Room to Grow!

In 2005 120,000 stoves and fireplace inserts were sold throughout the United States. That number has not grown as many think it could have or should have. As a matter of fact the number actually went down last year. Pellet stoves (as opposed to whole house systems) were new to the European market around 2005. They sold somewhere in the neighborhood of 16,000 stoves that year. Last year in Europe over 360,000 pellet stoves were sold. What a difference! and Why? Government incentive is still the number one reason in my opinion. Gas and oil prices are much less subsidized and Europeans are encouraged to look to other fuel sources. Then there is the Kyoto protocal and green movement, two areas where we are gravely lacking.
Yet there is hope, and time to change. At the Pellet Forum in Wels, Austria last week the US was declared a country with large growth potential in the pellet market. Of course, Americans in the crowd had to endure a little bit of a beating on why we are so far behind, but the end message is, I believe, a positive one.
Pellet use in the US was estimated between one and one and a half million tons of pellets last year. A source in the pellet industry said there is about 90 million ton of unused wood waste available in the US right now. That is one of the strongest assets we could have. As more pellet mills come on line each year our supply grows, and costs, as always, have remained stable relative to other energy's such as oil.
There is a large commercial and industrial sector that is untapped in this country, and the Europeans have noticed. Some Americans as well. Growth in this sector may open up doors to government support and incentive, as well as push the industry into bulk distribution, and whole house systems that are sparsely available, and still manually demanding with the fuel loading.
Wood pellets have actually had an impressive ride when you consider that we are the only fuel with no government incentive or support. Ethanol is subsidized at $.51 a gallon for example. Even wind and solar energy's have rebates, and incentives in place. The PFI seems to be waking up and taking action, FINALLY. They have had a growing relationship with a lobbying firm, and there are now several people in the industry who are focusing on creating, introducing, and getting bills brought to the attention of our congressmen and senator's. While we have not yet successfully had a bill move through to active status we are gaining ground, and attention in Washington.
I am excited for the future of wood pellets. It is a fuel that is local, renewable- at this point still made from waste products otherwise destined for landfills, carbon neutral, and affordable!

In the beginning

In the state of Washington, in the early 1980's pellet stoves were introduced to the US. Boeing Aircraft engineer Jerry Whitfield pioneered the first stove than uses sawdust waste for fuel. By using a compressed material that resembles rabbit food, a clean, renewable, carbon nuetral heating alternative was born.

Whitfield learned about pellet technology in Europe and started working on the first project, a wood pellet boiler, in his garage. He even paid a local university to test it. The tests were successful and gave Whitfield a new direction. Wood stoves were a popular alternative heating source at this time, but they were getting a lot of bad press about their emissions and regulators were starting to crack down. With pellet stove emissions were only 0.7 grams of particulate emissions per hour, as compared to wood stoves at 50-100 grams per hour, it was a viable alternative for the mass market. "What better time to come out with something that still burns wood, that will save the day for a lot of people," he said.

He introduced his first stove at the Wood Heating Alliance show in Reno, Nev in 1984. At the end of the four day show he had orders for 1,000 stoves. Whitfield's stove looked like a typical wood stove on the outside, but inside it was state of the art. With an auger feeding specific amounts of pelletized low moisture fuel, and adding combustion air at just the right level a clean, consistent, and controllable burn was established. By blowing the heat off of the stove the safety and efficiency was raised, and the back side of combustion air made chimneys obsolete.

His first facility was a privately funded 1,500-square-foot shop in Lynnwood, WA. A short time later, he left Boeing. From Lynnwood, the company moved to a 15,000-square-foot plant in Everett, then in 1990 a 115,000 square foot plant in Burlington, WA. They manufactured up to 150 stoves a day during peak production. Discontinued this year the Whitfield IIT is the longest running and best selling stove to date.

In 1999 Whitfield's company, Pyro Industries, was sold to Lennox International which was later reorganized into Lennox Hearth Products. Business as usual, was the pronouncement of the 100 year old heating company. Many changes and new products were rushed into production, and many difficult years followed. The leading industry and pellet stove design innovator began to fall and sadly the last of the stoves that were once Whitfield were discontinued this year as Lennox purchased Country Stoves, and abandoned the Whitfield legacy.