Green Heat News
A monthly news service for everyone
interested in renewable wood & pellet heating
June 2022
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5th Wood Heater Design Challenge
Show the skeptics that wood stoves can be reinvented. The DOE is now supporting R&D for wood stoves and on September 29, you can pitch your idea for a new type of wood stove to the public, the media and retailers. Part technology slam, part shark tank— it promises to be informative, eye-opening and entertaining.
Resources for the Wood Heater Design Challenge
Interested in competing in the 5th Wood Heater Design Challenge? Submit a short form application by June 15 or the long form application by Aug. 1. Make sure to review clarifications to the rules on the Q&A page. And join this LinkedIn group to find others building teams and looking for talent. A DOE webinar about the event was postponed. (If you already registered, you will be notified when its re-scheduled.)
Popular powerpoints from the workshops
Retailers needed to judge the 2022 Stove Slam
One of the prizes at this year's Design Challenge will be given by a group of stove retailers to the stove with the most commercial potential. Any retailer can participate. Volunteer your experience to help next-generation stove designers understand the marketplace. A commitment of 2 hours is required on Sept. 29. Contact jackerly@forgreenheat.org.
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Agencies
In the United States, efficiencies of gas stoves and fireplaces are often unavailable, and confusing for consumers. The only reliable database is maintained by the Canadian government and consumers often do not know to check it, even if they want a more efficient appliance.
Most violations of the Clean Air Act are resolved through settlement agreements that used to fund e a project to provide tangible environmental or public health benefits to the affected community —such as a wood stove change-out program. That practice was scrapped under the Trump Administration but is now coming back.
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HPBA shipment data claims wood and pellet stoves, inserts and fireplaces peaked in 2005 with about 726,000 units. But it is unclear what is counted and what is not and the stats mix cheap, uncertified fireplaces, along with certified ones. HPBA says they think they get about 70% participation of volume but they don't explain 70% of what. And, the 70% estimate has not changed even though at one of the biggest volume companies— US Stove and Englander— does not report shipments since dropping their HPBA membership. The EPA has reliable data but they aren't releasing it because they haven't aggregated it.
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The vast majority of heat pumps rely on hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a highly potent greenhouse gases. when they leak. This change will allow manufacturers to instead use hydrocarbon refrigerants that have a negligible climate impact.
The design could someday help to fully decarbonized power grid, researchers say. In the meantime, it could help wood and pellet heaters to reliably generate more electricity.
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Corn stoves gained a lot of popularity up until about 2012, when corn prices rose due to ethanol subsidies. Mike Tidwell, a climate change activist in Takoma Park Maryland, where AGH is based, started a corn heating coop in 2008 as a way to wean homes off of gas and oil. Some brands still make corn stoves, navigating EPA regs with varying rates of success.
The crackling fire of the wood stove has become the biggest unregulated polluter in Oregon. As a result, a new law setting pollution emission limits on the stoves has been approved by state legislators. The measure, the first such state law in the nation, was signed recently by the Republican Governor, Victor G. Atiyeh.
Craiglist is a popular site to buy and sell wood stoves and these 35 stoves represent a sampling of wood heaters on the market in May 2022 from all over the country. Most of are operable although some are clearly beyond their lifespan and should be retired. Many have been painstakingly restored, giving them a new lease on life.
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Energy & The Russian Invasion of Ukraine |
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All over the world, wood and pellet stoves are in greater demand now and many models are back-ordered. Lines are even forming outside some European hearth retailers, and with installation back-ups, getting a stove installed in 2022 is not guaranteed.
Minister of the Environment Erki Savisaar says that the country should have a strategic reserve of firewood similarly to other fuels. The ministry is prepared to discuss hiking logging volumes to alleviate the industry's material shortage and avoid massive bark beetle damage.
Firewood prices in Europe are also climbing. According to the Estonian Private Forest Center's wood price overview, with the exception of conifer pulpwood, the prices of all categories of wood reached new record highs in the first quarter of 2022.
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State News
California: A group is moving forward with efforts to build a facility in Chinese Camp that will take in biomass and produce wood pellets.
Maine: Maine residents kept their homes at unsafe temperatures more than those in any other U.S. state over the past year. Around 8.3 percent of Maine households say they had kept homes at a temperature that felt unsafe or unhealthy almost every month over the past year.
Washington: More than 100 residents benefited from a $300 incentive grant for each wood stove they turned in at our most recent event. About $42,300 in grant funding will go directly into the pockets of participating residents.
International
Denmark: Banning the use of old, uncertified stoves, presumably after a 2-3 year grace period, is becoming more common. One large county in Washington State has already done this. In Denmark, only municipalities with district heat or gas will be allowed to ban old wood stoves. There is no mention of how the policy could impact pellet stoves.
Australia: Asthma Australia chief executive Michele Goldman said wood fire heaters should not allowed to be installed in new builds in densely inhabited areas.
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Only in retrospect was this name a terrible choice for a gas boiler! Made in the 1960s or 70s, many are still in operation and still running fine. Thanks to Heating Help, a favorite newsletter of ours.
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Saratoga Springs, New York, June 1-2, 2022
This in-person event includes live sessions and content relevant to New York's climate, housing stock, and industry trends.
Arlington, Wisconsin, June 15, 2022
A two day business workshop for the split firewood industry.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 21-24, 2022
More information to follow.
Dowagiac, Michigan, September 25-27, 2022
Our thanks to Bill and Sheila Krohne and Tom and Kim Hardy for hosting the 2022 Convention!
Washington DC, October 20-21, 2022
Keep an eye out for updates regarding the 2022 RTC Summit soon!
Burlington, Vermont, October 27-28, 2022
Celebrating its 22nd year, REV’s Annual Conference and Expo is the leading renewable energy event in northern New England.
Leipzig, Germany, April 18-20, 2023
As a prospective network-hub of the branch the WORLD OF FIREPLACES focuses on the topic of fireplaces and cozy ambience of living.
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Thank you to everyone who donated to AGH during 2021! Your support makes a huge difference and helps to keep this newsletter a free source of information for everyone. The Alliance for Green Heat is an independent non-profit organization working to promote cleaner and more efficient biomass heating. Please consider making a generous contribution. The Alliance is a tax exempt 501 (c)(3) organization.
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