New Napoleon EPI3 Woodstove insert question

[Wellis64]

We just had this woodstove installed this summer and have recently broke it in and are now burning. We went this route because the existing 1910 stone fireplace would have cost $18k to redo as a true fireplace. My wife loves fireplaces, but really just for the ambiance, not for heating. From what I have read, running a woodstove like this doesn’t work well for occasional small fires, but is better to load it up and run for a long time at high temps. The pic above is when it has been running for a while and has a few logs on. The flames are forming at the top, really slow rolling and running up in front of the secondary air pipes. Is this normal? And are we forced to run this thing full blast all the time to avoid the creosote issues?

 

[begreen]

The best way to avoid creosote issues is to burn dry wood and not let the fire smolder. Partial loads of fuel like shown are fine when less heat is desired.