My stove prior to the BK was a much lesser stove that did the job of heating the house but wouldn't hold a long burn. After a lot of research I decided to try the BK. I. Use say I was very much impressed. A large stove that I can really pack tight for long burns is a big bonus. And the burn times are great! During the shoulder season ( fall, spring) I can suit the air way down and run on low and get some amazing long burns. It holds coals for seemingly forever which makes restarts a breeze. Getting used to a cat stove was a bit of a learning curve but once that cat is going you can really cut back on the air and it puts out a lot of heat for 12-18 hours depending on what setting you have it on. I would definitely recommend this stove to anyone looking for a great stove or an upgrade to an older stove. I can't honestly say if I burned less wood with this stove because I moved into a very large and very drafty 1880 house. But with that stove running we kept the furnace from running much and it did a fantastic job of heating this leaky old house.
I have the Princess insert and concurr. Burn times are downright silly. All that crazy talk you hear about BK burn times... Believe it.
I don’t own one … not yet anyway. I wasn’t buying the hype until a guy on another forum (also a member here I believe) who lives near me bought a used one. He installed a new CAT in and started using it. He started sending me texts sharing info with me and it made a believer out of both of us. Been looking for a used one near me for two years now. I’ll find one eventually.