Im a wood burning rookie, and i know it..

[brenndatomu]

The Clayton/US Stove I bought and have used for the past 5 years has worked perfectly. Does it burn through alot of wood, yes, does it get the house too hot sometimes, yes, are constant loadings a pain in the a__, yes. However, it cost me $1,200.00 new, as opposed to $10,000.00 for a gasser boiler set-up. It has served it's purpose, and saved me a ton of money on propane costs. When we built the house 5 years ago, things were tight and I did not have much extra cash to spend on any other set up. Five years later, money is a little more available, so I'm looking to upgrade. Buyers remorse, no way. I can sell the Clayton used andd almost get my money back for it. As my kids have gotten older, I have less time to spend stoking a fire and now I'm looking at gasser boilers with storage to cut down on the amount of time I spend tending a fire. Some people can't afford a Ferrari, and some have to drive Chevette's, same can be said about wood burning appliances.

Sounds like you have a good plan. You went in eyes wide open, but I would bet my bottom dollar that 99% of the people that have all the used ones for sale on CL (and elsewhere) thought they were buying a Ferrari (well maybe not a Ferrari, more like a Mustang GT) and they actually were getting a Chevette. My point was that there are other wood furnace options out there, in the "Chevette" price range, that most buyers actually like...and keep...long term.
Gasser bolier with storage is definitely Ferrari land! Way cool!