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First 24 Hour Burn!
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Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
Yep. Front to back. Seems to fill the box most easily.
Thanks guys. We've since surrounded it with a nice looking gate. Will have to take some more photos. The gate was another rec I picked up here.
Thanks guys. We've since surrounded it with a nice looking gate. Will have to take some more photos. The gate was another rec I picked up here.
blacktail
Minister of Fire
In single rows with decent ventilation, I think young Doug Fir will be ready if it was split in the spring. Old growth with tight grain takes longer.
If you want a load to burn the slowest loading the other way will help to do that. Blocks the air more to the back.
That said I usually load front to back also...wood fits in better that way.
I agree that young doug fir can have silvery grey bark. Anything with a pinky/orange tinge where I am is likely to be fir. I love fir - it burns hot and clean with virtually no ash. My dad only burns fir 24/7 during the winter and he empties his ash out once a year!
Alder tends to turn very red about a day after it's been cut, but when cut/split, it is very white. It mellows to a golden yellow after a bit, and then back to white. I have some in the shed (open-sided) which I split on June 30 and it already has checked ends. It was cut down green about a month before splitting. I wasn't planning on using it this year, but it will be interesting to see what the moisture meter reads. We've had a good summer for seasoning. It leaves lots of ash - I think I can get it to hold coals for longer than fir, but I'll really be testing that more this year. No 24 hr burns for me ever!
I haven't had good luck with hemlock but I think it takes a long time to season properly compared to alder and fir.
Alder tends to turn very red about a day after it's been cut, but when cut/split, it is very white. It mellows to a golden yellow after a bit, and then back to white. I have some in the shed (open-sided) which I split on June 30 and it already has checked ends. It was cut down green about a month before splitting. I wasn't planning on using it this year, but it will be interesting to see what the moisture meter reads. We've had a good summer for seasoning. It leaves lots of ash - I think I can get it to hold coals for longer than fir, but I'll really be testing that more this year. No 24 hr burns for me ever!
I haven't had good luck with hemlock but I think it takes a long time to season properly compared to alder and fir.
Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
Y'all are getting me interested in the Blaze King. I have read nothing but good reviews on them on this forum. That Ashford would be perfect for my house. A 30 hour burn, damn!
Unfortunately there is no Blaze King dealer near me. There is one store in Asheville that sells Blaze King, but, somehow, they have lost the account. They have only one Blaze King on the floor and once they sell it, they will no longer sell the Blaze King. They would rather sell Vermont Castings, go figure.
I am planning to get a Jotul Oslo from that same dealer. Would like to check out the Blaze King but it is a 1 1/2 hour drive to the nearest dealer.
In double-checking, it may be farther than that. I went to their web site in Waynesville NC and can't see a Blaze King stove in the store.
http://www.cleansweepfireplace.com/?q=inventory
I can't find a Blaze King dealer in South Carolina, Georgia, or western North Carolina.
Guess I will stick with the Jotul.
Unfortunately there is no Blaze King dealer near me. There is one store in Asheville that sells Blaze King, but, somehow, they have lost the account. They have only one Blaze King on the floor and once they sell it, they will no longer sell the Blaze King. They would rather sell Vermont Castings, go figure.
I am planning to get a Jotul Oslo from that same dealer. Would like to check out the Blaze King but it is a 1 1/2 hour drive to the nearest dealer.
In double-checking, it may be farther than that. I went to their web site in Waynesville NC and can't see a Blaze King stove in the store.
http://www.cleansweepfireplace.com/?q=inventory
I can't find a Blaze King dealer in South Carolina, Georgia, or western North Carolina.
Guess I will stick with the Jotul.
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Asheville? What a great name for town in which to buy wood stoves.
Which one do they have on the floor? If it's not to your liking, perhaps it's worth driving a long way to find one you do like. It's a big investment and you're gonna have it for years. I'm sure there are other great stoves too. I'm new to this so I can't comment on anything other than the one's I've researched and the one I bought. But it doesn't seem like there's anything else like a BK for long, low burn times. Here in the PNW where winter temperatures are mild, I can't think of a better choice. If you're in a place where you've got to run it hotter, perhaps the advantages diminish. That's just a guess on my part. Others can provide far better advice.
Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
I have looked for Blaze King dealers in Seattle, in Buffalo NY, in Minneapolis. They are all over the place. I guess they are few and far between here in the southeast.
I can't figure why the big dealer in Asheville NC has lost the account, but the one Blaze King they have left on the floor is ugly, not pleasing to me or, especially, to my girlfriend.
I don't recall which BK they had still left on the floor, but it was not a King, or Princess, or Ashford.
I can't figure why the big dealer in Asheville NC has lost the account, but the one Blaze King they have left on the floor is ugly, not pleasing to me or, especially, to my girlfriend.
I don't recall which BK they had still left on the floor, but it was not a King, or Princess, or Ashford.
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Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
This is weird. I went, again, to the Blaze King web site, found a dealer that is 2 hours away in Hickory NC.
http://www.hickoryfireplace.com/
It says "web site not available." Looks like Blaze King is not available here in the southeast. I know from this forum that this is a good wood stove. Why is nobody selling them around here?
http://www.hickoryfireplace.com/
It says "web site not available." Looks like Blaze King is not available here in the southeast. I know from this forum that this is a good wood stove. Why is nobody selling them around here?
Have you contacted BKVP? He can advise you as to whether there's a dealer nearby.
BKVP
Minister of Fire
Until early 2013, Blaze King had a distributor based in Raleigh. They had the total east coast as their territory. When that agreement expired, we hired reps to cover New York, Mid Atlantic and New England. That is why our authorized dealer locations are so plentiful today in these areas. We have not found a rep for all states south of PA.
I may have spoke with the OP the other day. I suggested he have his local hearth dealer contact us and we can make accommodations in the absence of any authorized dealers.
Lastly, we did not terminate any relationship with any dealers that I can recall. I can only presume that the end of the distributor agreement left them feeling they were not a dealer. We did contact 100% of all prior distributor dealers and proposed they deal direct. That is up to the dealer to decide and we respect their decisions.
I may have spoke with the OP the other day. I suggested he have his local hearth dealer contact us and we can make accommodations in the absence of any authorized dealers.
Lastly, we did not terminate any relationship with any dealers that I can recall. I can only presume that the end of the distributor agreement left them feeling they were not a dealer. We did contact 100% of all prior distributor dealers and proposed they deal direct. That is up to the dealer to decide and we respect their decisions.
Bingo. This year I'm burning 90% fir. Last year it was 90% Bigleaf Maple. The year before it was alder. The year before it was half maple and half fir. . .
Congratulations on the 24+ hour burn. It's real. Hard to believe until you've experienced it. The benefit is not just the lack of having to reload 3 or 4 times during the day and wake up to a cold house but also the stove was putting out a steady heat all day and not flashing hot and then cold over and over. Cat stoves in general are really steady outputters.
I have burned a few of our PNW species in the BK and have determined that red alder is the best. It has very thin bark, no slivers, easy to split and clean but also it makes some ash when it burns which kind of shrouds the wood and slows the burn. It is a better coaling wood. Great stuff. Doug fir is more plentiful and also very good wood but the almost complete lack of ash makes for a fast and hot (relatively) burn.
There is no bad wood here in the PNW. Or maybe the same way to say that is that there is no wood that is much better than the rest except the rare fruitwood or madrona. I've burned willow, cottonwood, red cedar, pine, as well and they all perform pretty much the same.
I have burned a few of our PNW species in the BK and have determined that red alder is the best. It has very thin bark, no slivers, easy to split and clean but also it makes some ash when it burns which kind of shrouds the wood and slows the burn. It is a better coaling wood. Great stuff. Doug fir is more plentiful and also very good wood but the almost complete lack of ash makes for a fast and hot (relatively) burn.
There is no bad wood here in the PNW. Or maybe the same way to say that is that there is no wood that is much better than the rest except the rare fruitwood or madrona. I've burned willow, cottonwood, red cedar, pine, as well and they all perform pretty much the same.
Thanks for the feedback. And parenthetically, how cool of BKVP to materialize from the ethers whenever his name is mentioned. 
Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
http://firehousecasual.com/hearth/
This is the dealer here in Asheville who has just one BK left on the floor, and when that is gone, will be out of the BK business. I asked him why, no more Blaze King, he said something to the effect that, his distributor no longer carries BK so he will no longer carry it.
Then he gave me the "Rah Rah" speech on his Vermont Castings. Ditching one of the best stoves on the market, and keeping one of the most mediocre. Go figure.
He may sell me a Jotul but won't sell me a VC.
Tough luck for me on the BK I am not driving 4 hours to look at one; anyway I like the Jotul well enoiugh
This is the dealer here in Asheville who has just one BK left on the floor, and when that is gone, will be out of the BK business. I asked him why, no more Blaze King, he said something to the effect that, his distributor no longer carries BK so he will no longer carry it.
Then he gave me the "Rah Rah" speech on his Vermont Castings. Ditching one of the best stoves on the market, and keeping one of the most mediocre. Go figure.
He may sell me a Jotul but won't sell me a VC.
Tough luck for me on the BK I am not driving 4 hours to look at one; anyway I like the Jotul well enoiugh
BKVP
Minister of Fire
Jotul makes a fine product. However, keep in mind your dealer can order the stove and save you the four hour drive. You'll truly miss the real meaning of metered heat output with anything but.
Got to go cut wood. Friend just delivered me a massive cherry tree! 2 years from now it will burn great.
Enjoy!
Hey, more good news. Got my moisture meter today and fleshly split some wood. The stuff I've been burning came in anywhere from 14 to 18%. That part was expected. It's three quarters of a cord of various hardwoods (or what passes for hardwood around here) that had been drying for at least a couple of years. But what was not expected is my Douglas fir that was cut down last fall and then cut up and split and stacked (and seasoning for just a few months) is already running in the high teens to low twenties. Highest reading I could get was 24%. That was the inside of a knot on a big split. Smaller pieces were all but ready to go in the stove. I think we'll be alright in another month or two when we need to start burning that stuff. Might still look to mix in a bit of palate wood if it's not consistently below 20% by then. But it's not so high as to be unworkable.
Interestingly, I've got a bit of wood from some old rotted logs I found on my property. Figured they'd be good and dry but nope -- they pegged the meter at 50%. Is rotten wood worth burning? Assuming I can get it to dry, doesn't seem like it would burn long.
Interestingly, I've got a bit of wood from some old rotted logs I found on my property. Figured they'd be good and dry but nope -- they pegged the meter at 50%. Is rotten wood worth burning? Assuming I can get it to dry, doesn't seem like it would burn long.
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