I have been heating my 1100 sq. ft. ranch home with my Century Cheapo stove since 2003. It has gotten the job done, but I'd like to upgrade and possibly take advantage of the tax rebate. My stove is located in my basement due to insufficient clearances and room upstairs. I have a furnace blower (next to the stove) that pulls the air from my family room downstairs and blows it into the ductwork. This is perhaps not the most ideal, but it is what I have. I supplement with a forced air gas furnace. Anyway, my wife and I both work, so I get the fire going before work, then dampen it down. Basically, I do a lot of long burning. I don't have a cat now, but think that this would help me achieve cleaner burns. Being a closet treehugger, I'd like to do what's best for the environment. I like the looks of soapstone. The room the stove is in tends to get pretty warm, so perhaps a soapstone would mellow the peaks and valleys of heat I get with the steel stove. The only stove I am aware of that is soapstone and cat is the woodstock fireview. Any opinions or recommendations would be welcome.