Need advice on Vermont Castings Resolute lll circa 1985

I have a VC Resolute lll circa 1985, I can get it up to 700 degrees on the stove top and then shut the damper and have the stove slowly come down and hang at about 500 degrees for an hour and then starts to go down in heat. SO questions- My bro in law says not to look at the stove temp but get the thermometer on the stove pipe and get it into the white area and make sure it stays in that area which is about 300-600 degrees on the pipe. He gets much better heat in his house than I do in mine. He uses a Huntsman stove which is a step stove. His is actually placed at the bottom of a stairway, one side is abutting a stone hearth and he starts a fire and the house goes from 55 to 75 in a period of about 30 minutes. Mine takes 2 hours to go from 55 degrees to 70. NOW I start my fire with kindling and small wood, then when it gets to 600 or so degrees I put in more larger wood but do not fill the stove. HE fills the stove once the fire catches with kindling and then lets it rip with his front circular holes open and closes them down slowly til two bottom are closed and the top hole(screws down to close and open is to unscrew it) is left a little open, he keeps his stove pipe about 400 degrees. So is that why my house is never as warm as his or is his Huntsman a better stove to do taht with? It has no fancy controls, my VC has a damper, a "thermostat" and there is a little hole on left side bottom that is supposed to give air to the seondary baffles in back. I ran it the other day with the hole on bottom left closed off by mistake and it ran about the same as usual so not sure what is going on. I would love to be able to get the house to 72 and not just the room it is in. The house is partially open with the bedroom sort of back around a corner but would love the kitchen, dining room and lving room to be warm along with the den which is 12x25.

Interesting that the stove top temp. drops after the damper is shut, and then continues to drop more. I assume this is not because the wood is used up? Res.'s have a smoke chamber that requires cleaning, and I wonder if yours is clogged up and keeping the stove from drafting properly?

True, true.