Those of you with Blaze Kings...

[rdust]

I don't think these stove top cat probes are very accurate due to the radiant heat coming off the stove top so when I reload on top of coals I still wait at least 10 minutes to get the wood good and charred. By that time I can be well over 500 or even close to 1000. Heck, most of the time my probe is 600-700 when it's time to reload but I won't just throw the wood in there and engage the cat because I know it's probably off some. A cold stove is a different matter and the probe temps are probably a little more realistic. After awhile you get the feel for a cat stove and can tell when to engage more my looking at the fire and just giving it a little time.

I usually only pay attention to my probe when it's a cold stove, if it's already active I pretty much follow the same method as you.

 

[weatherguy]

I usually only pay attention to my probe when it's a cold stove, if it's already active I pretty much follow the same method as you.

I do the same as both you guys.

 

[weatherguy]

The o'clock type descriptions aren't enough. See, on the stoves, with the convection deck, the cat probe dial must be upside down so it will fit. I have no idea what you're talking about with 5 o'clock. I have had the pointer clear into the .com area of the website printout on the face of that dial.

How about if you hang upside down from the ceiling, would it match up then?

 

[Highbeam]

Probably! but I would still have to know where the imaginary o'clock marks land on a dial that already has tick marks.

 

[aansorge]

Sure you can get a 40 hour burn..enough coals left to fire her off again.
It can be done in the shoulder if timed right.
Practically, a 24 hour burn is way more reasonable amount of time to expect very good heat output.

I think about 7000 btu's per pound of wood.
So if you fill it up with say 80 pounds of decently dense dry wood and let her go for 24 hours you can expect a avg. of
2300 btu's/hour.

At 40 hours the avg. would drop to 1400 btu's/hour...a electric space heater probably puts out more.

I hope I did the math right..lol.

....you didn't... The average btu's per hour for 80 lbs of wood over 24 hrs would be 23,333 at 7000 btu per lbs.. You just missed a decimal point somewhere!

 

[BrotherBart]

Math is not hotcoals strong suit. And if you believe all of that heat is going into the living space I have an Easter bunny to sell ya.

 

[rdust]

Math is not hotcoals strong suit. And if you believe all of that heat is going into the living space I have an Easter bunny to sell ya.

I'm not sure what you're getting at, a BK stove is near 100% efficient!

 

[BrotherBart]

I'm not sure what you're getting at, a BK stove is near 100% efficient!

Like me.

 

[evilgriff]

Math is not hotcoals strong suit. And if you believe all of that heat is going into the living space I have an Easter bunny to sell ya.

How much for the bunny? Is he trained to run a BK?

 

[BrotherBart]

How much for the bunny? Is he trained to run a BK?

Put the chain to the intake on his tail and he runs from the heat and backs up when it gets cold. $565 shipping included. Now if a female bunny passes by, no refunds.

 

[evilgriff]

BroBart, have to pass. Bunny does not have a digital readout. Also seems a bit dangerous if a female bunny runs by, it would make my BK overfire, most likely voiding the warranty. Thanks anyway.

 

[rideau]

On average you probably get about 5500 to 6000 BTUs net per pound with an 80% efficient stove....and that is assuming you are burning all the smoke and gas, and not having a lot of smoke coming out the chimney, smoke which is something a good number of BK owners have reported seeing on low cat burns.

 

[HotCoals]

I did the math right ..just typed it wrong..you got me..you guys mean to tell me my bk is not 100% efficient?
Dang!
Least I know the fans don't effect the burn time and BKVP agrees with me.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I hear what you're saying and I ran a cat stove for over 20 years and I will say it was better when you didn't need lots of heat.

The nice thing about the BK is you can kick it down when you need lots of heat. Doubling the firebox size from my last cat stove (VC) and giving it relatively perfect burn control with the tstat has been a game changer. That firebox gets loaded to the top every time no matter if it is October or January and I can dial in the burn rate almost as predictably as running a microwave. My only complaint is they don't make a bigger stove.

 

[HotCoals]

Actually I was close to the 80% figure it seems cause I was off on the btu's/pound to begin with..lol.

All firewood has about the same BTU per pound. Non resinous wood has around 8000 to 8500 BTU per pound and resinous wood has around 8600 to 9700 BTU per pound. Less dense softwoods have less BTU per cord than more dense hardwood but they also weigh less per cord. Resinous wood has more BTU per pound because the resins have more BTU per pound than wood fiber has

 

[weatherguy]

On average you probably get about 5500 to 6000 BTUs net per pound with an 80% efficient stove....and that is assuming you are burning all the smoke and gas, and not having a lot of smoke coming out the chimney, smoke which is something a good number of BK owners have reported seeing on low cat burns.

Its not on the low cat burns but towards the beginning of the burn when we're getting it up to temp, it goes away once your cruising at any temp for a little while.

 

[weatherguy]

Active line is 500, pegged is 1800, 12 oclock is 900, 2 oclock is 1400, you can probably estimate from those numbers.

Change the 1800 to 1600, I need glasses, the damn thermo is small.