This winter wasn't that bad, but did get into the negatives some. I started burning October1 and let it burn out April 15. I burned 6 cords of hard wood, sugar maple oak hickory locus. Some of it was crappy and rotten. I used 1 1/2 cord of pine also. I started off planning to load twice a day cause I was told I stove would be more efficient and use less wood. After about a week I got tired of putting only 2 or 3 pieces in or not needing to add. So others than the first week or two of burning I went the entire burn season every single day and only loaded once a day. Found it was less hassle loading In the dark or first thing before work, never had my stove go out one time. Never had a bridge over. First year with my OwB. C250. 2000 sq feet. Hot water. I will say I had a stash of locus. When it got down to 0 or below I would stuff it full with 100 percent. Locus. But 24 hours later there was always still 1/3 full in the stove. Anyways. Sweet stove. My experience