24 hour burn in the new Woodstock Ideal Steel stove

[Pulp]

Sorry guys, this one is an aesthetic bigot.
BK stoves are butt ugly: no curves, no prettiness, no design to stare at when we're nude in front of our o-so-lovely cast iron heaters.
It is an opinion.
There is no central furnace to take over here after that 40 hour burn, so a good, pretty cast stove which becomes center stage is what we like.
I've never gotten more than maybe 8 hours of real heat when the delta is like now--9 F out and 71 F in--from any stand alone wood stove.
Maybe BK could put lipstick on a pig. Who knows.
Remember, it was the guys in Vermont in the 70's through early 90's who engineered recycled gases, with bimetallic thermostatic primary air, then
advanced with cats. Again, it was a complex appliance, needing maintenance and care. And again, the later VC owners blew it. BK ran with quality in the build.
But Idaho, they are ugly. No swan.
We drive Ford, Subaru. Cut with Stihl.

 

[Wood Doctor]

+1, Zogger, et al. The stove looks a bit plastic, assuming that it really is a wood stove. I think I am looking for cast iron or thick steel plate. Regardless, there is only so much heat that a load of wood can deliver. The operator of the stove is still the king of the burn time.

 

[Idahonative]

Sorry guys, this one is an aesthetic bigot.
BK stoves are butt ugly: no curves, no prettiness, no design to stare at when we're nude in front of our o-so-lovely cast iron heaters.
It is an opinion.
There is no central furnace to take over here after that 40 hour burn, so a good, pretty cast stove which becomes center stage is what we like.
I've never gotten more than maybe 8 hours of real heat when the delta is like now--9 F out and 71 F in--from any stand alone wood stove.
Maybe BK could put lipstick on a pig. Who knows.
Remember, it was the guys in Vermont in the 70's through early 90's who engineered recycled gases, with bimetallic thermostatic primary air, then
advanced with cats. Again, it was a complex appliance, needing maintenance and care. And again, the later VC owners blew it. BK ran with quality in the build.
But Idaho, they are ugly. No swan.
We drive Ford, Subaru. Cut with Stihl.

Hahahaha. Well, enjoy your "8 hours of real heat..."

 

[unclemoustache]

Interesting. Certainly not terribly pretty, but it seems to function quite well. I'm definitely intrigued, despite the fact that some here can only urinate out their mouths. Brian has been very patient, carefully explaining the limits of the stove and the purpose of his experiment. Pity he didn't get the same respectful treatment in return.

 

[Idahonative]

Interesting. Certainly not terribly pretty, but it seems to function quite well. I'm definitely intrigued, despite the fact that some here can only urinate out their mouths. Brian has been very patient, carefully explaining the limits of the stove and the purpose of his experiment. Pity he didn't get the same respectful treatment in return.

Yes I agree (about Brian). I'm going to do something I don't normally do...make excuses for myself. The truth is, I've had that miserable flu bug that's going around and the splitting headaches have played havoc on my brain. It did come off as disrespectful and I want to apologize for that. That was not my intention and I am sincerely sorry. I genuinely wanted to add something constructive to the conversation and I sure could have worded it differently.

So, Brian, hopefully you read this and accept my apology. You spent a lot of time on that project and did a great job. Keep doing good work like that on this forum because that is why a lot of us keep coming back.

 

[Jakers]

Interesting. Certainly not terribly pretty, but it seems to function quite well. I'm definitely intrigued, despite the fact that some here can only urinate out their mouths. Brian has been very patient, carefully explaining the limits of the stove and the purpose of his experiment. Pity he didn't get the same respectful treatment in return.

very well said. i hate all the arguing and opinions backed up by the "my way is the only way" attitude. @BrianK , you keep on posting your stove experiments and tests. i enjoy reading and learning silently. dont be discouraged by the "mine is bigger" people.

That is all, carry on

 

[Pulp]

Well said. Each to his own.

 

[BrianK]

Yes I agree (about Brian). I'm going to do something I don't normally do...make excuses for myself. The truth is, I've had that miserable flu bug that's going around and the splitting headaches have played havoc on my brain. It did come off as disrespectful and I want to apologize for that. That was not my intention and I am sincerely sorry. I genuinely wanted to add something constructive to the conversation and I sure could have worded it differently.

So, Brian, hopefully you read this and accept my apology. You spend a lot of time on that project and did a great job. Keep doing good work like that on this forum because that is why a lot of us keep coming back.

Thanks, no problem Idahonative. (I used to spend a lot of time on conservative political forums so I don't get upset by healthy debate and discussion on Internet forums.)

I've talked to the owner of Woodstock stoves. He knows the owner of BK and they are friends. Woodstock even made a custom version of this Ideal Steel stove with wildlife scenes for BK's owner. They both get a chuckle out of their customer fan base in the way they defend and promote their respective products online.

 

[BrianK]

+1, Zogger, et al. The stove looks a bit plastic, assuming that it really is a wood stove. I think I am looking for cast iron or thick steel plate. Regardless, there is only so much heat that a load of wood can deliver. The operator of the stove is still the king of the burn time.

No plastic on this stove. It weighs 650lbs and the firebox and leg covers are lined with soapstone. It's a very well built stove.

 

[Pulp]

Hahahaha. Well, enjoy your "8 hours of real heat..."

Hey, all I want from our stoves IS heat,,,,and romance. I gotta tell you Idaho, 8 hours of true warmth when the delta is like this morning @ 0530 ( - 8 F out to 70 F in )
is enough for these bodies. Wind BTW, 20-30 mph NW.
No intimate relations with them (yet)....but I do want them pretty since they hang around all year.
The stupid saying these parts about northern Maine weather; " 11 months of snow, 1 month of poor sledding."
Anyone for some wood stove **** ?

 

[Idahonative]

Hey, all I want from our stoves IS heat,,,,and romance. I gotta tell you Idaho, 8 hours of true warmth when the delta is like this morning @ 0530 ( - 8 F out to 70 F in )
is enough for these bodies. Wind BTW, 20-30 mph NW.
No intimate relations with them (yet)....but I do want them pretty since they hang around all year.
The stupid saying these parts about northern Maine weather; " 11 months of snow, 1 month of poor sledding."
Anyone for some wood stove **** ?

I agree with ya Pulp. Truth is, the wife and I aren't working right now so we have all the time in the world to keep a fire stoked and we could get by with just about any stove. The problem we have is, when we do work, we are at times gone from 7:30am-11pm. We have backup heat but refuse to use if for no other reason than stubbornness I guess. For years we just came home to a cold house and built the fire. Sometimes the house would be down to 55 degrees when we would get home. That has gotten old as we have gotten older and forced us to look for something more convenient.

Circumstances will be different for everyone but in our case, having a stove that was capable of long heat cycles was a necessity. I like looks just like the next guy but in our situation, it just couldn't be the deciding factor. Do I hate the looks of the BK? Not at all. Trust me, a piece of equipment can look beautiful or ugly depending on how it performs. If I had a dollar for every cuss word I said to our last stove I could probably afford to heat with electric. That stove looked very ugly to us because it made us work at keeping the house warm.

Like I've said before, a wood stove is only as good as the air control system it has on it. Yes, the build quality of the stove matters but just about every manufacturer is capable of good build quality these days. Lots of guys will get on here and say, hey, there's only so many btu's in a given amount of wood and that is true. But the way a wood stove extracts and delivers those btu's is the magic.

 

[olyman]

Hahahaha. Well, enjoy your "8 hours of real heat..."

 

[coog]

Been there, done that. As important as the right stove is, a well insulated house with good windows is the key. I realize it can't always be achieved in a older home, but burn times are meaningless in a house that produces it's own wind chill.

 

[Pulp]

Apologies owed to all you BK fanatics.
Great build and engineering ( inconvenient truth: I LIKE cat stoves ).
Soooo------looked at their newer ASHFORD 30 CAST IRON stove. If I needed another beast, this is one we would seriously consider.
It has the looks and aesthetics that some of us older farts enjoy. Other than BK, Woodstock for cat stoves, Jotul for the non-cats would be
on the list. Not now. Tight with $$$.
So there you go Idaho, a mea culpa from the foot-in-mouth club.

Correction though, BK specs are clear about that mythical "40 hour burn" for the King. It's at the LOW BTU output; not enough to warm a witch's &^%$ in
this climate. More like a 10 hour HEATING output on "high". Damn you made me check it out online and dealer. Some humble pie.

And Idaho, never, ever refer to your partner as "THE WIFE".

 

[X-S-FLA]

No plastic on this stove. It weighs 650lbs and the firebox and leg covers are lined with soapstone. It's a very well built stove.

Hmmmm, just read the entire thread and was compelled to join. Laugh as you might, I'm in South Florida (jealous? don't be) and will, at some point, be retiring to the Southern Appalachians. Having visited N. Ga each Christmas break for the last 25 years, and being a bit of a off-grid survival wannabe, I know I don't want gas or electric heat. Especially the way this country is headed. After reading all five pages of the thread, I can say I've learned quite a bit from Brian's trial run, the results thereof, and comments thereafter. I was actually considering (after some research), the progress hybrid and thought I'd look at the ideal steel. Shooting for N. Ga or E. Tn as a target, I'm thinking the ideal steel hybrid will do the trick (@$$uming a decently insulated home). It certainly doesn't get as cold there as it does where most of you guys live. So hey, thanks for the education! I've still got a ton of learning to do...
mike

 

[Oldman47]

Reality check. So many pounds of wood only contains so many potential BTU. Simple, right? Try another fact. If I maintain a 70º difference between inside and outside I use up so many BTU/hr. The number varies with insulation values, air leakage etc. If I decide to stretch my total BTU over more hours I cannot maintain that BTU/hr rate but something else also happens. The temperature difference must drop. When it does the BTU/hr required to maintain that difference also drops. Let's say I go from maintaining a 70º difference to maintaining a 65º difference. The change in time does not go up by a 70/65 ratio but by more than that. This effect taken to its extreme means it takes nothing to maintain a zero difference. Something I think we can all agree to. Let's say an ideal burning situation lets me get 10 hours from some stove at 85% efficiency with a 70 degrees difference. The best I can hope for is 100% efficiency in some fairy tale world. In the real world even 85% is pretty hard to reach. All else being equal, the best performance enhancement for even a 70% stove is an added 30% of hours at that same heating delta T. If someone tells you they can extend that by 30% what does that tell you? It tells me they are full of it.

 

[olyman]

Been there, done that. As important as the right stove is, a well insulated house with good windows is the key. I realize it can't always be achieved in a older home, but burn times are meaningless in a house that produces it's own wind chill.

it can....time and money.........mine is waaaaaaaay better than 30 yrs ago...........

 

[Gypo Logger]

The long burn time is a huge plus regardless of the inside temp of the house as long as it stays above freezing.
The beauty of the long burn is that you can be away from the house for a whole day and come back to a bed of coals.
John

 

[fred bergman]

nice

 

[Gypo Logger]

Here's what my windows look like at 35 below.