King or Princess? (I mean Blaze king stoves)

[unclemoustache]

Can't decide! I want the biggie, but that means I'd have to also get a whole new 8" chimney. If I get the Princess then I can keep my current 6" chimney.

Anyone here have the Princess? What kind of burn times are you getting? How much do you heat (sq.ft.)? Do you regret not going bigger?

 

[cigmaker]

No experience with the freestanding princess but I do have the insert model. I get 20+ hour burns with oak. My house is 1500 square feet well insulated. Only regret I didn't buy it 5 years ago.

 

[Idahonative]

Can't decide! I want the biggie, but that means I'd have to also get a whole new 8" chimney. If I get the Princess then I can keep my current 6" chimney.

Anyone here have the Princess? What kind of burn times are you getting? How much do you heat (sq.ft.)? Do you regret not going bigger?

How much space are you heating?

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I have the Princess Ultra with blower kit.

My place is a fairly "standard" 3 bed/2 bath ranch, about 1400sq ft. 9ft ceilings in most of the house, vaulted ceiling in the living room and kitchen area, peak is about 16ft.

The Princess does fine heating the house. If it's pretty warm outside (not much under freezing) I have to only put a couple pieces of wood or it will heat me out of the place.

When it's fairly cold outside (like -20*) the back of the house does get colder. The master bathroom being the worst for that. It's not because the stove isn't big enough but rather I can only move the air around so much.
On a -20* day if it's 75* in the front of the house (where the stove is) it might be down to 65* in the back bathroom.

The stove is pretty efficient. I burn in the area of 3-3.5 cords in a winter. I usually start heating in the evenings in September and often have a few fires into June. 24/7 heating is a good 6 months. I only let it go cold to clean out the ashes about every 1.5 months.

 

[KYsawman]

My family heated our 1300 square ft. Cabin in interior Alaska with a princess. We bought the first one in 1983. We bought the second one when we added on to the cabin in 1992. Added another 650 square ft to back. They are the best that we found for wood consumption and heat control. We would use about ten to twelve cords a year for the primary stove. We only burned the second one in the coldest part of the winter -40 or below. We only burned white spruce.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

 

[blacklocst]

I think you should buy their new hybrid model, its called the Caitlyn.

 

[Marshy]

I have the Princess Ultra with blower kit.

My place is a fairly "standard" 3 bed/2 bath ranch, about 1400sq ft. 9ft ceilings in most of the house, vaulted ceiling in the living room and kitchen area, peak is about 16ft.

The Princess does fine heating the house. If it's pretty warm outside (not much under freezing) I have to only put a couple pieces of wood or it will heat me out of the place.

When it's fairly cold outside (like -20*) the back of the house does get colder. The master bathroom being the worst for that. It's not because the stove isn't big enough but rather I can only more the air around so much.
On a -20* day if it's 75* in the front of the house (where the stove is) it might be down to 65* in the back bathroom.

The stove is pretty effecient. I burn in the area of 3-3.5 cords in a winter. I usually start heating in the evenings in September and often have a few fires into June. 24/7 heating is a good 6 months. I only let it go cold to clean out the ashes about every 1.5 months.

Sounds like our houses are similar except I have 1800 sqft and a full basement. The stove is in my basement and air naturally rises up the stairwell for me. I also have a walkout basement with a drafty garage door in it. I'm strongly considering the King. I wanted one for this winter but not sure it will happen.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

If you have the room and the house is decent sized the King is the way to go. You always have the choice of not stuffing the stove to the gunnels.

Heating from the basement with no venting would be tough I'd imagine. Blaze King has some type of wood fired furnace for that application.

 

[Deleted member 135597]

Y

I have the Princess Ultra with blower kit.

My place is a fairly "standard" 3 bed/2 bath ranch, about 1400sq ft. 9ft ceilings in most of the house, vaulted ceiling in the living room and kitchen area, peak is about 16ft.

The Princess does fine heating the house. If it's pretty warm outside (not much under freezing) I have to only put a couple pieces of wood or it will heat me out of the place.

When it's fairly cold outside (like -20*) the back of the house does get colder. The master bathroom being the worst for that. It's not because the stove isn't big enough but rather I can only move the air around so much.
On a -20* day if it's 75* in the front of the house (where the stove is) it might be down to 65* in the back bathroom.

The stove is pretty efficient. I burn in the area of 3-3.5 cords in a winter. I usually start heating in the evenings in September and often have a few fires into June. 24/7 heating is a good 6 months. I only let it go cold to clean out the ashes about every 1.5 months.

you really only have to clean out ashes every month and a half?

 

[Marshy]

I think you should buy their new hybrid model, its called the Caitlyn.

That is just wrong.

If you have the room and the house is decent sized the King is the way to go. You always have the choice of not stuffing the stove to the gunnels.

Heating from the basement with no venting would be tough I'd imagine. Blaze King has some type of wood fired furnace for that application.

I don't have any ducting. I burn 6-7 cord a year staying about 75 average in the house right now. I'm going to stick with free standing for now.

 

[Idahonative]

Can't decide! I want the biggie, but that means I'd have to also get a whole new 8" chimney. If I get the Princess then I can keep my current 6" chimney.

Anyone here have the Princess? What kind of burn times are you getting? How much do you heat (sq.ft.)? Do you regret not going bigger?

We (and others on this forum) are running our previously used 6" flue with our King. Works great. There can be some smoke spillage if we open it with a lot of fuel inside but we don't usually open it until we are ready to reload (24 hr. cycle with pine). Not sure what size your home is but, in my opinion, the King is the way to go. It heats small houses like ours real well (ability to turn down) and it will heat a large home as well.

If you have a 6" pipe that drafts well, running the King on it won't be a problem.

 

[Jed1124]

Unc has mentioned his home is large and drafty in the past so I would go with the larger stove knowing that.

 

[Idahonative]

Unc has mentioned his home is large and drafty in the past so I would go with the larger stove knowing that.

Knowing that, I agree there is only one choice...The King.

 

[Deleted member 135597]

We (and others on this forum) are running our previously used 6" flue with our King. Works great. There can be some smoke spillage if we open it with a lot of fuel inside but we don't usually open it until we are ready to reload (24 hr. cycle with pine). Not sure what size your home is but, in my opinion, the King is the way to go. It heats small houses like ours real well (ability to turn down) and it will heat a large home as well.

If you have a 6" pipe that drafts well, running the King on it won't be a problem.

How is the flame on these blaze kings? What I'm asking is can you sit in front of it and enjoy a nice fire or does it always just smolder.

 

[Idahonative]

How is the flame on these blaze kings? What I'm asking is can you sit in front of it and enjoy a nice fire or does it always just smolder.

If you see flame it will more than likely be running you out of the house. My advise to anyone wanting to enjoy the beauty of a flame is NOT to buy a Blaze King. We view ours as a heating appliance pure and simple. And heat it does!

 

[Marshy]

I wonder if they have any promotional offers through the year.

 

[Idahonative]

I wonder if they have any promotional offers through the year.

I think you are totally baiting me, but ok, my response from another thread:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Too bad you don't live close to Hermiston Oregon. This dealer has a special right now on King and Princess models:

Home Maintenance Center
80397 Hwy 39 North
Hermiston, Oregon

541-567-7534 (ask for Ron)

King Classic model with black glass door (DOES NOT come with pedestal):
$2880.42
-500 discount
----------------
TTL $2380.42

King Ultra model with black glass door (comes with pedestal & heat shields):
$3195.60
-500 discount
----------------
TTL $2695.60

If you want the fans they are an additional $250.

I wish I could have gotten a deal like this last year when we bought our King Ultra. Those are excellent prices! Maybe you can take a road trip and bring one back home with you.

Oh, and no sales tax in Oregon.

 

[Marshy]

No baiting, just don't know if there is a good time of year to buy where they have promotional offers. Those prices you listed are attractive compared to what I was quoted last time I inquired through my most local dealer 800-1K cheaper matter of fact.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I paid around $3400 for my Princess if I recall correctly. Mine is an Ultra with Nickel door and blower kit.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Y

you really only have to clean out ashes every month and half

Yeah, the stove holds a good 5 gals of ash.