I have a 2140 that we have been burning 24X7 October through April. This is our 5th year using it and I think I know what I am doing now. But it has taken 5 years and a rebuild of the stove to get to the point of knowing how to work the stove.
I don’t think it is a bad stove – lots of heat and high efficiency. If you are buying your wood – high efficiency means less money. If not then, less cutting, splitting and stacking. Time is money too.
They to take some work – tending the fire and maintenance. We are now running two thermometers – stove top and flue. The cat needs to be cleaned every couple weeks – this only takes a few minutes with a cool stove (like end of an overnight burn). There are little things that can and will break – like the damper tabs on the door and wire for the thermostat handle. You can find the parts on-line and the repair manual – look in the wiki section on this page. If not send me an email I think I have a copy. The factory service manual is very good with what to check and how to fix. This is different from the owners manual.
We had to take ours apart last spring. The second tab on the damper door broke and it would not stay closed. With hindsight we should have fix it after the first tab broke. Once taking it apart we realize it needed some work. The refractory was completely falling apart, the fire back was warped, and all the passages were filled with ash.
We thought about replacing the stove we a new one. But the $500 in parts was much cheaper than a quality new stove. Once we put the stove back together and ran it we realized it probably was never working correctly since we bought the house. Great heat, long burn times, and we feel like we know how to run the stove now. My wife tends it during the day.
Congratulations on #5. Our 5th in one the way, so I am thinking of putting a second stove similar stove in the addition.
One other potential drawback is that stove likes to run, it doesn’t like to startup. From match time to walking away for the day is probably close to an hour for lighting, getting the fire going, warming up the stove, engaging the cat, disengaging the cat, adding some more wood, heating it up, engaging the cat, etc. I am sure this can be done faster, but I like to go slow with the heat up – I suspect a lot of the warping and cracking occurs during start.