New ICF Build - thinking blaze king or PE

[stoveliker]

That makes me laugh; folks here in the US often say that heat pumps don't work below 0 C 🤣

In the end, during shoulder season you can run the heat pump too, so I don't think you can go bad either way.

If you do one stove AND it's in a place where you spend a lot of time (do ambiance matters ), get the PE if you care about flame.
If it's in a place where you don't spend a lot of time, I'd get the BK.

Just for comparison, I'm heating 1700 sq ft 1978 building, plus 825 sq ft basement, walls mediocre insulation, attic air sealed and R57, with a BK.
I Had a 22 hr run on a 85% full fire box of red oak, with outside temps varying between 36 F minimum and ,the max at 46 F (,1 hr only). The living floor above the basement was 71.5 F all the time. The bedrooms above that were 5 F cooler.
There is. no other stove I know that can do that. But there were no flames for 75% of the time.
No idea how this example compares to your need for heat.

 

[Millar]

Having worked on several ICF houses , living in the same climate and owning a PE woodstove I will chip in on this topic. My woodstove has a minimum height chimney and we still have to watch the fire doesn't take off .
I would go for the Bk because of the thermostat and efficiency.

 

[stoveliker]

Are you saying it takes off to fast/hard/high easily?

Do you have an outside air kit (being a tight home)?

And a remark: the efficiency is not much different for these stove brands.

 

[Millar]

Are you saying it takes off to fast/hard/high easily?

Do you have an outside air kit (being a tight home)?

And a remark: the efficiency is not much different for these stove brands.

Yes if I fill the firebox with very well seasoned wood and don't get it dialed down soon enough. Noted the key damper suggested in a previous reply.

Our old farmhouse is not tight so no outside air pipe yet .
I used to build ICF houses so have intimate knowledge of them .

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I’m your first photo that says burn in, you mean before cat damper is engaged?

In that first photo, the bypass damper was already closed, so the cat was engaged. It was a reload when the catalyst was still in the active zone, so I closed the bypass quickly. Even after that point, though, one is supposed to burn on high. I think it has to do with burning the moisture that remains even in dry wood out before adjusting the thermostat to a lower setting. Here are the instructions from a hot reload in the manual:

"Once loaded, latch the loading door shut and (if opened) close the bypass door immediately. Let the fire burn on the HIGH thermostat setting for 20 or 30 minutes OR until the fire is very well established. At that point, turn the thermostat down to the desired setting. Keep in mind, you may not see a large amount of flame activity in the lower thermostat setting. The thermometer needle will remain in the active zone indicating that the burn cycle is continuing."

The next paragraph of the manual mentions that extended burning on low will lead to creosote deposits forming on the glass door.