New Products- 2008 NEHPBA Show in Atlanta

Here are some of the new products that were introduced at this year's Hearth Show in Atlanta.



These beautiful and innovative stoves from Palazetti are not new products, they are actually existing products made in Itlay. They came to the show to see what interest there may be in the US for their product. Two things set this stove apart. One is that it is a dual fuel- wood and wood pellet- stove. It can burn wood and with a simple adjustment switch to pellet fuel. The second is that the actual stove unit can be moved into several styles of body and inserts. While on the higher end cost-wise, ~$10,000 to $15,000 they are of very high quality. The only disappointing thing was the size of the ash pan. I would guess it would need cleaning once a week using pellet and daily using wood.



It looks like Lennox is ready to get back into the pellet game. After many years of fumbling with the Whitfield stove, they have discontinued those products and opted to buy the Country Stove line. The biggest difference is that they have left Country Stove plants, personnel, and engineering in place. They have also put new product development into their capable hands. Two new units will join the existing Country pellet stove and insert. The Bella cast iron stove has elegant tile panels on the sides, and an optional enamel finish. You could tell immediately that it was a very quiet operation with a variation in auger control and a quiet distribution fan. The Montage is a great value stove with a large hopper and ash pan.



Ecoteck is a newly imported Italian pellet stove line that was looking to set up distribution in the US. With European stylings such as a decorative tile body, a sleek insert design, and modern finishes they offer a wide variety of styles to fit any modern decor. Advanced controls (option) even allow you to call from your cell phone to change the settings on your stove. I was very happy to see European companies taking an interest in our market!

Thank You Lauzon

What do you do with your Canadian supplier at the Hearth Show? Go to a Hockey game, of course! Here are some pics from our evening out with Lauzon. THANKS!

What is the most affordable?

I do not like to use the word cheap. We used to have birds in our store so when people asked what we had that was 'cheap' I could point to the birds :) People often ask what the "cheapest" way to heat their house will be. I know that they do not want a chintzy appliance to heat their home. There is too much risk there. But, we all like to save money where we can, and use the most affordable heat source available. In today's volatile markets that can be a challenge. Especially since there is no one size fits all answer. Fuel costs, and needs in Nevada will be far different from those living in Michigan.

So how do you know what is best for your house? There are a few things to look at. First, is how energy efficient your home is. If it is not well insulated, or has leaky windows and doors any heating system update, or change may produce minimal results. Second, see what fuels are available around you. If you live in the corn fields of Iowa a wood stove may not be for you. Third would be pricing.

Here is an example from Penn States College of Agricultural Sciences that provides a simple graph of differences. (see details at http://energy.cas.psu.edu/energyselector/default.html)

There have been a great many debates as to which calculators or comparisons are most accurate. Some assumptions have to be made to come up with any general formula. The assumptions generally surround the appliance efficiencies. Since very few people have access to a testing lab in their home, an accurate determination is virtually impossible. You can rely on the manufacturer's but keep in mind the regulations, testing labs, variances in fuel, and procedures, for each manufacturer can be vastly different. There are many who will go a step further and argue about the true btu content of one fuel. As a test performed with sample a in Tacoma may produce a different result as sample b in Philadelphia.

I would say a little common sense in using the cost calculator's will help you a great deal. If you are arguing one fuel over another you may use extreme's, but if you are trying to determine what is best for your home be as realistic as you can.

Here are a few calculators I know of. If you have other resources please forward them and I will include them.

Pellet Fuels Institute

http://www.pelletheat.org/3/residential/compareFuel.cfm

Hearth Products Association

http://www.hpba.org/hpba1/effcalc.cfm

Woodpelletinfo.com

http://www.woodpelletinfo.com/calculator.php

Warmair.com

http://www.warmair.com/html/fuel_cost_comparisons.htm

Yellow Pine Energy contracts with Georgia Power

Released : Monday, January 14, 2008 11:57 PM
January 15, 2008 (FinancialWire) Southern Co. s (NYSE: SO) Georgia Power has signed a 20-year contract for electricity with Yellow Pine Energy Company, LLC, a biomass-fired facility to be located near Fort Gaines, Georgia. The material used to generate the power will come from timber harvesting residuals and collection of non-commercial tree species, tree-thinnings, lumber scraps and wood waste reclaimed from landfills. The Yellow Pine facility is scheduled to go into operation in 2010 and will produce 110 megawatts of renewable energy. Under the contract, Georgia Power will purchase almost half of the plant's capacity, or about fifty megawatts. Yellow Pine is an affiliate of Summit Energy Partners and Morris Energy Group. Summit Energy is a renewable energy company formed in 2002 by its principal, Mark S. Sajer, to develop renewable plants. Atlanta-based Georgia Power is the largest subsidiary of Southern. The company serves 2.3 million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties.

How Wood Pellets are Made

Pellet Forced Hot Air and Boiler Systems

(Harman rep with Bulk Fuel Bin and PB105- Reno HPBA March 2007)

Harman has long been the front runner in the pellet stove marketplace. It's underfired feed system has given us some of the largest btu, lowest maintenance pellet stoves available in the US. That coupled with Harman's strong coal, and wood furnace background lead to the introduction of their whole house pellet systems. The PF100 Pellet Furnace was first released in 2004. This innovative unit was the first pellet furnace to be made in and for the US market. In the fall of 2006 it was followed up with the PB105, the first pellet boiler manufactured in the US. The fall of 2007 showed continued innovation and promotion with the bulk fuel bin that Harman designed to work with both of their whole house units, as well as their P-series pellet stoves.

The PF100 contains the same control, feed, and venting systems as the Harman freestanding and insert stoves, just on a larger scale. It has an impressive heat range from 0 to 112,000 Btu's. The unit itself holds 160 pounds of pellets, or hook up Harman's latest innovation the bulk feed bin for 1400 pounds of hands free use. It's large ash pan means that cleaning needs to happen only after three or so tons have gone through. This is a great system that many people add to their homes for central heat. Some replace their old system entirely, while others leave their old system in place as a backup and simply install the pellet furnace in series by tapping into exisiting plenum systems.

Many areas use hot water, and forced hot water heat systems. While they had to wait a little longer it was well worth it. In 2006, Harman released the PB105. This unit will heat water up to 120C with a heat range of 0 to 112,000 Btu's. The optional hot water coil gives an added benefit of heating domestic hot water. Again using Harman's control, feed, and heat transfer system from their stoves and inserts. This unit has an extra large ash pan, and pellet hopper, as well as the ability to direct vent using a four inch PL rated pellet stove pipe. The bulk fuel bin may reduce filling to once or twice a month!

Harman's latest innovation gives us a glimpse of the future. The bulk fuel bin is designed has a small footprint, and is designed to be fed from bagged fuel, as the vast majority of pellet fuel is delivered in this manner. It is a step in the direction of elminating the bag, and moving to a bulk feed and delivery system. We may learn a great deal from Europe about bulk pellet fuel systems. They have pellet trucks that deliver fuel in much the same way as we have oil and propane delivery trucks here in the US. There are a handful of dealers and consumers who buy bulk pellets using bulk sacks, or other bulk deliveries such as rail, and I suspect that this method has room only to grow. New England Wood Pellet received a grant a few years back to purchase the first bulk pellet fuel delivery vehicle. Grain silos have been the predominant fuel holders in the US. Europeans often make wooden bins, or pellet closets that may be similar to what coal bins or closets were like in the late 1800 and early 1900's here.

In the coming years we may see other companies follow suit with similar boiler and forced hot air pellet systems. Central Boiler has recently released a multi-fuel outdoor system, Tarm offers an imported boiler or furnace system as examples. Europe's wood pellet leads the market as far as wood pellet boiler and furnace systems with many innovative and viable designs in place, but with people like Dane Harman behind the US market keep an eye out!