My story & 1537g newbie to this forum

I bought a house in Jan.06 that was built in 1915 2 story about 1800sq feet. The gas bill ran about $350-$400 a month in the winter. We replaced the windows added vinyl siding & new metal roof. We decided to find a nother way to heat the house after talking to a couple of people we decided to go with a us stove 1537g & stanless steel double wall pipe. Total $3000 not including duck-work that was about $300-$400. I have a neighbor that has about 200 acres that I can cut all the wood I want for FREE. I have it run streight into the duck-work of the house & the cold air return is hooked into the one in the house. I only use the blowers on the furance and it seems to do a good job. I am not real happy with the 1537g I wish I had gone with the next model up. The damper setup on it is CRAP. I have put a damper in the exaust about two feet out of the stove. I replaced the two thin metal plates in the top of the firebox with ones that are about 1/2 inch thick seams to help out some. I have been thinking about laying firerick on top of this. My burn times I dont think are that long 4-5 hours. Burning hard woods. I used coal the first two winter but it has went from $65-$85 to $135 a ton this year so I did not get any. I guess I just want my burn time to be longer. OH by the way my gas bill runs about $25 a month now we have a set of vent-free gas logs we use some times when the fire burns out to knock the chill of the house. I will try to post some pis of my set up. Any help will be taken with open ears.
Has anyone tried to burn hardwood mulch I can get it at the saw mill for about $10 a pickup load.Just an idea.

Here some pics of my woodshed. 20x20

LEES WOOD-CO said:

1. Change the 90's in your duct to 45's
2.Insulate duct work.
3.Insulate against wall side/back of stove. You are losing alot of heat out of those stone walls.
4.Insulate entire stone foundation and sill plate. They are very leaky on those older houses.

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Thanks for the input. The stove is putting out good heat I just wish the burn times were a little longer.

mike1234 said:

How do you insulate the stove itself, too hot for insulation I would think. How about the ducting, it gets pretty hot also, what do you insulate that with?

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This is all sitting in my basement of my house. The duct is not insulated or the stove. It helps keep the basement warn plus the floor of the down stairs.