i finished my break in fires friday, so i am still learning. i have yet to load more then a half full fire box and after 8 hours i am left with a very nice bed of coals and a stove still over 300 degrees. most of the time the stove is running between 450 and 550. i am burning so little wood compared to what i am use to and our house is way warmer especially on the second floor. we used to push our old stove and fire place pretty hard just to take the chill out of our bedrooms upstairs, when it got real cold we had to turn on the electric heat. so far i feel like we are barely using any wood and the whole house is being heated rather nicely. the secondary flames are incredible, i would like to know how to trigger them and keep them dancing longer then a few minutes. the only thing that im not fond of is how long it takes to warm this stove up, its a PIA. what made me realize how awesome this stove is was having soft butter in the morning. this stove has made my life easier by reducing the amount of work im required to do and by lowering my electric bills. i am beyond satisfied with my purchase. thanks woodstock!