New Install of Blaze King King 40 KE Stove on Six Inch Flue and Chimney

Quick update. Today was VERY windy. High was 31° and snowing. The 40+mph winds did not phase the BK 40 even with the 6 inch pipe and chimney. This stove has been performing like a champ. Entire house is cozy warm and stove is just plodding along like it wishes it would get cold outside so it could really show what it's made of. So far I have no regrets of running the 40 on a six inch flue/chimney. Been performing flawlessly.

 

What I've found most important for me is to find the spot on my dial that keeps my house at the consistent temperature I'm looking for. It really isn't at all about a stovetop temp, it's about the overall steady radiation of heat from the entire stove.

 

Several years ago I tried a stove top meter on my BK. It is a great condar meter and I repurposed it for use with my shop noncat stove but it was worthless on the bk. Worse yet, I still have the scratches on the stovetop to remind me of the learning experience.

The bk is really that boring. Engage the cat when the cat meter says to and set your knob to your desired heat level and walk away for a day. Maybe 12 hours if you need lots of heat.

 

Very well put!!! Most fun is seeing how the cat is glowing. Down on the floor gazing up at the cat. Visitors think you're nuts!

 

I need to buy a king before the EPA changes the rules again and eff’s everything up. My NC 30 has been a great stove, but has a very narrow operating range—-max and turbo max. Have to get it too hot to burn cleanly and is just too much heat for the shoulder season. Great stove for -15 temps.

 

Very easy breathing stove. Try blocking the unrestricted primary boost air and adding a stove pipe damper. It should give you a little better control.

 

Now you'll be laying on the floor like the rest of us.

 

What I did this fall, but granted I'm still "learning" the BK, is burn 2-3 VERY SMALL splits at a time. That allowed me very controlled fires with only minor heat output even though they burned hot and clean.

 

I burn an NC30 and a BK princess at the same time. My NC30 has a damper and I've experimented with blocking air ports. It doesn't really matter, to burn clean that thing has to be hot or really hot. I suppose to someone that has never burned a BK, that small difference between hot and really hot might feel like you have a choice on output level. It's really not much of a choice. Pulse and glide is the name of the game with noncats. Partial fuel charges is another work around becuase each pulse is smaller. They do seem to burn well though and make plenty of heat if you need it. Love the fireshow and the clean glass.

 

…and you won’t have any regrets…because the stat is self regulating…even with a 2” smaller diameter chimney.

Had you downsized that much on secondary air tube stove, with winds like that, you might be reaching up to adjust, not just one damper, but likely two stove pipe dampers when the temps really drop and it blows like that…depending on the stove choice.

 

Agreed! From what I'm seeing so far, this will be a non issue. I will keep reporting back as temps head south. God knows it's coming!

 

You’ll be fine. What I want to see is inside the pipe at the end of season. I predict it being nice and clean with very little creosote.

 

I will definitely be letting you know.

 

The cat stoves are definitely a lot easier to maintain a desired temperature over a long period of time than the reburn tube stoves, if you want a clean fire. The reburn stoves have to be run HOT to burn clean. Can play with load sizes for sure to control heat output, but that is at the expense of burn time per load. I had a Woodstock fireview years ago and loved it. Could idle it way down in shoulder season 14-16 hour burns, but it could still keep up with no problems in below zero weather with 8-10 hour burns. The NC 30 has been great for the $599 I paid for it 4 years ago,(it was on clearance) but I will definitely be going back to a cat stove in the future. NC 30 will pull weekend shop duty. Glad to hear the King is performing well on 6” flue because that is what I’m planning to do as well.

 

I can already shut the air down to the point that it kills the fire, but then it smokes like crazy. Might as well be running an old smoke dragon if you cut the air off to a reburn stove.

 

Seems odd they would make those stoves burn so hot. Do they burn an excessive amount of wood compared to other stoves?

 

I’m sure they still burn more than CAT stoves but not as much as pre-EPA stoves.

Some are more controllable than others, and correctly sizing the stove to the home is, in my opinion, most critical. Finding the proper sized stove that will run, not in the low range since that produces a lot of creosote, but a stove that will mostly cruise in the range of medium-low and medium to medium-high is the best choice. Sizing a stove that doesn’t need to run on high (or runaway on me) only once in a great while when a brutal winter comes a long would be ideal. I just haven’t seen that many brands of stoves that are secondary air stoves that give that much control and offer enough stove sizes to hit that sweet spot. I think that’s why so many people choose a bigger stove…because rather than the time and expense of finding that perfect sized stove that is more controllable it’s just easier for people to control the amount of heat by the size of the load put inside the firebox.