Washington: Wood- and pellet-stove sales soaring -

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Retail Scene: Wood- and pellet-stove sales soaring - 2001-02-07 by Russ Zabel Journal Business Reporter

KENT -- Sales of wood-burning stoves have increased dramatically this year in South King County due to worries about the energy crunch, according to several local retailers.

Gerald Nevels, who owns Nevels Stoves, Pool and Spa stores in Kent and Puyallup, said energy shortages and rising utility bills in the West and Northwest are responsible for the rise in sales of stoves that burn both regular firewood and processed wood pellets.

``People are very concerned,'' Nevels said.

``We sold almost no wood or pellet stoves before this year,'' he said. Instead, gas stoves were big sellers last year before gas prices rose and power shortages became an issue throughout the region. Now it's a ``total flip-flop,'' Nevels said. Still, he added, the total number of stoves he sells of any type has remained roughly the same.

Gas is still an affordable energy source for heating, Nevels said, and about 15 to 20 percent of the stoves he sells are powered by gas.

Stove Country in Auburn has had a similar experience, said Phil, a sales manager who declined to give his last name.

``This energy crunch has just killed our gas stove sales,'' he said.

By contrast, sales of pellet stoves are especially strong this year, he said. Stove Country has sold around 50 wood and pellet stoves since September, Phil added.

``Last year we couldn't give them away,'' he said.

The popularity of wood and pellet stoves has a downside, however. Last year, many distributors had them in stock, but this year it takes around eight weeks to get an order delivered, Phil said. ``So it's really been a headache.''

Brett Parrick, who manages the Rich's stove stores in Tukwila and Bellevue, agrees the sudden popularity of wood and pellet stoves has created problems for retailers. ``It's caught a lot of manufacturers by surprise,'' he said.

As for the reason behind the stoves' sudden popularity, Parrick said his customers are saying it is definitely caused by the energy crunch.

Rich's also has a store in Lynnwood, and Parrick said that store and the Tukwila store are getting an average of three to four people a day interested in buying a wood, pellet or gas stove. Before this year, the stores were averaging around two people a week interested in those stoves, he said.

While sales of wood and pellet stoves have grown, sales of gas stoves have remained about the same in the Tukwila and Lynnwood stores, Parrick said.

The Rich's store in Bellevue is a different story. There has actually been a decline in stove sales there, Parrick said.

According to Nevels, Bellevue is not completely out of the stove-heating loop.

``They sell a ton of gas logs, which are totally inefficient,'' Nevels said. ``We can't give away a gas log down here.''

Wood and pellet stoves -- which can be free-standing or a fireplace insert -- must be certified for sale by the government, Nevels said.

``The (Environmental Protection Agency's) concept is to burn the smoke before it gets out into the environment,'' he said.

As a result, wood and pellet stoves feature secondary burners that consume much of the smoke. Efficiency is one of the side effects because burning the smoke creates more heat, Nevels said. Certified stoves can also be used during Stage One burning bans, he added.

Burn bans are issued by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, an environmental organization that works with the state Department of Ecology and the EPA. Stage One bans prohibit the use of regular fireplaces or any stove made before 1987. Stage Two bans go one step further and prohibit even newer certified stoves, unless those stoves or fireplaces are the only source of heat.

Pellet-burning stoves are not completely self-contained, Parrick said. They need electricity to power 3-amp motors used for combustion, the exhaust system and for heat output, he said, while most wood-burning stoves use convection to do the same job.

http://www.southcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/43830

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), February 08, 2001

Answers

<<< secondary burners that consume much of the smoke. Efficiency is one of the side effects because burning the smoke creates more heat >>>

That will also reduce or eliminate buildup of creosote in chimneys, the cause of chimney fires if ignored too long.

The *really* efficient way to go for woodburning is what I use, a masonry heater (also called a "tile stove," "Russian stove" or "Finnish stove"). It's a massive firebox assembled out of precast blocks, with a secondary combustion chamber, covered with something pleasant like brick or soapstone. Ducts precast into the masonry allow the hot combustion gases to transfer most of their energy before exiting the chimney. We have one short fast fire daily, lasting less than two hours, then the masonry gives off a gentle radiant heat constantly until the next burn. The temperature in the main firebox hits 1300-1600 degrees F, while the gases at the chimney are down to 300 deg F. This is alot hotter than would ever be safe in a metal stove! But the exterior brick facing is never too hot to touch.

Plus, we chose the bake oven option, with a small door into the secondary combustion chamber for use after the fire is out. I bake bread several nights a week (during winter) at around 550 degrees, about four hours after the fire was first lit. And 12 hours after the evening fire the bake oven is usually around 250-350 deg F, suitable for casseroles and potato baking--put it in in the morning, it's ready for supper.

A masonry heater is nothing at all like most "fireplaces" and out- performs any metal stove both in fuel use and in safety. However it's an expensive and complicated choice, for example it weighs over two tons and we basically designed it right into the foundation plans of my house.

For a nice primer on masonry heaters, see www.tempcast.com . In the photo gallery, the example shown in the 5th row down, leftmost photo, is quite similar to what I enjoy in my living room.

-- Andre Weltman (72320.1066@compuserve.com), February 08, 2001.


As someone who has been heating with wood for some years now, I can offer a few bits of experience. This is not magic, you don't throw a switch on a thermostat and forget about it.

1) It takes a LOT of wood to heat a house. Of course this depends on the outside temperature. In the 30's, I figure about one wheelbarrow of wood per day. Down to single digits, you can more than double that. This adds up to anywhere from 5-15 cords of wood per season depending on climate.

2) This makes wood-related activities a year-round project (unless you have the money to simply order it in. Where I live, it would be substantially cheaper to heat with electricity in that case). Otherwise, you need to allocate every weekend for months to cutting, sawing, splitting, and storing somewhere out of the weather where the wood can season. A power splitter is a must for these volumes. So is a chain saw, a good pickup, and a strong back.

3) We have found it most convenient to have a large indoor rack capable of holding 4-5 wheelbarrow loads at once. This rack needs to be refilled every 2 to 4 days. Try to keep your wood storage close enough so you don't need to drag a wheelbarrow through too much snow, that's messy and difficult. Also, be aware that 15 cords is BIG.

4) Even with a sealed stove that reburns the smoke, this is still a dirty process. There will be smoke and dust in the house, and the wood itself is often dirty, and chips and bark fall off, making for constant sweeping and dusting. Get used to this.

5) The ashes must be cleaned out of the stove every day. This requires the right tools and clothing, since of course the fire doesn't go out all winter, so you must clean out the ashes with the fire burning. This is also dirty. Hint: burns heal very slowly and are very painful. The right tools and clothing are a *must*.

6) While a good wood stove can burn all night without tending it, the stove temperature drops rapidly at first (just after stoking with lots of wood), and then more slowly. So after 6-8 hours the stove might be down to 250-300 degrees, nowhere near enough to heat the house. We have found that someone needs to get up at least once during the night to add wood, and twice is better. Otherwise, the entire house gets cold and is very slow to warm back up.

7) Everything about wood heat is slow! The wood stove heats up slowly and cools down slowly. A hot stove heats the house slowly. If the house gets too hot, fortunately opening a window or two can cool it down quickly. The stove itself will stay too hot for over an hour. (note this is all based on a 2500 sq. ft. house).

8) Wood heat is very dry. We keep a pot of water boiling on the stove all the time, and the house is still dry.

9) The chimney/stovepipe must be cleaned out at least every two years, depending on what kind of wood you burn. Don't burn pine. But pin cones make great kindling to get the firing going in the fall, or after a trip out of town, when the fire must be restarted.

10) Don't split wood uniformly. We keep some wood split fairly fine, some larger split pieces, and a lot of unsplit logs small enough to cram into the stove. This allows for better fire control. Large logs reduce trips to the stove during the night, and small split logs are good for getting low fires back up quickly, building a good base of coals fast.

So all and all, you need to really enjoy wood heat, be willing to put in a lot of manual labor, and spring for all the necessary setup items (splitter, saw, woodshed, clothing and tools, masonry work, etc.) In exchange, you get wonderful heat and very low utility bills. YMMV.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), February 08, 2001.


Flint,

Good advice, although I will note that a few details are different with a masonry heater (with one short fire a day, I don't need to get up at night! and the volume of wood per year is a bit less because masonry heaters are more efficient). Leaving that aside, I will "second" all you have said.

<< This is not magic>>

No, it's very very hard work, but it is good for you physically and dare I say spiritually! I split all my wood by hand, and it is probably adding a decade to my lifespan (assuming I don't badly injure myself swinging the maul). I do own and use a chainsaw for felling and bucking, but am prepared to do EVERYTHING with handtools if needed.

The biggest issue is that you need a cheap and ongoing supply of wood. I live in a forest so this is not a problem for me. Most people can't turn to wood as a major heating source because, as articles posted here have pointed out, there isn't enough seasoned wood nor wood dealers. Like so many small "survivalist" industries, there just isn't a way to rapidly scale up prodcution for "the masses."

Cheers,

-- Andre Weltman (aweltman@state.pa.us), February 09, 2001.


One more observation: points #5, 8, and 9 don't apply to masonry heaters, either, but could certainly be hassles for other types of wood-fired heating.

-- Andre Weltman (aweltman@state.pa.us), February 09, 2001.

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