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

I think Highbeam said it best, think of a Blaze king firebox as a fuel tank and the thermostat as the gas pedal. Fill it full and use the thermostat to regulate the mileage or heat output.

When I had mine that’s how I ran mine. I always filled it full and depending on the weather I either did 8, 12, or 24 hour reload schedule. This was a Princess heating 2000 sq ft in W Wis.

 

Great description and exactly how I run my coal stove…when loaded with 120lbs of black rocks…it’ll burn for days on low and with the thermostat (and a great heat exchanger inside the stove top) most of the heat energy is put into the home rather than wasted up the chimney.

That’s why I’ve stated, and I’ll state it again, there’s not a wood stove made that match a good coal stove with thermostat except for a Blaze King. The BK is the only stove that can come close.

 

Good analogy!

 

All of our units have the same technology, just different size fuel tanks. The King has more steel surface area to help deliver produced Btu's.

I also have a KE40 (my 3rd King model in 27 years). As mfgs we are permitted to produce "R & D" units, so the first KE40 went in my home to be tortured.

I can't imagine my 1895 Sears Craftsman home being heated with a smaller model.

I just emptied the ashes for the third time this winter. NOTE: When I burned hardwoods I had to empty once a month. I went back to larch and firs because they don't have the same coal making properties as hardwoods.

When I load my stove, I stuff it full each time. My stove never goes completely out during any winter.

I never partially fill my F350 either. I like knowing "it's full".

BKVP

 

This has been a very interesting and timely thread, as I’ve been in talks with multiple BK dealers this week. I’m looking to replace my old Harman Mark 2 by next burning season and have been going back and forth between tube and cat stoves. I keep coming back to a cat stove, based on how I run my Harman, and the only cat stove brand I’ve considered is BK. I have a masonry chimney with a 7” ID square clay liner. I had previously assumed that the BKK 40 would work fine with this as the discrepancy in area is 1.24” compared to an 8” round, your thread has made me feel a lot better about that. My conundrum is whether or not the King 40 is too big for my house and if I should be looking at a Princess 32. If that’s the case, then would my flue be oversized for that model seeing as the size difference in area would be 20.74” from 6” round to 7” square? Is sizing the stove for the house or the chimney the better option? I am far from an expert on the subject matter and the discussion of pairing the right stove with the right chimney has been very interesting to me. Seeing as my flue isn’t one that anyone manufactures a stove specifically for, I’m now wondering which of the 2 I should be looking more closely at. Any recommendations on choosing for flue size or house size? TIA for any and all help as purchasing a new stove is a large expense that I’d like to ensure I get right the first time.

 

With coal I empty ash twice a day below 40F. Just once a day on warmer days. So even once a month ash emptying is a plus. A forum friend near me (6-8 miles) empties his King once a year and only half full at end of season, so really twice a year. Who wouldn’t love that?

As much as I’d love the King for the fuel tank my fear is it putting off too much heat even on low for my 1350 sq ft on a single floor. My friends house I believe is 1700-1800 sq ft two-story.

The lowest I’ve burned my big Hitzer 354 was .88lbs an hour at 12,500-13,500 btu/hr. That actually wasn’t really low enough for shoulder season and we had to employ window-stats to cool it off. I’m thinking something more in the range of 8,000-10,000 btu/hr would be better all things being equal…like the 354 and King being similar in size. Of course, a smaller stove messes with those 8,000-10,000 btu numbers.

With the King I’m certain the box will be black most of the time, plus my clay lined chimney is 6.75”x6.75” actual inside measurements. I think they consider that an 8” liner, and it’s right at 15’ from firebox floor to top of chimney.

I know a Princess would work, but sure it too would be black. Perhaps a smaller stove woupd allow for seeing more flames and have coeaner glass, just not sure if they’d handle an occasional -25*F to -31*F we occasionally see here in sw OH.

 

In general an insulated SS flue will draft better than a clay flue...and round better than square (a round flue tends to stay cleaner too...the flue gasses tend to flow up the center, the square corners get cool/dirty...the different velocities within the flue causes turbulence)
IMO, since the chimney is the engine that powers the stove, getting the chimney right is the most important part...as far as sizing the stove to the house, I'd probably tend to error on the side of a lil "too big" rather than a lil too small...

 

So how would one go about sizing a stove for a square clay liner when all these wood stoves seem to be spec’d for round flues? Mine would be considered an 8” but in reality is just under 7” ID. Assuming maybe a 6.75” this gives me a flue area of 45.5; 6” round is 28.26 and 8” is 50.24. Do I go with a 6” stove so that my “engine” is overpowered and also capable of accepting a 6” SS liner, should I need one down the road? Each dealer I talked with wouldn’t really answer this question (my guess is they don’t want the liability or just don’t know) and sadly one of them was just down right rude from the get go.

 

I'd be temped to just go with a 6" insulated flex liner, as the vast majority of stoves use 6"...unless you think that a Princess would not do, and you really need the power of a King.
If an insulated flex liner does not fit in a 7x7 clay flue (probably wouldn't) then you could just break out the existing flue and then you'd have room for whatever size you want/need.
As a dealer, I can see why they are non committal on the chimney recommendations as each home/chimney/install is different and what would be considered a marginal setup at one house, may work fine, but not so great at another home.
Safest bet is too install to the chimney specs laid out by the stove manufacturer in the manual/best practice rules.

 

Do they still do "slammer" installs on square clay flues? I think we can all agree a ss liner down a clay flue is best. My experience with a clay flue; it has a tendency to create glaze creosote much more easily.

 

Not legally...but I'm sure some hilljack somewhere...

 

Clay liners don’t inherently cause glaze. The problem is wet wood and/or idling a stove on low too often even with wood that is considered dry by percentage, even below 15%. Properly seasoned wood still has some moisture in it so often idling too low can still cause glazing.

 

Would it have been better to say clay liners cause flue gasses to cool more rapidly thus potentially causing glaze to more easily form?

Obviously wet wood is the primary culprit but never getting the top of a clay liner up to a certain temp.... i saw alot of glaze in my clay liner before doing it the right way.

Also as brenndatomu mentioned, square is not a good shape for even flow. So if the liner was clay and round, i might've had a different experience.

 

That’s why burning hot for 20-30 minutes 1-2 times a day helps. It helps prevent glazing and helps heat up the liner to maintain better draft. Clay does have a tendency to hold heat very well, but it shouldn’t be far too large either because that kills it…it will get cold and stay cold.

I see plenty if properly sized stainless Class A chimney’s that are black at the top; from being cold, wet wood, low burning. By contrast I see similar SS chimneys clean as a whistle, same for clay…and those people are doing something right.

Burning hot daily, is a good practice to keep any chimney cleaner.

 

My last three fuel loads have been chucked full. Getting 30 hours burn time and outside temperature is 33°, windy, and rain/snow. House is 77/78° with a couple spikes to 80/81°......... Oops.

I wish I had been burning like this all winter. I really do think it is more efficient.

 

I just emptied for the third time this winter. I could have gone another couple weeks but we had a warm spell. Figured I'd clean it while the stove was cooled off.

 

I know I burn more coal at 74-76F in the house. If I keep it 71-73 I can easily see I’m burning less coal without even having to weigh it. Same works for wood, no doubt.

Of course, people like the temps they like.

I just can’t help but wonder how much wood (pun intended) you save at those lower temps with the BK stove. Just thinking out loud…not suggesting anything.

 

I don't think the King is going to put out that much more heat than the Princess. Maybe a little bit due to the extra square inches of steel on the stove, but overall, I think you will just gain extra burn time due to the larger firebox. If you can make the chimney work, definitely go with the King. Just burn it on a lower setting. However, so many other factors come into play: Your lowest potential temperatures in the nastiest part of winter, the level of your home insulation, etc. When we hit -11° this winter and the wind was howling, I was glad I was sitting next to the King. My home construction is 2x6 walls with fiberglass insulation and 18 in of fiberglass insulation in the attic.
Several very big windows don't help.

 

Hmmm. Selling 71° to the wife might be a challenge.

 

Hey…it’s a challenge here as well.

Oddly enough as temps warm up above 50*F the house actually feels hotter at the same prior temperatures, so that seems to help us all accept a slightly lower temperature in the house. Often times the wall thermometer inside will read the same as a cold week, but for some odd and strange reason it always seems much too hot when outside temps are 50*F+.