Thanks for all the advice thus far. Few thoughts or issues.
1. Not sure completly how a felt last winter due to fact that often times i didnt have great wood and I have never operated a stove before. Even when I did have 2 yr oak I never felt like (and still dont)I knew how to get the house up to the temp I wanted. Do i keep the Air all the way open while I am trying to raise the the temp, do i shut it down earlier so there is less air???How do i raise the temperature of the house, and then how to maintain. (Man am I showing how green I am)
2 year old old many times is not dry enough to burn right. We always wait 3 years on oak. Also, this is 3 years after it has been split and stacked; not 3 years from when the tree was cut or died. Wood starts drying after it has been cut to length and split. Then it needs to be stacked outside in the wind.
No, you do not keep the draft full open because if you then most of the heat just goes straight up the chimney. Leave the draft full open just until the fire gets going fair and then start dialing it back. This will keep more heat in the stove which can than radiate out into the room. How much to cut back depends upon each stove and installation but a rule of thumb says to cut it by half. As the fire goes more then you begin dropping it more. Where the final setting is can vary a lot from stove to stove. It can also vary a lot with the wood and also with the weather you are having at the time.
2. Didnt go with the 3.4 for 3 reasons. 1 i like the look of the 2.9 better, 2 the 3.4 heats the dealers massive showroom and i thought it would be overkill, and most importantly the dealer told me the 2.9 would be fine. (man I hope he is right)
Sometimes it is best to go with the dealer's recommendation but sadly we have found over the years that dealers do not know as much as they should. However there are some great dealers; finding them is the difficult part. But a 2.9 firebox should give you lots of heat and it seems it should be enough. Fuel is the big key here along with learning how to properly run the stove. Also, have you cleaned the chimney yet?
3. Another concern I have is my ceiling in the great room is slightly over 20 feet high, I wonder if this makes it harder to heat the home. I have 2 large ceiling fans though so i dont know.
That is not necessarily bad. Just made sure the fans are blowing up rather than down. This cooperates with the natural flow of air. Cool air along the walls flows down. That has to be replaced with warmer air going up in the center of the room and then back down, etc. I used to do it wrong too until someone pointed out the difference and I found out their method worked! You can teach old dogs new tricks after all!
4. Burn times varied (prolly due to user error)
Not necessarily due to operator error. Burn times vary greatly upon what type of wood is in there and how you have the draft set.
5. In bedroom, which is just off the great room, i never felt like i did a good job of getting warm air circulated in there.
