I have had a couple fires in my Englander NC 30 over the last couple weeks. Not because I needed them but because I just had the itch and could feel the real time closing in. This is my third year burning wood and my first with truly seasoned wood. Also this will be my first with the 30. First year I had an old Franklin fireplace. Looking back, what a wood eating and smoke burping machine. Last year I had a Lopi Answer and marginal wood. Pretty frustrating. This year I have the 30 and 6 cords of wood that has been cut, split and stacked for more than 1 year. The couple fires I had I noticed the ease of lighting the stove off, how quick the stove came up to temperature, how much heat came out of that beast, and how awesome the secondaries were and so quick. I took this as a moral victory and kept it to myself. I woke up this morning and my girlfriend had already started the stove. She said good morning, well now I have first hand experience of what seasoned wood means to the stove. I thought this was pretty cool as I am often made fun of by the whole firewood scrounging deal. A very sincere thank you to all that have given great advice. It took a little time, energy, effort, and money but we are on our way to a warm winter.
