Hearthstone Heritage new owner--idle question

I've had my Hearthstone Heritage for two weeks--photos attached. We found a stove that has a larger and more interesting pattern in the soapstone than others we've seen.

I've had no problem with fire starting or draft as long as I use several newspaper twists to heat the chimney and a few pieces of kindling before adding splits.

I can too easily get the stove into the 500-525 range when l fill the stove for the overnight burn. When loading splits on top of a nice bed of small coals with full draft, the splits quickly catch and I can't wait more than 5 five minutes to shut off the draft. Otherwise the fire gets going so good that shutting off the draft doesn't control the fire--half of the wood burns in about an hour. I don't need that much heat and the stove cools down by morning. I'm having some success in trying to find the sweet spot between a full burn and a smoldering burn--but I worry about creosote. I have a probe thermometer on order.

My main problem is that the Heritage seems to be too much stove for a two story, 2000 sq foot, 10 year old house, that's reasonably well insulated and fairly tight. The outdoor temps since the install are in the mid-30s with lows in the teens and 20's. I'd like to keep the downstairs temps under 75 and the upstairs temps under 70. When the stove gets to 500, the downstairs gets into the 80's and the upstairs into the mid-70's. There's a big open staircase near the stove so air circulation hasn't been a problem since I put a small fan on the floor next to the staircase blowing cold air at the stove.

Question 1
The stove guidelines specify a wide open burn for 35-45 minutes a day but they don't say with how much wood. Would two 6" splits be about right or are they talking about a full load?

Question 2
The stove guidelines specify a wide open burn for 20-30 minutes per reloading. Again how much wood? If I add two 6" splits or smaller, they're charcoal by the end of that time. Is unnecessary heat (creosote wise) going up the chimney?

Question 3
With the above as background, what's the best strategy to idle the stove during the day to minimize both wood use and creosote? I'd like to keep the stove center tile near the 275-350 range since that gives me downstairs temps around 70. But at those stove top temperatures, I have noticeable smoke from the top of the chimney.

- Is it best to burn one or two 6" splits starting from a few coals and the stove around 200? e.g., going from 200 to 400 and back to 200 adding wood only one time. The draft would need to be wide open for most of the burn to meet the 20 minute rule.

- Or, is it best to burn smaller stuff, adding a piece every 30 minutes or so--just as the chared wood collapses? What draft?

Question 4
From what I've read here, the Heritage ceramic plate and afterburner comes into play when roaring flames hit the top of a hot firebox. Are there any efficiency or polution benefits during smaller burns or once the flames die down?


I've read 100's of posts on this forum--thanks for all the help. It would be helpful if Hearthstone or one of the experts here wrote a sticky-FAQ for new stove owners. I love the even heat of the stove but the Hearthstone manual is poorly organized and inadequate-thank god for this forum!!

Thanks for the suggestions--they've helped me reset my expectations. Before the install, i was worried about insufficient draft, wood less than 2 years old, not being able to get to 500°, long startup times before getting room heat, etc. Instead: I may have overdraft and the wood seems to be sufficiently dry. My wood is stacked on a sunny ridgeline that gets constant wind with a day of 30 mph gusts about once a week. Measuring on a fresh cut shows about 15% moisture.

The big surprise is how quickly the room warms up a few degrees after a cold start due to infrared heat coming out through the front glass door. It helps that our main living space is 10' in front of the glass door.

- installing a probe thermometer will clarify things
- the installer is coming back next week and I'll have him check for over-draft
- I'll try building a fire and then letting it die until the room temps start to get uncomfortably low--rather than try to keep it going. Then build another fire. There's always been a few coals left--a little kindling and two rolled sheets of newspaper and it's off again and running. (As a frequent camper using newspaper feels like cheating but it sure helps get the draft going in a stove.)

Thanks again!