HH, I've been burning a stove for 7 yrs now 24/7 from early Nov-late March. My stove was made in a dumpster fabrication shop and is little more than a metal box lined with fire brick and a hole in the top. It has served us well and heated the house good too. But just this week I decided to step up (kinda) and bought a new to me stove. Its a Nashua and even though its still almost 30yrs old its looks very well made and heavily constructed (500lbs).
The most important factor to me is a stove that can burn all night long and still have a good coal base in the morning to restoke from. My old unit will do that but probably because the firebox is so large rather than efficiency.
Something to keep in mind. I've heard for yrs about the new EPA stoves but this past winter I delivered a load of firewood to someone. He invited us in to the house. He has a very nice Vermont Castings stove. Beautiful thing to look at with all kinds of whistles and bells all porcelain even the pipe was too. I'm looking at this thing of beauty and then I realized something......it was putting maybe a tenth the amount of heat my old ugly does! So just keep in mind what a stove needs to do, heat! All the whistles and bells and efficiency ratings won't mean a thing if it doesn't put out much heat. I cut my own firewood and never have a shortage issue so a few more sticks a day ain't no big deal to me and some of them old stoves can really put off the heat. Before I would drop 1,000.00-2,000.00 dollars I would make sure of how well it can heat. Old stoves are a dime a dozen and can be bought cheap so If you buy one you don't like you won't have much in it. If you spend 1,500.00 you might be forced to live with a dud.