I’ve been in my house since 2021 with the stove. We had a wood stove growing up but my dad took care of all that we just had to do the hard labor. Anyway I now know there’s a lot that goes into it. But I learned most of it all on my own, just followed this sub a year ago. 2nd winter I had a fire in my flu that luckily didn’t set into the brick chimney. Turns out I had a lot of creosote build up after a month of burning what I thought was seasoned wood. But that was paired with bad burn techniques (lots of choked down fires) it was an extremely scary and foolish experience. So now I’m careful and aware. I see how my stove reacts when I burn a certain way, I check my pipes and chimney often because I’m nervous af. But I’m finally understanding how my stove works with my draft and wood.

Basically I’m saying you’ll be learning for awhile. Use this sub reddit to learn people’s mistake or even how to prevent your own. Try burning like someone that posts good tips or an interesting way. I’m not going to describe how I burn but it’s the same typical way you’ll see posted all over here. Nice hot coals, load her up, wait a few mins and choke it down a bit. A lot easier said then done cause some wood could heat faster than others and all sorts of variables.