We study the thermal properties of a bulk $$\hbox {Ni}_{55}\hbox {Fe}_{19}\hbox {Ga}_{26}$$
Ni
55
Fe
19
Ga
26
Heusler alloy in a conduction calorimeter. At slow heating and cooling rates ($$\sim {1}\,\hbox {K h}^{-1}$$
∼
1
K
h
-
1
), we compare as-cast and annealed samples. We report a smaller thermal hysteresis after the thermal treatment due to the stabilization of the 14 M modulated structure in the martensite phase. In ultraslow experiments ($${40}\,\hbox {mK h}^{-1}$$
40
mK
h
-
1
), we detect and analyze the calorimetric avalanches associated with the direct and reverse martensitic transformation from cubic to 14 M phase. This reveals a distribution of events characterized by a power law with exponential cutoff $$p(u)\propto u^{-\varepsilon }\exp (-u/\xi )$$
p
(
u
)
∝
u
-
ε
exp
(
-
u
/
ξ
)
where $$\varepsilon \sim 2$$
ε
∼
2
and damping energies $$\xi ={370}{\upmu {\rm J}}$$
ξ
=
370
μ
J
(direct) and $$\xi ={27}{\upmu {\rm J}}$$
ξ
=
27
μ
J
(reverse) that characterize the asymmetry of the transformation.