did pretty well
I'll have to preface this with I did have a chimney fire in the fireplace LAST year, so we had the flue lined for a stove and put in a Vt. Castings Encore (non-cat).
Did pretty well, went through 4 to 5 cords of wood from late October until about April 1, when I ran out of seasoned stuff. Had the chimney cleaned, it was dirty but not bad. Oil was filled up from the summer in December (can't remember if it was before or after the ice storm and 9 days w/o power), then in late January had 58 gallons added, and 72 gallons added in late March. I've burned more oil since the wood ran out than I did throughout the winter!
The Encore is an OK stove, needed a mid-season clean-out in the back chambers (pull stove pipe out, rig length of narrow hose to shop vac, stuff it down each side behind the damper), and I had to replace one gasket and re-glue a couple others. Had I known about the bankruptcy and whatnot, I may have gone with a Jotul instead...then again, my parents' 4 year old Jotul just needed a BUNCH of repair work. We were originally thinking of the stove as a two year payback with oil savings, but being able to stay home in a 72 degree house during the ice storm (with a 1.5 month old and a 2 year old) and not end up somewhere else for a week paid that stove off immediately!
One thing I will do differently this year is stacking, I made a sort of big square of wood by the house. Some of the middle stuff could have been a bit dryer, so I had to do a bit of picking through the wood as the season wore on. This year it's going to be a long line (or three) of wood to get my (hopefully) 6 cord stacked and ready. I would LOVE to get ahead a year if I can, we'll see how things work out. There is lots of deadfall from the ice storm to still clean up (I have about 2 cord split and stacked already, and should be able to get my 6 cord from dead and damaged trees on my 2.75 acres, and more from friends and relatives)...and my saw is in the shop.
I would like to get a wood shed built, but with all the other things i need to get done, I think I'll just tarp the tops of the stacks later in the year and call it good.