Once cold weather sets in we burn continuously. Properly loaded and adjusted can get 7+ hours of burn time. Also our house was built specifically to be heated by the wood stove as primary heat. The chimney goes through the center of the house. The stove is on the bottom floor with a granite wall to absorb heat so even when the stove dies down the stone radiates heat back in to the house. Also have a duct fan set up to pull hot air from downstairs and blow it through the FHA ducts of the furnace if we want to warm the house up quickly.