steve is a real nice guy. I don't know how he made any money doing what he was doing. I'm sure the money he's charging covers his fuel. We are all paying the high price on fuel these days too. It make things a little tougher for him by charging a drop fee, but I don't blame him for doing it. I too let my stove just run. I figure the pellets I save is washed out by going through the igniter so I just let her run. It's pellets or an igniter in my opinion, so I just let her burn. In the shoulder season I use a ductless ac (heat pump) and find this works well for me. However, when I run it all the time, I just turn it way way down so I'm not sweating do death. Just MHO. I'm down to 250 gallons a year and 2.5 tons of pellets. I can tell you this, I'm never cold in my house. I keep the stove running 24/7 and it keeps the house 75 + - all the time. When I used just oil, I used 750 - 800 gallons and the house was 67 +-. I'lll stick with pellets!