Photo Essay of the 2016 Pellet Stove Design Challenge

Patricia Fritz of the NY Department of Health and
Dr. Barbara Panessa-Warren, a nano particle expert
from Brookhaven.  Their panel was one of the most appreciated!

Dave Atkins, moderator of the wood stove retrofit panel,
introducing Jeff Hollowell, a retrofit builder.

Stove installation and set-up prior to the event. (Norbert Senf)

Marius Wöhler came from Germany to share experiences of BeReal, a
European round robin testing project and a multi-year European
 Union funded survey of how people actually use their stoves at home. (AGH) 

Geoffrey Johnson and the Torrefire Pellet Stove. (BNL)

SUNY Buffalo students (from left: Kevan Darmawan, Kyle Hinman,
and Steven Widdis) using the Testo 320. (BNL)

The VibraStove, invented and
 designed by Stephen Spevak. 

A drawing of what the PELLWOOD, first place winner, by Wittus,
may look like when it goes to market. (Wittus)

Geoffrey Johnson, inventor of the Torrefire stove, with Jytte
 Illerup, a Danish researcher and Ricardo Caravahlo, a
Portugese Ph.D. student from Denmark. (AGH)

Mark Knaebe, from the US Forest Service and John Crouch, from
HPBA at the automated cord wood stove panel. Ben Myren
 was presenting the VcV valve technology via telephone. (AGH) 

The Alliance for Green Heat team: Board members Dave Atkins,
Jonathan Kays, and Norbert Senf with AGH President John
Ackerly in blue and staff member Gabriella McConnel. (AGH)

René Bindig, a member of the first
place team,Wittus - Fire by Design.

Craig McKim of Testo,  discussing
  testing procedures with the SUNY Buffalo team. (AGH)

Tom Butcher and Rebecca Trojanowski, biomass testing
 experts from Brookhaven National Laboratory. (AGH)

John Ackerly and Gabriella McConnel, of the Alliance for
 Green Heat, presenting two of the commercial
demonstration stoves. (Norbert Senf)

Bill Clark of the Osprey Foundation (right) shows off the
Mimi Moto, an ultra clean pellet fired cook stove
that he distributes in Africa. (AGH)

Norbert Senf of the Masonry Heater
Association presenting findings on PM
 repeatability testing. (AGH)

Judges meeting before the Closing Ceremony.  From the left:
 Rebecca Trojanowski, Mark Knaebe, Tom Butcher, Ray
Albrecht, Ellen Burkhard and Phil Hopke. (Norbert Senf) 

Stephen Spevak, inventor of the VibraStove, explaining
 his design to the students of SUNY Buffalo.  (AGH)

Team Wittus - Fire by Design, seconds after hearing
the news that they received first place. (AGH)

Rebecca Trojanowski, Craig McKim, Geoffrey Johnson,
and Mark Knaebe admiring the testo model capable of
measuring PM. (Norbert Senf)

Scott Williamson, Pelletstoveservice.com,
touching on the best and worst of
 innovation in the pellet stove market. (AGH)

Jock Gill, representing Jerry Whitfield,
speaking about the history of pellet stoves
and the potential of biochar. (AGH)

Dr. Joseph Mollendorf, advisor to the SUNY Buffalo team,
 speaking on the automation and controls
 his students are working on. (Norbert Senf)

Adam Baumgart-Getz of EPA with Geoffrey
Johnson and the Torrefire stove, which
 burns torrefied wood pellets. (AGH)

Second and first place teams congratulating each other
(From left: Vance Hirst Sr., Vance Hirst Jr., and
Vance Hirst III of Team Seraph and Niels Wittus and
 René Bindig of Team Wittus - Fire by Design) (AGH)

Alliance for Green Heat staff (right) congratulating Niels Wittus and
 René Bindig, who won first place at the 2016 Pellet Stove Design Challenge.

Consumer Reports on Reliability of Gas Furnaces & Pellet Stoves

Alliance for Green Heat, Updated on Nov. 30, 2017 - Wood and pellet stoves are a secondary fuel of choice for many of us who primarily heat with oil, propane or electricity. But when it comes to cost savings, gas furnaces provide the cheapest form of fossil fuel heat. Choosing a reliable brand of furnace is still important, and the December 2012 issue of Consumer Reports advised consumers to think twice about York furnaces which broke down about twice as often as other brands.

Bryant, Trane and American Standard furnaces needed repairs the least often, according to the Consumer Report survey of 32,251 appliances bought by subscribers of the magazine. Many other brands, including Carrier, Rheen, Ruud and Lennox, held up nearly as well. Consumer Reports also has excellent general advice about purchasing a gas furnace.

Consumer Reports has never done a large survey of wood or pellet stove reliability, although they did test and review 6 pellet stoves in February 2011. The magazine gave highest rating to the Harman P68, which, at $3,900, was also the most expensive of all the pellet stoves they reviewed. A close second to the Harman was the Napoleon NPS40 which cost only $2,350, and rated higher than 3 other more expensive models from Lopi, Enviro and Quadrafire. At the bottom of the list was Summers Heat 55-SHP10L, made by Englander, but that model only cost $1,300 and is often considered a good value.

Consumers Reports has never tested wood stoves, so don't subscribe thinking you will find any ratings or recommendations for wood stoves. Both wood and pellet stoves deserve far more attention from consumer organizations as there is little reliable third party testing and reliability surveys. The testing that Consumer Reports did of pellet stoves in 2010 did not include efficiency, reliability, noise levels for pellet stoves or how much electricity the stove drew.  The Alliance for Green Heat tested six popular pellet stoves in the fall of 2015.  In our tests, the Quadra-Fire Mt. Vernon AE got the highest overall score, followed by the Harman Accentra insert.

Like Consumer Reports, we purchased pellet stoves without the knowledge of the manufacturer to maintain independence and then put them through a battery of tests.  The Italian Piazzetta Sabrina scored the highest on efficiency and the Enviro M55 insert did very well on heat output.  If you are in the market for a pellet stove, see our 2017 "6 Tips to buy the right a pellet stove."

 The Alliance is also pursuing actual efficiency data of pellet stoves from the EPA, who initially declined to release the actual efficiencies of popular pellet stoves.  The Alliance asked the EPA for a final determination on this matter and still hopes that the EPA will release this data.

Wood stoves are inherently more reliable and often need little repair, other than cleaning the chimney annually and replacing the gaskets every few years. However, the durability of many wood stoves, while a selling point, can also be a drawback because many people keep their old, inefficient and polluting stoves for too long, not realizing that newer ones can save them up to 50% on fuel cost and be far better for their health.