Development Authority (NYSERDA) today announced that seven pellet stoves have been chosen as finalists in the Pellet Stove Design Challenge. This international competition, administered by the Alliance for Green Heat, identifies innovative low emissions and high efficiency pellet stoves for the residential home heating market. The competition supports Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's Renewable Heat NY initiative, which is building a sustainable, high-efficiency, low-emissions wood heating sector in New York.
The Pellet Stove Design Challenge supports the
commitment of
New York State, the Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Lab, the U.S. Forest Service and a number of other states, agencies and institutions to understand and improve the technology, engineering and smart deployment of pellet stoves to reduce reliance on fossil heating fuels.
The stoves will
be judged for particulate matter emissions, efficiency,
safety, innovation and market potential. The winner of the competition will be the team that best blends these qualities. The stoves present a wide range of design approaches, including gravity feed, downdraft burners, a combination cordwood/pellet stove, a $300 stove and more traditional designs.
In April 2016,
the teams will showcase their stoves at Brookhaven
National Lab during the workshop and conference that are open to the public. The event includes several days of panel discussions and informal roundtables on pellet stove technology, public health, deployment, policy and innovation in pellet and cord wood stoves.
The technology
competition will be followed by a multi-year
initiative to exhibit the winning stoves and educate consumers and agencies that deal with wood smoke issues and the deployment of residential renewable energy systems. NYSERDA is providing support for this competition with additional support being provided by the Osprey Foundation and U.S. Forest Service.
NYSERDA
President and CEO John B. Rhodes said, "The Pellet
Stove Design Challenge is an innovative way to advance new technologies that can potentially provide consumers with higher efficiency pellet stoves. This competition aligns with Governor Cuomo's Renewable Heat NY initiative, which is building a sustainable, high-efficiency, low-emissions wood heating sector in New York."
Three stoves
will be extensively tested and compete for a grand
prize and four demonstration stoves will provide comparative, baseline data. The three competition stoves are:
1. A prototype that will burn cord wood or
pellets and is controlled
by sensor technology made by DBFZ, a German company, that markets in the U.S. through Wittus Fire by Design of Pound Ridge, New York.
2. A new stove coming to the commercial
market later this year,
made by Seraph Industries, a small Illinois company, known for robust heat exchangers and a track record of transparency and high efficiency multi-fuel stoves. 3.The Torrefire pellet stove, made by Seattle inventor Geoffrey Johnson, which is a prototype that employs radically different combustion and heat transfer strategies.
The four
demonstration stoves are:
1. The Vibrastove, made by Noble Metals
Recovery, a small
Virginia company that is a downdraft, gravity feed stove, inspired by rocket stoves.
2. A modified Quadra-Fire pellet stove made
by a student
team from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
3. One of the cleanest commercial pellet
stoves on the market
today that is certified at less than .3 grams per hour.
4. Another very clean commercially available
pellet stove,
certified at less than .6 grams per hour.
The event is also bringing attention to the need for cleaner
cord wood stoves. A student team from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and MF Fire, a company that grew from at University of Maryland team, will be showcasing automated, sensor controlled wood stoves.
The 2016 Pellet
Stove Design Challenge is the third stove
challenge that the Alliance for Green Heat will host. The first was a cord wood stove competition held on the National Mall in Washington DC in 2013 and the second was held at Brookhaven National Lab in 2014. The Alliance for Green Heat, a non-profit education and advocacy organization manages the Challenge, which was inspired by the Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon.
"We strive
to foster a community that shares ideas and data to push
this technology forward and get pellet stoves the recognition they deserve as a mainstream renewable energy technology," said John Ackerly, President of the Alliance for Green Heat. "Like solar and wind, pellet stoves have huge potential in the United States to drastically reduce household use of fossil fuels if the technology can raise efficiency and reduce emission levels," Ackerly added.
According to
the Alliance for Green Heat, the average pellet stove in
the U.S. is believed to be around 70 percent efficient but many of the most popular models are in the low 60s and the best ones are around 80 percent efficient. About one million homes are heated with pellet stoves in the United States, with sales averaging about 75,000 per year. An efficient pellet stove can pay itself back in three-to-five years, depending on the heat source being replaced. Currently, the federal government offers a $300 tax credit for new pellet stoves. Eight states including Idaho, Maryland, Maine, Montana, Oregon and New York, offer incentives of up to several thousand dollars for pellet stoves.
The Advisory Committee that oversees the
Challenge includes
representatives from NYSERDA, Brookhaven National Lab, the USDA Forest Service, the Washington State Department of Ecology, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, Clarkson University and others.
About Reforming
the Energy Vision
Reforming the
Energy Vision (REV) is New York Governor Andrew
M. Cuomo's strategy to build a clean, resilient and affordable energy system for all New Yorkers. REV is transforming New York's energy policy with new state-wide initiatives and regulatory reforms. REV will grow the state's clean energy economy, support innovation, ensure grid resilience, mobilize private capital, create new jobs, and increase choice and affordability for energy consumers. REV places clean, locally produced power at the very core of New York's energy system. This protects the environment and supports the State's goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% while generating 50% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030. Successful initiatives already launched as part of REV include NY-Sun, NY Green Bank, NY Prize, K-Solar, and a commitment to improve energy affordability for low-income communities. To learn more about REV, visit www.ny.gov/REV4NY and follow us @REV4NY.
About NYSERDA
NYSERDA, a public benefit corporation, offers objective
information
and analysis, innovative programs, technical expertise, and support to help New Yorkers increase energy efficiency, save money, use renewable energy, and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. NYSERDA professionals work to protect the environment and create clean energy jobs. NYSERDA has been developing partnerships to advance innovative energy solutions in New York State since 1975. To learn more about NYSERDA's programs, visit nyserda.ny.gov or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram. About the Alliance for Green Heat
The Alliance for Green Heat promotes modern wood and pellet
heating systems as a low-carbon, sustainable and affordable energy
solution.
The Alliance works to advance cleaner and more efficient
residential heating
technology, particularly for low and middle-
income families. Founded in
Maryland in 2009, the Alliance is an
independent non-profit organization and is
tax-exempt under section
501c3 of the tax code.
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