You thermometer should run about 350 to 400. 500 is very
hot for a steel stove, so turn the air down. Depending on
the wood, stove placement, amount of wood burned, length of
stove pipe, etc., creosote build up may or may not be a
problem. Buy a brush and poles and clean the stove pipe to
avoid fires. I cleaned mine every two months when burning
our stove every day (often let it go out at night) during
six months. Some people need to clean theirs only once a
year. If you do get a chimney fire, you will hear it,
immediately close the air valves tight to cut oxygen to the
fire.

I too have just started heating my house with an air-tight wood insert
and everything is going great, but I looked down the chimney and
noticed a thin layer of hard/glazed creosote. We've only been burning
it for about three weeks (24/7) and I can't say for sure if the stuff
was there before we started running the insert (I knew I should have
checked), but I do recall there being glaze on the smoke chamber
before they installed it. We had a chimney sweep inspect the chimney
at the beginning of the season (before the insert was installed) and
he said it did not need cleaning yet, but he rendered it unsafe
because of cracked fire brick...that's why I bought the insert.

We have a "positive connect" to our existing 8x13 masonry fule tile
chimney which is code (we have a permit) in our area. Is all this
cause for immediate concern? The research I did on the web says the
"glaze-type creosote" is the most dangerous...should I just breakdown
and pay for a direct connect installation ($2,000+)? Like most, I
don't have a plethora of money, but my family's safety comes first.

There's no problem with draft and I have been able to use the controls
to good effect. The firebrick looks like the original color and the
glass is clear. In the beginning it did get a little brown but it
cleaned itself after my fire-making improved. I've been burning white
oak that has seasoned for less than one year and sometimes smells
sweet when I re-split it into smaller pieces. On the other hand it
does not sizzle a great deal and I have been keeping a nice bed of hot
coals and there is very little smoke during operation.

How much creosote is too much? The rule of thumb I read was more than
1/8 inch and it's time to schedule a cleaning. At the top of the
chimney there's a paper-thin buildup of that glaze stuff...am I
stressing over nothing? I need to be sure, because I want to sleep
well at night. I've read the Chimney Sweep's horror stories and they
freaked me out!

Thanks,
Chris