I figured it was time to join and post. I found the site earlier this summer when researching reviews for different wood stoves. I grew up with wood heat only, the first stove I remember was a big brown beast sheathed in sheet metal. My parents upgraded to some version of VC cat stove in the early 90's. My only stove the past 3 or 4 years is an old VC Reliant I bought used and put in the hunting camp. My wife and I bought our first house this past August. No woodstove in the house but the first thing I did after moving in was buy 3 cord seasoned wood and stacked it upon arrival. We ended up buying the Lopi 1750 and debated about doing some minor construction work to install in the family room to an existing double flue chimney. The basement had a hookup ready to go so we ended up trying the basement for the first year. Stove does a good job heating the first floor of our 1600 SF cape but the furnace kicks on occasionally to heat the upstairs. Lots of good info on here.