The truth about BK's

1)BK's are great stoves
2)I've had a few drinks
3)I don't mean to offend
4)If I didn't love the fire view so much I'd buy one
5)If I lived in Alaska I'd buy one
5)BK's have the best burn times
6)Buy one expecting magic burn times at ~15,000 BTU/hour
7)Don't buy one expecting magic burn times at 60,000 BTU/hour
8)The bigger the firebox, the more BTU's it holds
7)If you need a bunch of BTU's, you need a bunch of fire wood
8)A bunch of fire wood will fit in a BK

Full disclosure- I've only seen one in person .
It looked a lot better in person than in pics.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_of_energy

 

I like #2

 

Yeah, #2 should have been in with the full disclosure.

 

Truth is they are a great stove for the serious 24/7 burner that is more into function than form. The up and coming Ashford 20 may be my next stove in a couple years.

 

I like the Sirocco 20, looks pretty good with legs. 32,000 BTU's/hr for 8 hours. 12,840 BTU's/hr for up to 20 hrs. LHV's. 29% larger than a Keystone and ~10% lower burn rate possible, nice. I could use a lower burn rate at times. I like the way BK breaks down the specs on their website.

 

I wonder if you could squeeze out a 24 hour burn in the Sirocco with good hardwood? That 20 hour burn is with western Larch.

 

Hmm...probably, depending on what you consider "burn times". It would fit my definition.

 

I read somewhere before BK defines burn time up to the point where the cat goes inactive. Not sure if it's true but seems to follow my experience.

 

I'm interested in finding out how the Princess and King compare to the 30 and Defiant.

 

How many sqft is the Defiant? Aren't there two size Defiants, an old and a new one?

 

I have one of the more modern Defiants. It is the EPA cat Defiant that is a generation or two before the current "2-in-1" design. It has a 3.2 cu ft firebox. It has the same heating capacity as the 30nc from my experience with both stoves. The blower with the 30 makes the 30 a little more effective at moving heat.

I never used the old pre-EPA Defiant. That must have had a firebox around 4 cu ft based on what I've seen and that it was a good deal larger than the Vigilant which was just under 3 cu ft.

 

I don't think you're going to get more BTU's out of a 2.85 cuft Princess than a 3.2 or 3.5 cuft stove, the long burns at low heat would be great in the shoulder season though. The 4.3 cuft King on the other hand......+ long low burn capability
ETA: The Princess may make up the size difference with more modern efficiency vs the Defiant???

 

I would like to give one of the new bk 30s a try. Just a little worried about max BTUs.

 

BB has posted many times he doesn't need more BTU's just more control of the burn, he'd like to be able to lock the burn in better. He's looking at 3 stoves in the 3 cubic foot range heating 2150 sq. I have a feeling the Princess will be just fine on low 80% of the time.

 

I'm not looking for more heat. I'm looking for more control and better distribution due to the blower. It has been said that the Princess is on par with the 30 for heat, but with longer burn capabilities.

Also, the Defiant is not as efficient as it should be. So, moving to a better cat system will be beneficial in a lot of ways (whether it is a Woodstock or a Blaze King).

Right now I am leaning towards a King/Princess/Steel line up if I can find the BK stoves at the right price, used. If not, it will be a King/Steel/Steel line up. I would feel better about this lineup if the Steel had a blower option. The blower is an unknown at this point since it has not been stated by Woodstock if it will or will not have one as an option.

 

How much space are you heating? To be honest I was a little worried when I bought my Princess. My Lopi claimed a bunch more BTU's than the Princess, finally I listened to everyone and just looked at firebox size. The BK out heats the Lopi in every aspect of burning wood.

 

Highbeam over on the other site ran a Heritage and currently owns a 30 and a Princess. He feels the Princess is on par with the 30 for heat output. This makes sense to me on several levels and think it is an accurate comparison.

 

Which makes sense since the Lopi is claimed .5 cu ft smaller than the 30. The burn tube tend to limit the firebox so the Princess ends up with as much capacity as the 30 and more capacity than the Lopi.

 

It was only advertised at 2.2 IIRC(Endeavor), the Liberty is their 3 cubic foot stove. I knew the Princess would do better but got tied up in the advertising BS for a moment.