Hello all I'm new to the forum and I just wanted to tell about my experiences with the Hearthstone Homestead. First some numbers; I live in a split entry 2100 square foot home in suburbia. We bought the Homestead last year when we could get a 30% tax credit on it. The purchase price was around $2,300 dollars. We finally installed the stove this year and have been heating almost exclusively with it. It has been an exceptionally mild winter here but even so I am most impressed with this stove. Our home was built in 2001 and is fairly well insulated the stove is rated to heat up to 1800 square feet but it easily heats our entire home comfortably. I burn seasoned ash and have been burning regularly I do not believe based on current usage that I will use more than about 2 chords this winter (seems hard to believe doesn't it?) I would like to take an oportunity to address the much overstated problem with soapstone woodstoves taking a long time to heat up and start contributing heat to the home. It simply isn't true. I grew up with a cast iron stove upstairs and a steel stove downstairs, additionally I have a fair amount of experience with a Defiant. Does soapstone take longer to heat up than cast? Yes, by a few minutes. I'm not exaggerating it doesn't take long at all and I believe it holds heat longer. One thing, the surface does not get as blisteringly hot as cast or steel. I keep a teapot full of water on it at all times and though it produces plenty of steam it does not produce the signature whistle that would undoubtably occur with cast or on a stove. Thus it is a softer heat. It is also simple and I perfer it over a catalytic model, less messing around and a more beautiful flame. It will not burn as long though. The literature says 8 hours of burn time. Not sure about that, last night I loaded it up as much as I dared and it was burning nicely but slow, that was at about 10:00 PM, at 6:30 I did have coals but that was all. So 8 hrs may be close but may be optimistic. This stove definately likes to be burned a certain way. Don't try and turn it down to low too fast or you'll end up with a smokey fire that produces creasote. Start the fire and let it burn freely until the stove is good and hot, at this point you'll probably have to add some logs. You can turn it down but don't go way down. Get a good bed of coals in there and keep it tended, you'll get a feel for when you can load it up and turn it down without producing smoke or burning too cool. If you see smoke from your chimney it is burning too cool. Overall this is an excellent stove, one I highly recommend. I am thrilled to be heating with a renewable with fuel I harvest myself and though we don't really fit in, in suburbia I can't think of a more sensible manner to heat.