enough to go the whole distance for under $50 on Amazon.

Once you know the flue is good, clean out the stove well and figure out how it works . A bruning stick / candle / incense can help you figure out where the intakes are and how the controls (if any) work. Close the door, run the smoke from your stick around the stove, see where it gets sucked in. (If the answer is nowhere, you found your problem.)