Sorry I'm late to the thread! Yes I do have one, but yes I do run it like a smoke dragon *dodges rocks*.
I run it without a catalyst in it, so keep that in mind.
Burn time - 6 hours using a dense wood like locust, thats usable heat with coals left that you can just toss a log onto it. I have no idea how long it would run with a catalyst, maybe a few more hours?
The gasket around the window is a major pain in the butt on mine, I have changed it a couple times, and its hard to keep a good seal with the design of the way the glass is held in.
The stove puts out a decent amount of heat, I probably have a similar size home to what you described, and it will keep my house above 70 down to about 20 degrees. I have a 1929 brick home with zero insulation, so it struggles to keep it above 70 if it gets colder than that. But 95% of the winter it keeps my house plenty warm, sometimes too warm with weather like this!
You will struggle to find replacement firebrick that fits the metal clips, you would have to have it custom made online and shipped. To get around that, I bought standard size firebrick, and just laid it all on the bottom and around the sides, making it fit like a puzzle, though I had to chip away a couple bricks to make it work. When I got the stove, it had four large square (light?) firebricks in it, probably original. I noticed a HUGE difference when I took those out and lined the whole thing with firebrick.
The catalyst housing was warped in mine when I got it when I bought the house, not sure if this is a common problem or not, but something to watch out for.
The fan is great on it in my opinion, its got an automatic thermostat, and is fairly quiet. I usually keep it on low, I put it on medium on the coldest nights, I usually avoid high as it gets loud then and I feel like it cools the firebox too much.
Ash falls out of the stove pretty easily, I have never had another stove to compare this too, so I don't know how common that is, but expect to be cleaning up your hearth fairly often.
Customer service is non existent, don't expect to get any help at all from the factory. They never answer the phone, and never return voicemails.
The glass is a bit hard to keep clean, I don't think it has a very effective air wash system, if it has one at all.
Overall I am pretty happy with it, I mean mine is probably from the late 80's early 90's, and is still running fine. That being said, I know there are a lot better stoves out there, so I wouldn't expect anything fantastic from it. I would be super curious to hear what burn times you get out of it if you have a functioning catalyst, PLEASE update this thread if you get it and let me know. I would love to hear it.
Let me know if you have any other specific questions, hope this helps in some way. I attached a picture I found on the internet of what my stove looks like, to ensure we are talking about the same stove.
![[Hearth.com] Might be getting an appalachian 4n1 xl](/talk/data/attachments/84/84480-8fc0386fe0a9c69d688dcd4b209f519a.jpg?hash=-cY_d4Uucc)
