Hmmm, This all sounds so familure. Do any of my posts back in 2007 make any sense now?
LOL
You've come a long way baby!
First real Test For My New Blaze King
- Thread starter Todd
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You've come a long way baby!
Going on 20 hours and there's still plenty of wood in the stove. Stove top temp 240, flue 200 and the cat at about 600. House temps held up in the mid 70's with outside lows in the 40's. I've left the t-stat at a bit under 1.5 and just turned it up to 3 to see what happens.
With this stove turned all the way down it looks like my stove top temps run around 300-400 after it settles in for the long haul. Those temps aren't going to cut it heating my whole house in the middle of Winter but I think it will do the job with highs in the 40-50's. Being able to load this thing once per day during the shoulder season is exactly what I'm looking for instead of starting multiple fires, figuring out loading schedules and messing with kindling. All I have to do is load once and adjust the t-stat as needed.
With the control of these stoves it would be very easy to install in a smaller 1000-1500 sq ft home and not worry about it over powering it and you could get away with 1-2 loads per day.
After turning it back up to 3 the flames came back, glass cleared up and the temps are rising. I'll turn it back down and see what I have at the 24 hour mark.
![[Hearth.com] First real Test For My New Blaze King](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/74/74326-03af83878e7db334589b4996c63e3119.jpg?hash=OH_uPET5wt "[Hearth.com] First real Test For My New Blaze King")
It s posts like yours Todd, that just feed this addiction i have.
Looks like you have the shoulder learning curve nearly figured out
Looks like you have the shoulder learning curve nearly figured out
The Stove of the Year . . . Flavor of the Fall so to speak . . . this year might go back to BK, dethroning last year's PH.
Well, the PH was more new stove hype excitement than it was flavor of the month. We still haven't gotten a real report from it. A lot of first time buyers bought one and the reports we have gotten back lack a lot of detail that someone like Todd, Highbeam, Bart, BeGreen, RDust, Jeff_t, you, etc, would offer. No offense to the PH owners, but there is a big jump in experience from a new owner to someone that has owned several stoves and is ridiculously obsessed with wood burning, heat output, wood dryness, and all the other little details.
As much as I complain about the hybrid technology, it would be nice if one of us regulars bought one and went all WoodNazi on it. I think it would give us all a better idea if the suspected shortcomings of the hybrid technology is factual or theoretical.
There was a bunch of us last season also, Jeff, HotCoals, Hass, ohlongarm and hotprinter right off the top of my head.
They are the perfect shoulder season stoves but you'll find even burning hotter in the middle of winter that once the house warms up you can turn it down a bit and cruise for quite a while.
In the future, when I have a larger budget to work with, three stoves the size of, and functions like, the Princess would be the ideal situation for me. Not happening for a while, though. I'm happy getting 10+ hours from each stove between reloading.
Ok, this is just crazy. 24 hours in and I still have two solid splits on the right side and some coal chunks center back.
![[Hearth.com] First real Test For My New Blaze King](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/74/74352-c0d692a560bea65ffd228c74f588fb49.jpg?hash=qhCRxP8o4W "[Hearth.com] First real Test For My New Blaze King")
Heftiger
Feeling the Heat
That's after 24 hours on a setting higher than 1? When you open the door for photos like this are you getting any smoke spillage? It's still so unseasonably warm I haven't been able to burn. I'm learning from your posts what I would otherwise be learning the hard way.
And I don't think the PH ever became stove of the year. It could have been, but had some serious shortcomings. Short burns, no stat, small firebox, etc. People were excited about the potential but I don't think it will ever be as good as a fireview.
The PH may turn out to be a good heater, we just have too little data on it to average out the variables like flue, wood species burned, operator learning curve, etc.. It's not really fair to compare it the BK stoves. Most stoves don't have a stat and many thousands are heating homes. The PH is designed to provide a nice fireview, clean glass, good burning characteristics in a larger stove and to be a world more attractive. So far it seems to be succeeding on those fronts. I agree that there was a bit too much buzz about the new stove and too little actual burning facts. That's because most folks didn't get them until late winter. It'll take a season of full burning to know how well it works under average conditions and needs. The BK burn times are very impressive, though the princess/king are more utilitarian. Not everyone needs or wants a shoulder season burner or has the stove as their sole source of heating. Each brand has it's own niche to fill. The market has plenty of room for both.
t-stat at 1.5 for most of the 24 hours. It seems if I turn it down further it almost seems like she wants to stall and there's about as much heat produced as a 500w electric baseboard. I'm sure when it gets colder I'll be tweaking it down further for the same results. I did get some smoke spillage when I took the last picture because my draft is hurting from the warming outside temps.
I don't need the heat anymore so I turned it up to #2 to get this thing to burn out. Stove top rose up to 450, flue 380 and the cat about 1200. I figure it will go another 4 hours and it looks like she won't be lit til the end of the week when it drops back into the 50's.
Also noticed some leakage around the stove collar and double wall pipe connection. I'm going to get the stove cement out to fix that.
Remember when I said you would probably get 30 hour burns?
Yep, and it looks pretty easy peasy after this burn. Good thing I didn't do a full load of Locust.
True . . . but it seemed as though the new PH got most of the "press" and was "the" stove to consider purchasing.
Yep, and it looks pretty easy peasy after this burn. Good thing I didn't do a full load of Locust.
33 was my best last season in the really mild weather. 24 in the typical 30's at night and 50's during the day is a pretty typical event. The time involved in heating with wood was greatly reduced after installing my Princess.
Take a drive BAR, with that kind of purchase power it is well worth traveling to buy the stoves at a 1000$ discount each. 2500$ is the going rate for a decked out BK outside of the east coast area.
Even at $2,500 per stove I am looking at $7,500. That is quite an investment to purchase stove #7, 8, and 9. I'm going to stick it out with my more than adequate set-up for a few years before I can think about updating/upgrading another stove.
The only thing that will change my mind would be if the 30 blows me out of the room do to it's limited flexibility. But, clearly, three Princess sized Blaze Kings would be the ideal setup to limit stove tending management.
Nice burn & "play by play"
I'll always wonder what they would do with a full (stuffed to the gills) load of oak , hickory or locust.
I'm at 21 hrs, 3/4 load spruce & birch uglies. House at 72. Still putting out heat.
Warmed up to 55 today, high wind (pineapple express blowing thru) & heavy rain. Power back on now.
1.5 works for my "sweet spot" for low, slow burns.
As for smoke when opening the door,
Bypass "open" crack the door or turn on high with the bypass open to heat the flu up to get a stronger draft & open the door slow works for my set up.
I can lay my hand on the stove pipe above the stove for a few seconds, it's hot but not hot enough to burn my hand.
Once you heat up the chimney a bit & the draft is stronger & no smoke in the house.
I'll always wonder what they would do with a full (stuffed to the gills) load of oak , hickory or locust.
I'm at 21 hrs, 3/4 load spruce & birch uglies. House at 72. Still putting out heat.
Warmed up to 55 today, high wind (pineapple express blowing thru) & heavy rain. Power back on now.
1.5 works for my "sweet spot" for low, slow burns.
As for smoke when opening the door,
Bypass "open" crack the door or turn on high with the bypass open to heat the flu up to get a stronger draft & open the door slow works for my set up.
I can lay my hand on the stove pipe above the stove for a few seconds, it's hot but not hot enough to burn my hand.
Once you heat up the chimney a bit & the draft is stronger & no smoke in the house.
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