I am in the same boat as you (Upnort). https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/my-final-four-stove-bracket.203607/. This is my post similar to yours. I love the looks of the SoapStones but am going to go with a BK princess or Ashford 30. My dad has had a king(?) since the mid 80’s and swears by it. He has only bought 1 extra catalyst for it and swaps back and forth between the original and other one. He has an 8” flue and like you he goes up about20” to a 90, then into a 11” x(?)” masonry flue. Heats his 1800 sqft house great. We are in a milder climate than you though. He gets the fire going good and shuts it down through the cat. keeps the control toward the lower end. Nice deep fire box as well. He burns good dry locust wood, but I’m positive when I still lived at home we would cut wood in the summer and burn it toward the end of heatig season after year before wood was gone.