Most people load the 3500 firebox N/S. It's not going to make a big difference as long as the splits are 18" or shorter. Most firewood is cut to 16".
Osburn 3500 or Blaze King King 40
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That makes sense. The Osburn also includes a blower that is extra on the others. We have never had a stove with a blower, but I am sure it helps to spread out the heat some.
Thank you. I am waiting for a call back from Osburn to hear what they have to say about it.
DuaeGuttae
Minister of Fire
We used to heat a raised ranch home in Virgnia with a Lopi Revere Insert in our finished basement. We bought the stove originally just to heat the basement, but it worked so well we moved to doing the majority of our heating with it. Even though our stove was an insert, it extended beyond the fireplace by ten inches so there was a lot of radiant heat.
One thing we discovered was that running the stove without the blower heated up our large rec. room in the basement just fine. Turning on the blower really helped jumpstart the convective loop that moved the heat up the open staircase to the main living area. I would say that if your plan is to heat from the basement, you’ll want a blower on whatever stove you choose.
A couple more thoughts from your thread:
You mention having cathedral ceilings on the main floor. Be aware that your heat may disappear once it spreads to that room. You have a lot of square footage, and your cubic footage makes it the equivalent of even more. It’s good that you‘re searching for a huge stove.
We live in a large house in a mild climate, and our insert isn’t rated to heat all of it. It heats a big open family room/kitchen/dining room area, and the heat moves upstairs as well. The layout prevents much from moving into our big living room but some does. What I notice, however, is that with the higher ceilings there (they’re ten feet in most of the house, but up to thirteen feet there), the heat seems to disappear. It doesn’t, of course, but it seems to.
Also, you mention that your home is still under construction. Do you have plans for good insulation and an HRV or ERV for fresh air? Will your basement be a daylight basement with access to an outside wall for an outside-air connection for the stove? Both those factors could affect whether you have a negative pressure problem in the basement.
One thing we discovered was that running the stove without the blower heated up our large rec. room in the basement just fine. Turning on the blower really helped jumpstart the convective loop that moved the heat up the open staircase to the main living area. I would say that if your plan is to heat from the basement, you’ll want a blower on whatever stove you choose.
A couple more thoughts from your thread:
You mention having cathedral ceilings on the main floor. Be aware that your heat may disappear once it spreads to that room. You have a lot of square footage, and your cubic footage makes it the equivalent of even more. It’s good that you‘re searching for a huge stove.
We live in a large house in a mild climate, and our insert isn’t rated to heat all of it. It heats a big open family room/kitchen/dining room area, and the heat moves upstairs as well. The layout prevents much from moving into our big living room but some does. What I notice, however, is that with the higher ceilings there (they’re ten feet in most of the house, but up to thirteen feet there), the heat seems to disappear. It doesn’t, of course, but it seems to.
Also, you mention that your home is still under construction. Do you have plans for good insulation and an HRV or ERV for fresh air? Will your basement be a daylight basement with access to an outside wall for an outside-air connection for the stove? Both those factors could affect whether you have a negative pressure problem in the basement.
We will be insulating well and will have a daylight basement. I will have to look into the HRV/ERV, not sure about that. Also we don’t expect to be able to heat 100% with the stove. Just supplemental heat and a place to warm up after being outside.
A daylight basement, big SF and CF, why not look at wood furnaces? That 30' new, all interior, vertical chimney will suck hard. Like suck the seagulls off of a landfill hard. You will need to be thinking of ways to keep that under control.
Knowing it's supplemental heat, I would be installing a king for sure and run it at a burn rate that is convenient for you. 10, 24, 36 hour reloads. Whatever. The only bugger is buying 30' of 8" pipe.
CentralVAWoodHeat
Minister of Fire
I can’t say enough good things about our Osburn 3500. I would highly recommend it. Burn times are huge and the stove is very predictable in terms of burn performance. It puts out serious heat without all the maintenance issues I have had with cast iron stoves in the past
The blower makes a HUGE difference in terms of heat distribution while the included side heat shields make it so walls around it don’t get as hot which is great for peace of mind. Same with the back of the stove as it barely warms the wall behind it.
The blower makes a HUGE difference in terms of heat distribution while the included side heat shields make it so walls around it don’t get as hot which is great for peace of mind. Same with the back of the stove as it barely warms the wall behind it.
Time to add that baby to your signature line.
We ended up going with the Osburn 3500. With the tax credit it was quite a bit less than the Blaze King so we figured we would give it a shot. I really wanted to try a Blaze King just to see if it is as awesome all of the reviews say, however the Osburn will work for now. Thank you to everyone for all of the advice and suggestions. Now I can’t wait to get it hooked up to try it out!
CentralVAWoodHeat
Minister of Fire
Hello I have used a blaze king princess model for about 5 years I recently replaced it with the osburn 3500 this has been our winter with the osburn I believe I have some really good info for you..The reason we replaced our princess was it was over fired by previous owner everything was warped inside I was able to over come this by doubling gaskets were needed however changing the gaskets every season no fun enuff on that the biggest difference between these two stoves is with the bk you can NOT just fill it full of wood set your damper and go to work you have to wait for the heat to come up on the stove until you are in the cat active zone then you can turn your bypass on set your damper this process can take alot of time depending on how cool your stove is before loading I thought it was a pain in the ass also the bk has a total of 3 gaskets on the door/the bypass door/and the cat has a gasket if you just want to burn wood and not tinker Clean adjust or wait for temp to get in active zone all the time don't get a bk I think they are the best stoves on the market however there like a high dollar sports car that only run on premium gas the price on a king is around 10 grand in mi we payed 3500 for our osburn both qualified for the same tax credit in mi I believe the tax credit is capped at 3000 max now on to the osburn not a perfect stove the damper leaves a lot to be desired there are no notches marks or anything to set it were you had it kind of annoying but not the end of the world. The fire box is huge and so is the ash pan but the fire box is not very deep so you do have to clean ash into ash box after every big burn other than that the stove runs awesome and throws a lot of heat when it's in the teans I fill it full and turn damper all the way down and get about 10 plus hrs of good heat the stove is simple to use and fire box is huge I believe for the money and included options/ blower/ pedestal/ ash pan/the osburn is a good option if you work from home and are hands on the king is best good luck
You picked a good stove going with the Osburn. They’re heavily built and quality stoves with great customer service.
You will however get lots of heat for relatively short burn times compared to the Regency 5200 and especially compared to the long and low steady burns of the BK King model. Just know that going in and you’ll be fine and you’ll also be better suited for knowing which stove will better suit your needs in the future. You have to start somewhere and saving money is a good place to start.
One other question that was over looked. You said you’re building a new home, I think. Bare walls in the basement.
Here’s the question;
Any chance that you insulated the outside of your basement walls before backfilling, and/or insulating the basement floor before pouring concrete?
If so, both would allow your basement to be considered insulated. Some people are doing both these days, so I thought I’d ask.
You will however get lots of heat for relatively short burn times compared to the Regency 5200 and especially compared to the long and low steady burns of the BK King model. Just know that going in and you’ll be fine and you’ll also be better suited for knowing which stove will better suit your needs in the future. You have to start somewhere and saving money is a good place to start.
One other question that was over looked. You said you’re building a new home, I think. Bare walls in the basement.
Here’s the question;
Any chance that you insulated the outside of your basement walls before backfilling, and/or insulating the basement floor before pouring concrete?
If so, both would allow your basement to be considered insulated. Some people are doing both these days, so I thought I’d ask.
So this is from a year ago? And what?
You had a old Bk that you say was over fired vs a new stove?
I have no idea what your trying to convey other then the king is a lot of money... Which I can't really argue with. lol
I didn't realize it was from a year ago lol my biggest point was you can't throw wood in bk and go to work you have to wait till in cat active zone I hated that
That’s when you adjust your tending times like I had to burning the black rocks. Whether I tend at 12 hour intervals or wait 24-36 hours and even much longer…it takes time to prepare for the next load. Rather than me waiting on a catalyst to get into burn range I have to rev the fire bed and allow it to come up to temperature. At 12 hour intervals with a low burning fire that might take 5 minutes or 15 minutes…just depends how low I’m letting the stove cruise and depends on outdoor conditions as well. The longer I wait between tending the longer it takes to revive the existing coal fire to get hot enough to ignite freshly loaded coal. The point is this: I adjust my tending schedule according to several factors
There’s trade-offs, pros/cons to everything in life.
I thought Donnie made a decent post for it being only his second post.
There’s trade-offs, pros/cons to everything in life.
I thought Donnie made a decent post for it being only his second post.
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