New Guy with the Napoleon EPI3..couple questions

Hey guys, first let me start by saying that this Forum ,next to my BBQ/Smoking Forum, is my favorite! I have been poking around on here taking in all kinds of info since I bought my EPI3 a few weeks ago. Everyone here is so nice and quick to help out even when the same questions have been asked over and over again. Now with that being said, I have a few questions / issues I am trying to solve which I am sure have been covered but I can't seem to find an answer that will help. I will make other threads for a few questions as to not muddy the thread with multiple questions

This is my first wood stove and the insert replaced an existing fire place ( Duh )
My house is 1500 sq feet with an up stairs of about 400 sq feet that I know will not get heated by the EPI3 so I have roughly 1000 sq feet I am trying to heat as well as possible. I have 12 foot ceilings and I do not have an open floor plan .

OK here is my set up :

Napoleon EPI3 insert with with the Insulated m Flex Kit 6" x 25'

And finally my questions / issues are :
The EPI3 is in my living room. I can get that room to about 75 degrees and the dining room that is right off the living room about 67 degrees as long as I keep the thing rolling .Now the EPI3 says it can heat 1500 sq feet. so it should be able to blast me out of the living room and dining room .I do have fans set up to draw air from living room into the dining room to try and circulate... the rest of the house stays at 65 degrees only because I have the furnace set at that temp. I don't feel I am getting a great deal of heat output from this thing.

I am burning hardwood/oak ,maple, some sassafras and a lot of cherry . my wood is between 8-12 percent moisture and well over a year old. I got an IR thermometer since I don't have anyplace to put a stove top Thermometer and I shoot it in the vent area ( where the stove top ends and the flashing starts ) at what looks like the flue. . I get readings that are in the mid 500's but that's when it is blazing and if I point it at the stove top itself ( which is a PITA to get to as I don't have much space inside of that vent) I get readings of 350 - 420 and once I close my air control and get the secondaries going it usually drops to around 400 - 300 pretty quickly, which seems low judging by the intensity of the fire I have going, so I don't think I am getting a good temp reading. What is a good place to shoot my IR at on this insert to make sure I am getting my stove to the right temps ? and what do you guys think about my issue of it not heating as well as I think it should ?

Sorry for the LONG post.. At least I tried to split it up to make it easier on the eyes

The block off plate ( I'm assuming you mean the old damper ) they took it off when they installed the insert as for insulating the fireplace behind it I dont think they did any of that . Im pretty sure they just installed the insert, however , My aunt is the VP of the company and they do high end installs so I would think that they would have taken care of me.

aahhh ok I know what you are talking about ! yes they did do that and insulated .. I just talked to my aunt on the phone to verify

I have ceiling fans in every room. they are spinning clockwise on low setting .. Maybe I just don't have my fire hot enough...which is hard to believe because I have it blazing right now... It is 74 in living room and probably about 70 in dining room.. Also i was just thinking it may not be broken in all the way ... I've had about 80 hours worth of fires in it so maybe the stones haven't dried out completely . Also I do have my return air turned on to help circulate throughout the rest of the house.. It seems hot in the house now but I also just found out the wife turned the heat up to 68 so its been running too...I turned it back down to 65 to see how the temp holds up the rest of the evening.