I'm on my third winter with this stove, and we're loving it. With that said, some of this is an art form/experimentation....my typical MO, evening, is to get the stove up to 1500F or so by progressing loading it. Once temp peaks, usually around 1600F or so, I close the Cat, wait for the temp to peak again, then close the damper, blower to HI, and turn in. 70F in the lower level decreases to about 63-64 by early am. We don't get up and stoke the stove at night. My morning routine is similar. Just experimenting to make the most efficient use of the fuel. Comments welcomed. Thanks, Ultra.