I have had the stove for 2 solid months now, burned about 2 full cord (about 1/4 cord per week - full loads except for when we are at work, where we just put a log or two on to keep the temp up). Overall I am in love with the stove. It sure will offset our propane bill in the 4000+ sq ft open floorplan house. Here is my opinion on a few of the issues posted by other owners, plus some of my own....
Ash cleanout: I have a homemade ash "sifter" that separates the large embers from the fine ash, then I use a fire resistant ash vacuum to take care of the rest to keep the ash at an acceptable depth, without full cool-downs to clean out. Plus the ash vac does a great job keeping the hearth tidy.
Glass cleaning: I clean the glass about once a week. When the stove is relatively cool (you can touch the glass without getting burned) I spray simple windex on the inside, let it sit for a few seconds, and use a razor blade to scrape the inside of the glass while it is wet. The dirtyer the glass the easier it is to clean. After a "scrape job" I repeat the windex spray, wipe with paper towels clean and done.
Fan Motor clogging: Not a problem (yet).
Fan Motor noise: Got used to it. Not annoying enough to do anything about, sounds like saving money to me.
Thermostatic Fan motor switch seems possessed: I have not yet understood what it takes to get the switch to work consistently. If I put my canvas log carrier in front of the air intake, it stops the natural convection through the stove, and seems to get the fans to click on faster. I am seriously considering bypassing the thermal switch so only the dial knob is in control, any thoughts? Sometimes it takes 1-2hrs for the switch to activate, even though the stove is completely up to temp.
Automatic air flow: I am talking about when you push the lever to the left to set the trip feature. Supposedly, when you refill the stove, especially in the morning when it the firebox has coals but is cooled down, you should push the lever all the way to the left to open the airflow, load the stove, then move it to the desired burn setting (for me all the way to the right), and the airflow will stay open until the stove comes up to temp. I have never seemed to get this to work. The airflow seems to not stay open as I set the burn setting low, all the way to the right.
Fan Motor Speed: The manual says to not put the fan on "high" when you have the burn setting on "low" - lever all the way to the right. I put one of the magnetic stack temp gauges (rutland made mine) to the front of the stove where the air exits. I am getting 300F air exit temp mid-burn for several hours on a full load with the lever to the right and fan on high. Putting the fan on low has no affect on the air exit temp. If there was a difference in the exit air temp, then I could see the fan speed having an effect. More of the same 300F temp air is more heat output from the stove and into my house, so I am running the fan on high. It is also interesting to note that I am not getting much difference in exit air temp if I put the lever midpoint or full open... Maybe 325F with the blower on high. Not much more heat, but the burn time is greatly reduced. Of course this all could be a function of the wood quality I have, which I bought this first year (and was told was "seasoned" - which I believe is true as it doesn't hiss or steam when burning). I also ran the fan on low with the burn setting on "low" a few times and it has no effect on burn time vs. having the fan on high. So the only reason I think I would ever put the fan speed on low is if it got too hot in the room (not a problem with my open floorplan) or if I wanted a quieter environment...