Any advice?

Get some ashes, it's bad luck to start the first burn on steel.

Burn dry/seasoned wood.  We love ours, easy to load and maintain.  I always burn mine hot for 30 mins or so when I get up in the morning and there is hardly any creasote when the stove pipe.gets cleaned.

Are they sold locally to you?  I went to their site and couldn't even find a dealer anywhere close to me.  I'm in the market for a new wood stove insert.

Congratulations.  There is free wood all over the place here on Long Island.  Watch for tree guys nearby and ask if they will drop logs in your yard.

I do not have a wood stove but always get free wood for my neighbor's who do have them.  I actually bought a Pellet Stove .

Bill

Good score!  We have the Ashford and love it.

We use a small shovel and ash bucket to empty the ashes out.  We were told that if we use the trap door inside the stove it may get junk in the opening and then won't seal causing too much air to enter the fire box.

After having NO problems all last winter, I started to have problems getting a fire started when the stove was cold.  It'd smolder and then go out like it was just not getting any air even though we have a fresh air intake system.  Then when I tried to get the fire relit it would smoke into the living room...Wife not happy.  Talked to the pipe cleaners/inspectors about it and they suggested using a small propane torch to start the fire and heat up the fire box so it drafts better right away.  No more problems.  I had to turn in my Boy Scout fire building card, but that torch really gets the fire going right now!

Do not use anything with ink/colored ink to start the fire.
It can ruin the catalytic.
Keep wiping the dust that accumulates on the stove.
Clean the fans and blades. Clean ours at least twice a year.
Have a pot of water on top to help with humidity.

Can go through a lot of wood when using it daily.

Have a older blaze king and it can run us out of the house.

Thanks all.

So far so good. We love it.