Princess

[Gavman]

Going to meet her for the first time tomorrow, her role in my life will be to keep me warm and cosy for the foreseeable...

A princess ultra, out will be my Pacific energy super 27, out to the man cave.... Been a great stove but just a bit small for the overnight loading, and getting an 8 hour burn is very difficult unless it is perfectly loaded.....

Looking forward to the experience.... will keep yall posted...

 

[Gavman]

She is in, and on, been up and running about 3 hours now, yup a three hour burn so far...
Liking what I see so far, seems very well built and solid...
Love how much wood it holds and the size of each piece.... the wood I am burning was cut with a bigger stove in mind at 16" so was a pain in the smaller PE stove...

 

[XSKIER]

She looks HOT! Thanks for sharing.

 

[zogger]

So, get a good all nighter from it?

 

[Gavman]

sure did, loaded it at about 10:30 last night and got up at 6:30 this morning to check what was happening, still about 30% of the load left and the eco fan on the top was running fast... Very very happy so far.... And not missing the flames as much as I thought I might...
The heat it was throwing off was amazing considering how long it had been running...

 

[Gavman]

Well it looks like im no longer a wood burner, better description would be a wood baker...
Loving my first 24 hours with the stove so far, no longer a slave to loading it, Just loaded it at 5 this evening, and wont have to touch it till 5 in the morning when I get up for work...
Flames are not existent for the most part except for when Im loading it, but the heat output and the low maintenance easily makes up for the loss of the flames, easily...

Outside temps are quite warm for right now but we have some -5 ish weather coming in mid week but based on what I see so far it should be excellent....

Dry wood is key, thought it might be too dry as the wood (hemlock) im burning would burn up pretty quick in the ols stove, but this thing loves dry wood...

The learning curve on the controls is easy too, but I did read tons of reviews and fully understood it before I got it...

 

[Gavman]

Loaded the stove at 5 this morning, filled the box pretty good, was colder here today, a cold wind was blowing in of the sea...
Kept the stove on the highest setting, wide open throttle I guess for 45 mins after that, was actually wishing I could have stayed home just to keep an eye on her but duty calls...

Missus was around most of the day, at one point I called maybe around 1pm or so and asked about my other girl, she's looking a bit black she says, so I mention the thermostat at the back corner of the stove, a quarter turn clockwise for the next half hour and danced to life....

I got home at near 7 this evening and holy am I impressed, still about 10 to 15% of the mornings load left and just now at 7 I raked the coals up and filled it about just over half, 5 decent sized splits, didnt want too much in there as I will leave that for the morning load....

A little po'ed at the stove sales lady from three years ago who is a bit of a guru on the west coast, went into her to order a princess back then and was convinced not to go that route and go for the pacific energy instead...
There is nothing wrong with the pacific energy BTW in the right application and mine was not right for it...

The other thing that I am po'ed a little about is the Princess dealer is but 10 mins from my house but their price which they wouldnt budge from was over $500 more than on online price I found from a dealer over 15 hours drive away, he shipped it to a local business addy for me and was great to deal with...

Anyways will stop the posting in this thread as often but one happy warm camper here....

Cheers Folks

 

[Pelorus]

Enjoyed the thread. Am looking to replace my 25yr old Old Timer this winter or next. It has given it's all, and then some. Getting up in the middle of the night to feed it during real cold spells just isn't as enjoyable as it once was. Bought it used (mint condition, with blower fan) 22 years ago for $400. I don't mind spending a heap of money on a Princess, given that it will hopefully last and last and last.

 

[Gavman]

Well another update, love the stove..
We left the house on Saturday afternoon at three to go to a buddies birthday party, an overnighter.... loaded the stove tight at 2;30 in the afternoon, didnt come home till 10:15 next morning, was sure it would be out.... Not only was it still lit but it had enough hot coals that within 15 minutes after loading it she was blasting the heat again...

Temps outside were below freezing the whole time too.....

Downsides so far are few, only thing I can think of it the door handle is not the greatest, should be fine for a few years but I know it could easily be stronger and should be considering how long these stoves have been around... tis the weakest part of the stove but still ok...
I wish the firebox was just 2 to 3 inches taller at the top inside, it would make it easier to get a fuller load in there...

The missus got on to loading it properly too very quickly, she dont like gadgets too much to I run it for the first three days but I talked her through a loading cycle over the phone once and now she is a pro....

I feel I am using less wood too, have some primo hemlock right now, super dry and burns hot, seems like the drier the better for the stove...

Will do a one month review too I guess but the way its going right now Im not expecting much to change...