On Sunday, August 09 firefighting crews from more than two dozen towns were called to fight flames were called to help extinguish a fire at the Jaffrey wood pellet plant in New Hampshire. Employees discovered the fire and tried to fight it with fire extinguishers, however the fire spread to the conveyor system and become out of control.
After 20 hours the fire had still been smoldering in one of the silos and officials were worried about the silo collapsing from the weight of the water pumped in.

Three firefighters suffered minor injuries during the twenty-nine hour fire-suppression effort, officials said.

Steven Walker, president of New England Wood Pellet, said all the workers at the plant have been working to get it operational again. He said he expected it to be fully operational by the end of next week. WMUR 9

The plant’s employees have been working three shifts a day mopping up soggy sawdust and repairing machinery to get the plant back in operation.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed more than $135,000 in fines against the manufacturer after a worker got caught in a conveyor in January.

Authorities say the company showed indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety by allowing combustible wood dust to accumulate and for not having guards on the conveyors. Brattleboro Reformer

New Hampshire fire investigators have concluded that the wood pellet plant was accidental, and that workers responded appropriately in trying to put the fire out.

OSHA said its inspection revealed unguarded conveyors, exposure to fire and explosion hazards due to the design, construction and location of systems used to collect combustible wood dust.

New England Wood Pellet was given 15 business days from the time the citations were issued to either meet with OSHA or to contest the allegations before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Posted: August 15th, 2008 under Home Heating, Pellet Stoves.
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The fine folks over at Alternative Energy Retailer posted the other day a great article about problems with wood stoves and common mistakes that may lead to these problems not being the fault of the unit. In the article “Problems With The Wood Stove? Maybe It’s Not The Stove” it is suggested that many people may be misinformed about things related to their stove which can and will cause performance issues.

The single-wall pipe has a male end and a female end. It is always installed with the male end pointing down toward the stove. Many people say, “Oh, that male end needs to be pointed up – otherwise, all of the smoke is going to come out through the joints.”

But people do not understand the reason that the male end is pointed down is not for the smoke to come out: It is to allow the creosote to run back into the stove from inside of the chimney

The author, Wayne Dooley, continues to explain one of the better starting procedures for your wood stove and that creating a draft and selecting well seasoned wood over damp wood are one of the key ways to reduce smoke upon startup.

A lot of people will put a little bit of newspaper inside of their stove, light it and close the door, because they don’t want smoke to come in their house. When they close that door, they burn up all of the oxygen inside of the firebox, and now it creates smoke. And because there’s no draft to actually pull it out, it comes out wherever there’s an opening.

You need to tell them to make sure the air control is open wide and the door is cocked open. You want that fire to be fed with enough air so it will get the heat to go up the chimney, and you need to have enough heat to push that column of cold air up and out of the chimney to establish a draft. Typically, a person would only need to leave the door open two to five minutes, at most, to create a draft.

The article goes into much more detail about common problems associated with wood stoves due to misinformation given. Give it good read, you just might learn something new, I know I did.

Posted: July 31st, 2008 under Home Heating, Questions & Answers.
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Wood pellets and wood pellet stoves have been in the news a lot lately, stating everything from how efficient they are, how they can keep the air quality around your community cleaner and how you can save yourself a lot of money by installing a wood pellet stove. But now the hype seems to be catching up with everyone as manufactures of both stoves and pellets are unable to keep with the demand from the public.

A news article from the New Hampshire Sunday News called “Pellet stoves efficient, but becoming scarce” shows that many stores in New Hampshire state have become so overwhelmed by the demand of pellet stoves that their sales have increased, in some instances, by 500%.

At Fireplace Village in Bedford, customers won’t receive their stoves until October.

June sales are up close to 500 percent compared to the previous June, and 90 percent of customers are inquiring about the pellet stoves or inserts for their fireplaces, according to store manager Jeff Taylor.

In Nashua, Al Carachio of Pellet King said he sold 100 stoves last month — 10 times the number for a typical June.

“The demand is just enormous,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like this at this time of the year,” Carachio said.

Today, more than ever, with raising oil prices people have to seek alternative ways to heat their home without breaking the bank. These little pieces of compressed wood can do just that but at the same time help the environment, yet we have to remember that with any other heating source we have to take cation when using a wood pellet stove.

“I think what’s driving sales is people are getting their home heating bills,” Strimling said. “People are getting concerned about the environment and want to do the right thing, especially if it can save them some money.”Strimling is selling pellets for $269 to $279 a ton now, about $10 more than at this time last year but $60 to $70 more than in March, when prices had dropped. Home delivery will run about $35 a ton.

Raymond Fire Chief Kevin Pratt said that he is receiving “lots of calls” each day from residents who have recently installed new pellet stoves or are thinking about getting their old wood-burning stoves going again.

This trend is most likely to spread to other states at a rapid pace, if it hasn’t already. If you are wanting to heat your home cheaper this year you may not want to wait placing your order for your pellet stove. If you can’t get your wood pellet stove by the start of the heating season, at least you’ll have it for half of the season and that can really keep your oil / fuel cost from getting to high.

Posted: July 29th, 2008 under Home Heating, Pellet Stoves.
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The scale of the Libby changeout – 1,130 wood stoves in a little over two years – makes it the premiere example of a successful changeout program. The Libby experience demonstrates that a wood stove changeout can significantly and cost-effectively reduce harmful emissions. While Libby is in many ways the poster child for a successful changeout, many other areas can benefit from a similar program.

HPBA hopes this report and information on its website – www.woodstovechangeout.org – can help state and local leaders learn how a changeout can make their communities cleaner, safer and healthier.

What is a Wood Stove Changeout?

The wood stove changeout campaign is a voluntary program initiated at the local or regional level that provides eligible communities with a mechanism to reduce air pollution caused by wood smoke.  Residents of participating communities often receive incentives such as rebates, low/no interest loans and discounts to replace their old, conventional wood stoves and fireplace inserts with cleaner-burning, more efficient EPA-certified gas, pellet, electric or wood stoves and fireplaces.  Households that participate in changeouts must surrender their old wood stoves to be recycled.

HPBA Wins Award For Video Production

The Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association (HPBA) and Strat@comm, a Washington, D.C.-based communications firm, have won a Silver Telly Award for their video production “Clearing the Smoke - The Libby Report.”

The award-winning video details an HPBA-coordinated project in the town of Libby, Mont., where local residents replaced their outdated and polluting wood stoves with new technology woodstoves that burn more cleanly and more efficiently.

“We’re very excited that this video, highlighting the Libby, Montana, story, has been awarded the Silver Telly,” says Jack Goldman, president of the HPBA. “This was a story that needed to be told, and the video that Strat@comm produced is a remarkable retelling of the story.”

The Telly Awards pay tribute to local and regional television commercials and productions, as well as non-broadcast video productions.

SOURCE: HPBA

Posted: July 24th, 2008 under Home Heating, Pellet Stoves, Questions & Answers.
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It almost seems as if each day the price of just about everything in the world increases. One those price increases includes the cost of home heating. There are many families who continue to live with the cost of high heating; however, others refuse to. Refusing to pay a large amount of money to heat your home does not mean that you have to go without heat, but it does mean that you will have to find alternative heating methods.

The use of an outdoor coal furnace is a popular heating alternative that is used by a large number of homeowners. An outdoor coal furnace is a low-cost and safe way to provide heat to a home. What many individuals do not realize is that a home is not the only thing that can be heated by an outdoor coal furnace.

Owning and operating a business can be costly even for the most profitable businesses. This is why many business owners try to cut costs wherever and whenever they can. The latest increases in heating costs have left many business owners looking for alternative heating methods for their business. An outdoor coal furnace can heat a business in the same way that it will heat a home. Since the unit is placed outside, a retail store or an office with an outdoor coal furnace will not experience any smells or fumes.

Garages are either attached or not attached to a home. Many times when a home is heated so is the attached garage. Home owners with a separate garage may be looking for a cheap way to heat it. A garage or a shed are one of the many buildings that can use an outdoor coal furnace for heating.

It is also possible for an outdoor coal furnace to heat a farm. Due to the steady decrease in revenues and the increase in heating prices there are many farmers who are loosing valuable money. Purchasing an outdoor coal furnace is a great way to help relieve the costs of heating a barn, no matter what the size of it.

In addition to just heating a building, an outdoor coal furnace will provide hot water. This means that a business owner, garage owner, or a farmer can still complete their daily activities with hot water. It is also important to note that an outdoor coal furnace can provide heat for swimming pools and hot tubs. There are many coal furnace models that are designed to provide heat and hot water to multiple buildings and sources.

Once an outdoor coal furnace has been purchased and installed, the outdoor coal furnace will soon begin to pay for itself. Thanks to this low-cost heating method many families are able to afford more necessities and many business owners and farmers will still be able to operate their business without having to pay outrageous operating costs. Whether you are a homeowner, a business owner, or a farmer you should least consider further examining the benefits of an outdoor coal furnace.

by Harriet Goodrich

Posted: July 21st, 2008 under Home Heating, Outdoor Furnaces, Questions & Answers.
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After several months of waiting, the Ecoteck.us website is finally online and ready to provide you with information about the Ecoteck pellet stoves.

If you want to drastically cut your home heating costs for this coming heating season then an Ecoteck wood pellet stove may just be for you. Unlike an outdoor wood furnace these units sit inside your home, they are extremely stylish to fit in with your home decor and require less maintenance than an outdoor wood furnace. With an average efficiency rating of 84% these units surpass most units currently manufactured and sold in America.

So if saving money and doing less work to heat your home is at the top of your list, then check out the brand new Ecoteck.us website, it has all the information you need on these wonderful indoor wood pellet stoves.

Posted: July 14th, 2008 under Home Heating, Pellet Stoves.
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