DOE should focus resources on R&D to advance automated stove technologies

 The Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) released a Request for Information (RFI) seeking feedback on defining the goals and objectives for a planned effort to collect in-situ wood heater performance data in the field. The deadline to submit comments was September 30, 2024. John Ackerly, AGH President, submitted the following comment: 

There are a number of small portable
emission testing devices for wood stoves
that can be used in situ, or larger lab
equipment can be moved to a home.

"We believe BETO should minimize its role in funding in-situ testing efforts because in-situ testing is usually very complex and expensive, given BETO’s funding for residential wood heater technology development. There are many distinct objectives and reasons to do in-site testing, and stakeholders could eloquently make the case for any number of them. But given the size of BETO’s budget, we do not feel there is a compelling enough type of in-situ testing that is likely to be undertaken.

BETO’s mandate is to “support the development of cleaner burning, higher efficiency residential wood heaters” and it seems this has been interpreted more broadly over time, which is understandable to some point, given the dearth of high quality applications to develop next generation stove technology.

We would urge BETO to only fund in-site testing to the extent it directly focuses on modern, more automated stove technology. For example, it may be worthwhile doing some in-situ testing with an automated stove side by side with a traditional manually operated one, to provide data about how beneficial automation can be, if at all.

The list of questions in the Four Categories suggest that this RFI is wide-ranging without parameters related to development of cleaner burning, high efficiency residential heaters. In the United States, stoves must be tested for PM 2.5 to be certified for sale. Efficiency, as measured by B415, is not regulated, but tested and an existing IRS tax credit gives an incentive to hit 75% efficiency, HHV. Any new generation of more modern, cleaner and efficient wood stoves will need to focus on these metrics first.

To understand the potential of modern, automated stoves, it may be just as relevant to study pellet stoves, to understand how and why they have such a predictable emissions profile, compared to cordwood stoves. It is also relatively easy to test how clean and efficient pellet stoves are in-situ after 1 to 10 years in operation.

To achieve testing goals of how pellet stoves perform after 1 – 10 years of use, I would recommend simply using a Testo 380 and principally test for PM2.5, enabling more sampling of more devices.

There are a multitude of academic inquiries into residential wood smoke but BETO should first determine what avenues there are to more directly advance an R&D agenda, which could include emissions data showing how automation can reduce emissions. Cordwood furnaces have already made the transition from being manually operated to controlled by sensors, and the evidence is clear that sensors will keep a boiler or furnace far cleaner.

Some stakeholders who are heavily invested in manually operated stoves may want BETO to undertake in-situ testing studies, which can be endless. But one test of this RFI will be whether those stakeholders who are doing R&D on modern, more automated stoves need in situ testing data, and if so, what kind. Similarly, it may be instructive to see what kind of in-situ testing is recommended by stakeholders who regulate wood stoves, or are involved in health related studies.

BETO could consider doing an RFI on how to develop the next generation of wood stoves in the United States. R&D is perhaps the most important avenue but DOE funding in the solar, wind and geothermal sectors address scores of barriers to bringing a renewable technology to scale. Those barriers can also be addressed in the eco-system surrounding the wood heater community. Obviously, the wood heater sector will never have that level of resources, requiring a careful assessment of where scarce resources can best be used.

An RFI that engages this community on how to advance automated stove technology may help better understand why major manufacturers are hesitant or whether there are other initiatives that could be undertaken. In-situ testing may be one of them, but an RFI solely on in-site testing sends a confusing message to the wood heating community unless BETO better explains how it is part of a strategy to develop modern, more automated stove technology.

AGH urges DOE's bioenergy office to expand focus of funding

The Bioenergy Technologies Office of the U.S. Department of Energy recently asked for input on promoting the development and testing of low-emission, high-efficiency wood heaters. The deadline to reply is 5:00 PM on Monday, September 21, 2020 and the Alliance for Green Heat (AGH) continues to urge stakeholders to provide feedback to the DOE.

Diagram of stove field testing unit.

We also urge stakeholders to reinforce points made by AGH in your submission to the DOE. Please feel free to copy any of the points we make below, put them in your own words and/or develop them further. If you feel any of our points are off-base and should be changed or expanded, please email John Ackerly at jackerly@forgreenheat.org. For more background, click here.

Dear DOE,

Thank you for requesting input through this Request for Information (RFI). We are especially thankful that BETO has embraced this relatively small effort to distribute $5 million to support developing and testing new wood heaters. We are also mindful that the effort required to run a $5 million grant program may be similar to the effort required to run a $50 million program.

The wood heating manufacturing community has not had this kind of support from a government agency in the past several decades. However, it came at a time when the manufacturing community was in the final stage of testing to meet the stricter 2020 EPA emission standards. Much of the community does not have experience applying for federal grants, which can be challenging for smaller firms.

R&D labs could apply to test stoves after certification to help assess effectiveness of designs on emission performance.

We are encouraged that some of the questions posed in this RFI may indicate BETO is open to expanding the focus of future grant cycles. Questions on the performance of stoves already installed in homes and field testing are important as they embrace the life cycle of heaters. Congressional language has urged BETO to “support development and testing of new domestic manufactured low-emission, high efficiency residential wood heaters.” Testing of new heaters can also occur once they are installed in the field. Testing can include various iterations of round robin testing before or after certification. And, the development of new heaters can include the development of component parts, software applications, and other essential stages in the development process, not just the final act of assembling a finished stove for certification.In short, we fully support BETO to follow the Congressional language and not add additional restrictions or preconceptions about the traditional stove certification process.

We think that the barriers to developing and testing new stoves are not the only barriers stove manufacturers face. Thus, we are unsure if the list of technical questions you ask will solicit robust feedback on many key issues pertaining to the development of heaters. The engineering expertise and solutions to these questions can be built up. Many academics, non-profits and jurisdictions are eager to engage in more field testing of new stoves, and to do additional types of testing before deployment. 

 

Norbert Senf, AGH's board chair, introducing the SBI team at the 4th Stove Design Challenge. SBI later won one of the DOE grants with their US partner.

We understand from discussions with industry that few of the larger mainstream stove manufacturers have applied for grants in the last two grant cycles. Yet, there are urgent funding needs in the broader wood heating sector to help the development and testing of genuinely cleaner and more efficient wood heaters.

Renewable energy technology development often happens quickly when there is significant government subsidies and expanding consumer demand. The DOE’s programs supporting solar PV, paired with Congressional support for significant tax breaks, is a good example.

BETO’s program can help on the technical side of this equation by promoting the development and testing of heaters that meet the requirements of modern renewable energy incentive programs. These programs often need to better understand field performance characteristics of the technology in question.

Round robin testing at US stove labs are badly needed to assess testing variability.

Unlike some European counties, U.S. federal and state agencies have barely ventured into the realm of aggressively promoting the cleanest heaters, which first requires the development and testing of classes of heaters that are appropriate for greater deployment. State policy frameworks are beginning to shift from decarbonizing electricity solely to also include decarbonizing heat, and it is likely that the federal government will do so as well in coming years. BETO can play a vital role in preparing for this by focusing on technical issues related to heater development and testing.

We are providing answers to those questions where we have the most expertise and where we think BETO can be most influential.

Technological Barriers

1. What are the critical technical hurdles for improving performance of stoves for new installations (e.g. combustion chamber design, combustion air management, controls, mixing, sensors, etc.)?

A. We applaud BETO’s focus on supporting efforts to develop automated heater controls, as these are one of the most effective ways to improve performance over the lifetime of the heater.

2. What are the critical technical hurdles for improving performance of stoves already installed in homes (e.g. combustion chamber design, combustion air management, controls, mixing, sensors, etc.)?

A. Some technical solutions, such as adding an ESP, exist; however, these quickly can become more expensive than a stove replacement. The most cost-effective changes relate to the fuel used, and significant change in this area may require new local and state firewood regulation. For BETO’s mandate to support not just the development of heaters but also testing, there is much work to be done on testing new heaters that have just been installed in homes to better understand how performance can be improved.

3. What practical and new techniques are used to significantly reduce transient emissions (startup, shutdown, load changes)?

A. Automation of stoves is one of the most promising ways to improve transient emissions. Changes in test methods are also vital, and test methods depend on developing data about transient emissions and making that data transparent to the public.

4. What practical and new techniques are used to measure transient emissions that could be implemented in laboratory or field testing?

A. There is an increasing variety of technologies to measure not just transient emissions, but all emissions, both in the lab and in the field. The problem is that there is little funding or mandates for them.

5. How can new exhaust emission control technologies be developed and practically deployed?

6. How could integrated hybrid systems, in which biomass heaters are combined with other technologies such as heat pumps, solar, and high efficiency gas and liquid-fired appliances, be a route to reduced emissions? What are the technology barriers to this approach?

A. Many of these systems exist as prototypes or are on the market, especially in Europe. There are few technology barriers to this approach. When policies mandate increasing residential renewable heating, hybrid systems will emerge to make use of the strengths of different technologies and the seasonal costs and availability of electricity, solar, biomass and stored energy. BETO could play an important role by focusing future FOAs on hybrid systems and making R&D funding available for the integration of wood heaters with heat pumps. Funding could be routed through heat pump companies, wood heater companies or even software companies to achieve this. Integrating solar thermal with biomass thermal also holds tremendous potential.

Annual emission testing using handheld devices like the Testo 380 is vital to understand impacts of wear and tear on emissions.

7. How could field measurement methods be improved to ensure that biomass-appliances do not create local air quality issues in long-term use?

A. Testing new heaters in real world settings is vital before and after the certification process. Manufacturers need equipment to enhance their beta testing in homes during the winter(s) before they finalize and certify products. Academics and non-profits can use existing or newly developed equipment to test emissions of newly certified heaters once they are installed in homes. In terms of ambient air quality, a variety of sensors, including the Purple Air sensor network, exist or could be developed to help understand impacts of stove groupings. States that have enforcement capacity and use opacity criteria in the field, such as Washington State, have experience with identifying and understanding why certain stoves may be particularly problematic. Sensors or sensor networks could also calculate the benefits of deploying the cleanest heaters, instead of perpetually trying to monitor, enforce and manage emissions of traditional certified wood stoves that can burn unseasoned wood at low air settings at any time.

8. What stove features commonly encourage end-users to purchase new or replace a wood heater? Or, what stove features are commonly attractive to the end-user?

A. Price is a top consideration. Clean glass is another. Aesthetics are always a driving factor. The actual or perceived ease of use can be very important. Heating capacity, log size and burn time are key for many consumers. There are also different considerations for wood versus pellet stove customers, and for those looking for a primary versus a periodic or secondary heater. Fuel management is also a big issue, with some operators switching to pellets to avoid the enormous work of wood stoves, and others giving up pellet stoves because they can’t lift 40-pound bags. For pellet stoves, durability, reliability and access to professional service should be higher priorities than they are currently. BETO could play a very productive role in developing durable pellet stoves that use interchangeable, easily sourced replacement parts, for example.9. What advantages or disadvantages would continuous field performance data provide for advancing stove designs?

A. This sort of data is extremely valuable, and funding programs to collect it would help develop and test new wood heaters. This data is also helpful in developing new test protocols, which in turn would lead to changes in stove design. Depending on the metrics produced and how they are communicated, data could help consumers operate stoves better. It could also help stove R&D departments, especially if the data came from the stove manufacturer's own stoves. If this data is only available in summary form via a regulatory agency, it would have diminished applications. There is tremendous potential and a wide range of opportunities to gather certain types of field performance for different stakeholders: users, neighbors, retailers, manufacturers, air quality agencies, academics, etc. Continuous field performance data is currently collected by solar PV installers, internet providers and auto makers, for example, for a wide variety of purposes. One of the most obvious is to help with remote trouble shooting, which in turn leads to the R&D of software and hardware that avoids those issues.

Tools and Capabilities

1. How are trial-and-error test methods used to improved stove performance and advance stove design (i.e. development by implementation of incremental change and testing)?

2. Is access to performance testing facilities a barrier to development?

A. Most mid-sized and larger manufacturers have their own in-house labs for testing. Increasingly, the definition of a testing facility or testing lab is broadening, as more affordable and handheld equipment comes on the market, enabling anyone to enhance their in-house testing capacity. The third-party labs used for certification have the capacity to handle testing but the time and cost involved is a barrier. If the time and cost involved were less, companies may engage in more R&D and update their stove designs more often. Currently, when a stove model gets certified, it can remain unchanged on the market for 10 or 20 years, or until required by the EPA to test again to meet a new NSPS.

3. What in-house test methods are relied upon to validate and facilitate wood heater development?

4. How much could rapid performance measurement methods shorten R&D test cycles?

5. What specific test methods would be of interest to your enterprise?

A. A variety of test methods and practices are of great interest to AGH, starting with cord wood testing using test methods involving multiple labs, or being used on new stoves after installation in the field.

Stove testing is often considered as exciting as watching paint dry. Here, AGH researcher Gabriel McConnel assists in DOE's Brookhaven lab in advance of a Stove Design Challenge.

6. How are modeling and simulation tools being applied to improve wood heater designs?

7. How could modeling and simulation tools be improved to meet your needs?

8. What are the fundamental modeling gaps to enable broader use of modeling and simulation such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to improve wood heater design?  

9. How are current measurement methods meeting your needs for evaluating performance and emissions from wood heaters? What could be done better?

A. Current methods usually do not evaluate heater performance apart from the narrow conditions under which they were tested. There is much potential in affordable measurement methods. The more complex part is whether manufacturers will have the motivation to use them.

10. What performance/emissions measurements are most challenging to obtain? What makes obtaining these measurements challenging?

11. What are three primary challenges your enterprise faces for advancing stove designs?

A. 1. Funding. AGH could engage in extensive activities to advance stove development and testing with more funding.

2. Lack of a more robust community of academics, non-profits, agencies and private sector companies involved in innovative stove designs and testing.

3. Lack of policy frameworks that focus on decarbonizing residential heating and a lack of incentives for the very cleanest and most efficient heaters.
 

Sincerely,




John Ackerly,

President

Alliance for Green Heat

May 15, 2020: a historic day for wood heat technology

The end of an era for some iconic stove models and the beginning for others

Quadrafire's Mt. Vernon AE is
one of many popular, iconic stove
lines going out of production 

Ten years in the making, modern wood heater emission standards are finally here, today on May 15. Hailed by many and derided by many, May 15 brings to a close a major chapter  in the book of wood heater regulation- though not the last chapter by any means. The EPA, industry and states continue to work on cordwood test methods, parts of the Hearth, Barbecue & Patio Association (HPBA) lawsuit are still outstanding, and public comment will soon be open about a likely proposal for a fall sell-through of Step 1 stoves.

To draw an analogy from biology, today marks a mass extinction of heater models unparalleled since the 1988 – 1990 period when even more heater models died off because they could not meet basic emission standards. The largest genus of stoves to die off back then was the Fisher family of stoves, though they live on in tens if not hundreds of thousands of American homes.  A few that go extinct today are also akin to famous dinosaurs, like the Ashley circulator line of stoves, that appear to lack a 2020 compliant version for wood.  Granted, some of the most iconic stove models quietly slipped out of production years ago, like the Acclaim, Intrepid and Vigilant, which have sold more units than most current models ever will, between their catalytic and non-catalytic versions.

For pellet stoves, May 15 marks the end of the Whitfield era.  Whitfield pellet stoves are still renowned for their simplicity and durability and they lived on via the Montage model made by Lenox and then by IHP.  As of May 16, Jerry Whitfield’s legacy is alive and well in the history books but gone from showroom floors.  The Mt. Vernon AE, another classic and popular pellet stove made by Quadrafire is also gone the way of the dinosaur, (the company continues to build the slightly similar Mt. Vernon E2).

The classic Jotul F 602 endures
with a 2020 compliant version

Then there are stoves like the classic Jotul F 602 that was popular when it was introduced in the 1930s. It’s virtually identical looking modern version is 2020 compliant, and still popular. 

The millions of dedicated, experienced wood stove enthusiasts in the US may be a nostalgic lot, who fondly remember the old models and the days when emissions limits were not as strict.  But May 15, 2020 is also a milestone in stoves becoming cleaner and more efficient, a point that often seems to get lost in the acrimony about the how the EPA is managing the process.  

It’s tempting to say that the 2015 wood stove rules, that culminated today in a 2 to 2.5 gram an hour standard, will give the stove industry a new lease on life, like the 1988 EPA regulations did.  The jury is still out on how much better these stoves are than the ones allowed to emit up to 4.5 grams an hour and some models were likely brought to market too quick, before they were sufficiently field tested.  Instead of touting the new prowess of these cleaners stoves, almost all industry leaders have  been saying there is no appreciable difference between a 2-gram standard and a 4.5 standard.  Part of this is a messaging tactic to oppose stricter standards or possibly they know more about how test labs can produce ever lower emissions data from virtually the same stove.   

The sell-through that kept falling through

The May 15 deadline was a sour one for many retailers and industry members who thought that there would be a sell through.  First, the EPA raised their hopes by proposing a sell-through in 2018, only to reverse course and deny it in March 2020.  The March ruling was a blow to industry morale even though the EPA agreed to publicly tell industry in October 2019 that they should stick to the original

Senator Carper (D-DE) has emerged
as a leading voice for stricter stove
regulations in the Senate

timetable.  Then HPBA rallied again in March 2020, apparently thinking they could get a Direct Final Rule, allowing a sell-through starting on May 16, and everyone’s hopes went back up again.  And, Mandy Gunasekara was back at the EPA, after more than a year absence. But Direct Final Rules are for non-controversial changes that won’t be opposed by any stakeholder.  Senator Carper from Delaware quickly made sure that they EPA knew how contentious a sell-through was.  

It wasn’t until early May that it became clear to HPBA that getting a Direct Final Rule was like threading a needle in a hurricane, even with some high-ranking friends in the Trump Administration.  Then, HPBA seemed to quickly change course, urging industry to ignore the possible sell-through that they had fought so hard to secure.  HPBA unveiled a promising  Stoves to Homes Initiative that would allow retailers to give away their unsold Step 1 stoves to a charity who would then install them in low-income homes.   [Update: At 5:00 PM on May 15, the EPA released the details of a proposed sell-through window in the fall, ending on Nov. 30, and after public comment and an online hearing.]

HPBA worked hard on behalf of its membership on all three branches of government: Congress, the courts and the Administration.  HPBA came extremely close to victory in Congress, passing a far-reaching three year delay Bill in the House, championed by Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) who represents Central Boiler's district.  This was far more than a retailer sell-through and industry could not secure support from key democrats in the Senate when the initiative failed.  Many assumed industry could secure relief from the Trump Administration, as so many other industries have, and the 2018 EPA sell-through proposal was the fruit of those efforts.  Some speculate that the 2018 departure of EPA official Mandy Gunasekara left HPBA without a high-ranking benefactor to shepherd through the sell-through proposal.  It may have been left to lower

As manufacturers tried to
assure their retailers they were or
would be ready for 2020 back in
2017 and 2018 with ads like this,
the EPA saw an industry that did
not need a sell-through

level EPA staff who sided with states and air agencies that the case for a sell-through was weak.  What the EPA may have failed to grasp, was that even through many stoves were certified to 2020 standards in 2016, 2017 and 2018, many manufacturers did not make those models available to retailers until later in 2019, leaving retailers no option but to continue buying Step 1 models until the very last heating season.  

Finally, in the third branch of government, the courts, HPBA’s legal strategy seemed to unravel as it requested extension after extension and as time passed, more and more stoves were certified to the 2020 standards, including the 2.5 gram an hour cordwood standard. HPBA had a strong claim the EPA lacked sufficient data to set a cordwood standard, but then its members began favoring the looser ASTM cordwood standard.  After 5 years of advocacy, industry had little to show to the retailers, many of whom are now angry.  

Fortunately, 2018 and 2019 were mostly good years for much of the manufacturing and retail industry, according to a number of detailed articles in Hearth and Home Magazine.  The wood and pellet heater industry entered 2020 on decent footing, though many manufacturers and retailers increasingly make profits from their gas and electric lines of appliances, not wood and pellet.  Then the coronavirus hit with a broadside slam that appears to be lingering not just through the spring and summer, but potentially could have a major negative impact in the fall of 2020 and well into 2021.  The pellet stove and boiler sector is also particularly susceptible to low oil prices, which simultaneously accompanied Covid-19 in its swath of destruction through the economy.

In addition, the industry’s right-leaning, anti-regulatory tilt has built friends in Congress and the Administration, but not necessarily with the leaders of the renewable energy movement, who seem to be increasingly looking to electrify residential heat. Privately, many HPBA members say they wish the association had not tried to fight the regulations so hard, even though the outdoor boiler and warm air furnace sectors were pushing them to do just that.  If Senator Biden is elected in November, industry would likely do well to try to quickly reposition themselves and be part of coalitions that could stand to benefit from a pro-renewable administration.  Pellet heating technologies should be best positioned to benefit from some form of green new deal and potentially help end the difficult, cyclical boom-bust nature of pellet heater sales.

Certified stoves on May 16

 

A screen shot of the EPA database on
May 15, showing 610 certified stoves.

The number of stoves on the EPA’s list certified room heaters is about to plummet downward, from 610 to 211 stove models.  Hundreds of models that design firms, engineers, lab technicians, production line workers brought to market, will be things of the past.  They represent millions upon millions of stoves that families gathered around in the evening, that kept them warm during power outages, and helped them save enough money for groceries and other essentials.  My grandparents, my parents and my family used many of those stoves, considered to be the best technology of their era.  One of them, a pellet stove made in 2014 and has worked beautifully since then, heats my home as a I write this.

So we put our faith again into the hands of the engineers and lab techs to come up with even better stoves, that will be even cleaner and more efficient. We won’t see the huge PM reduction and efficiency gains that we experienced in 1988- 1990, but chopping lab numbers in half, from 4.5 to 2 or 2.5 grams is no easy feat and should be embraced by all of us.  We should applaud the engineers who do this for us, and especially those who are working not just to achieve these numbers in a lab but who are trying to ensure stoves are cleaner in our living rooms.  

Both wood stoves up for
awards at the HPBA 2020
Expo were automated, a
sign that the stove industry
is movig forward.

Reducing average stove emissions by a gram or two or three per hour from a stove is a major achievement that will protect the lungs of not just those that buy stoves, but their kids, their parents, their grandparents – and their neighbors.  Granted it will take decades for these cleaner and more efficient stoves to be commonplace in homes across America.  After all, there are still millions of uncertified, pre-1988 stoves in homes.  

But we should not forget that the drop to 4.5 grams an hour actually happened more when Washington State changed their standards in 1995, than it did in 2015 when the EPA adopted that change.  Those two decades of sales of cleaner stoves all across America were a blessing that has had long-term ramifications.  Two decades from now, I hope we will be able to look back and appreciate the engineers who designed these cleaner 2020 appliances and gave a new lease on life to this vital renewable energy technology.

HPBA 2020 Expo showcases all new stoves to smaller audience

Jack Goldman, right, opens the 2020
Expo in New Orleans.

Updated, April 9, 2020: The hearth industry’s annual marketplace for manufacturers and retailers concluded on March 14^th, a half a day early in New Orleans amidst a dwindling crowd and growing concern about the spread of Covid-19. This was the first hearth industry gathering since the late 1980s in which virtually all the stoves and boilers on the floor were newly redesigned and tested to meet stricter emission standards.  

Some manufacturers were clearly proud of what they felt were genuinely cleaner stoves while others were unconvinced or cynical of the new standard’s impact in the real world. 

Mark Shmorhun of the DOE's
Biotechnology office
attended the Expo to talk to
manufacturers about R&D
funding needs.

Due to Coronavirus concerns, Travis and Jotul, two large manufacturers, pulled out at the last minute, leading to a notably smaller Expo. U.S. Stove, having dropped their HPBA membership, decided not to attend this year, presumably because their inability to meet the 2020 emission standards on most of their appliances weakened their position in the hearth industry.  US Stove has 18 stove models that are 2020 compliant but no 2020 compliant furnaces yet, an area it had once domoniated.  US Stove responded to this blog, saying they are well positioned to move forward with a broad range of new and exciting products.

From the perspective of the Alliance for Green Heat, the 2020 Expo showcased several notable trends, some encouraging and others troubling.  

Vesta gives Best in Show award to an automated wood stove

Possibly the biggest highlight for AGH was seeing automated stoves take more of a foothold in the marketplace. Napoleon’s Eco Smart wood stove won Best in Show at the Vesta Awards, marking the first time that an automated stove won a Vesta Award.  The stove has an optical sensor that monitors particulate matter and can continually adjust air settings to produce a cleaner burn. According to Napoleon, the automation will only add $300 to the price and they expect the complete system with stove to retail for about $2,500. The stove also connects to the Napoleon cloud via the user's smart phone so they can monitor combustion conditions. The user can also allow the company to log data from the stove, providing a valuable record of how the stove runs. The stove is not yet EPA certified, but should be within months. 

The Charnwood Skye 2700, expected to
retail for about $3,300, several hundred
more than its non-automated cousin.

Charnwood, a British manufacturer, also was a finalist in the Vesta award, with their Skye E2700, also an automated stove that does much of what the Napoleon does, but with different technology.  Charnwood will be entering the US market for the first time later this year with this stove. Hugh Wells, head of the Britsh company told AGH, "We are very excited about this product because it does revolutionise how we burn wood by taking out user error." CFS-Teco did the certication testing in Portland and it achieved 78% efficiency, the highest of any non-cat. 

SBI should also have an automated stove on the market within a year, and MF Fire had their automated Catalyst on display at the Expo and have another one in development.  Maxitrol also exhibited a prototype of an automated stove and says that they are taking off in Germany.  Napoleon also won a second Vesta award for their novel "Heat & Cool Electric Fireplace," a mini-split heat pump housed in an electric fireplace.  

2020 stove trends

The 2020 NSPS has resulted in many more catalytic and hybrid stove models. AGH is particularly

Larry Brockman from the EPA's
voluntary Burn Wise program
talks the MF Fire staff about their
automated stove.

happy to see more hybrid models as they help reduce start-up smoke and provide back-up secondary combustion if the operator does not engage the catalyst. A more unnoticed trend is the rapid adoption of the ASTM E3503 cordwood test method. Data from the EPA list of stoves shows the average grams per hour for cordwood tested stoves is 1.6 grams – the exact same average for crib tested stoves. About 45% of all 2020 certified wood stoves were tested with the ASTM cordwood method, which reportedly has more flexibility in its parameters making it easier for manufacturers to pass the certification test. Nearly all of the smaller non-cat stoves were tested with cordwood. Quite a few very affordable stoves that sell primarily in big box and hardware stores are passing the 2020 standards, and some stoves barely had to undergo any redesign.  

A sophisticated, lower priced electronic precipitator

ESPs for wood stoves, considered
far-fetched just a few years ago, are
improving rapidly and popular in
Germany and Switzerland. 

Danish manufacturer Enervex brought a self-cleaning electronic precipitator, known as an ESP. They are commonly used by factories and restaurants, but now small and affordable enough for residential applications. ESPs are a type of scrubber that uses static electricity to remove particulate matter from exhaust fumes before the particulates exit the smokestack. Enervex’s innovation is to design a residential ESP that is self-cleaning, often a big problem, and to bring the price down. They expect theirs will sell for $1,200- $1,600 when it comes on the US market. There is a quickly growing market for them in Germany, now that they are recognized by the country's eco-label, Blue Swan, and some cities may require them. OekoSolve, a Swiss company, made the ESP being tested in Fairbanks.

HPBA recruits Appalachia Service Project to take 2015 stoves in May

To address the fate of potentially hundreds of wood stoves that are 2015 certified but not allowed to be sold after May 15, 2020, HPBA negotiated with the EPA to allow retailers to donate stoves to a non-profit who can them install them. HPBA is teaming up with the Christian ministry Appalachia Service Project, based in Tennessee, who repairs homes in Central Appalachia, making them warmer,

AGH President John Ackerly with
Adam Bean of the Appalachia
Service Project

safer, and drier. At the Expo, AGH met with Adam Bean, Home Repair Coordinator for the group, who is quickly learning about wood stove installations and trying to estimate how many stoves his group has the capacity to install, which will partly depend on securing donated NFI installing and training.

Pellet stoves out of the limelight

Even though pellet stoves were relatively easy to redesign and test at 2 grams an hour or lower, the market for pellet stoves has not been particularly good and there were not many on the Expo floor. There were no pellet stove finalists in the Vesta Awards, which may indicate a pause in innovation in the North American market.

EPA announces final NSPS rule during Expo

On the first day of the conference, the EPA formally announced that they would not allow a retailer sell-through. The EPA had said on October 15, 2019 that entities should follow the compliance dates but some felt that there was still a chance for a sell-through. HPBA expressed its disappointment in a written statement while the Pellet Fuel Institute claimed a victory because the EPA removed minimum requirements from pellet fuel while retaining the prohibition that pellet fuel must not contain any of the prohibited fuels listed in the 2015 NSPS. There remains considerable debate about whether the 5-year timeline would have been enough if manufacturers had started redesigning and testing to the 2020 standards early in the process. Key excerpts of the EPA ruling provide detailed insight into why the EPA did not allow a sell-through. Some did start early and began offering 2020 compliant models to their retailers as soon as 2018, while most did not start releasing 2020 models until 2019 or even this year.  The issue was far more complicated because manufacturers had large inventories of 2015 stoves and some needed the cooperation of retailers to buy their 2015 inventory well into 2019. An HPBA mailer to retailers in 2019 said: “retailers and distributors should NOT immediately stop buying anything that doesn’t meet Step 2” in part because there wasn’t enough variety and in part because manufacturers still needed revenue from sales of their 2015 inventory.

EPA holds 3-day wood smoke workshop

One of the main reasons AGH attends the annual HPBA Expo is to participate in workshops

The wood smoke workshop brought
scores of experts from across the US
to share new knowledge, tactics and
success stories.

organized by the EPA on wood smoke reduction strategies. This year the workshop was coordinated and supported by EPA's Burn Wise, the Western States Air Resources Council (WESTAR), the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) and National Tribal Air Association (NTAA) and was going to be the largest one ever, with nearly 100 federal, state, local and tribal participants registered.  But some states like Washington banned their employees from travel and many other participants cancelled, leaving a group of about 60. The workshop mainly consisted of a series of talks and powerpoints about change out programs, cord wood test methods, the impact of the NSPS, DOE funding opportunities for stove R&D, retrofits and ESPs, low cost consumer air quality sensors, indoor air quality issues, addressing wood smoke complaints, etc. Most of the powerpoints can be dowloaded here. AGH also hosted a gumbo and etouffee networking reception on Frenchman Street for all the participants. 

The 2021 HPBA Expo is scheduled for March 4-6 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Massachusetts renews innovative stove change-out program

Changing face of wood stoves in America includes a comeback of catalytic stoves 

Massachusetts announced an 8th round of annual funding for its innovative wood stove change out program. The program was the first in the country to develop a change out program that gave higher incentives to fully automated stoves and stoves that provide a verified efficiency on the list of EPA certified stoves.  The program has since been discontinued but may come back again.

The program, updated in April 2019, changes some of the rebate levels and provides consistently higher levels of rebates than most change out programs. It now offers Massachusetts residents between $500 and $3,250 for upgrades, depending on the stove and income level of the family.  To be eligible, households must have an operating, uncertified wood stove to trade in for a new wood or pellet stove.  Rebates can cover 30 - 80% of costs of the new stove and installation.

Governor Charlie Baker said in a statement the change-out program "improves air quality across the commonwealth and helps residents save money by adopting more efficient, cost cutting heating technologies."

The program favors appliances that burn more cleanly in the hands of consumers by offering the highest rebates ($1,750) to pellet and fully automated stoves that have listed efficiencies over 65%. The highest wood stove rebates ($1,250) can be claimed for catalytic (or hybrid) or non-catalytic stoves that emit 2 grams an hour or less and have a listed efficiency of 65% or more on the EPA list. The lowest rebate of $500 covers non-cat stoves that emit between 2 and 3 grams and do not have a listed efficiency. Income-based rebates for low income residents range from $2,000 to $2,750, plus the efficiency adder if the stove has a listed efficiency.

This table is reproduced from the Change-out Program Manual (pdf).

Massachusetts provides a helpful list of rebate amounts for all stoves that emit under 3 grams an hour. There are 596 stoves on the list. As a sign of the changing face of wood stoves in America, 216 or 36% of these stoves have verified efficiencies on the EPA list. Just two years ago, in the spring of 2017, only 87 stoves had listed efficiencies of 65% or higher. 

This shows that in a short span of time, consumers have far more access to efficiency data than in the past. Change out programs like this one help drive consumers to purchase higher efficiency stoves. According to people familiar with the Massachusetts program, most consumers buy stoves with listed efficiencies rather than forgo the $500 - $750 efficiency adder.  New York and Maryland also now include efficiency criteria in statewide stove incentive programs.

In a further sign of changing times, we are seeing a major resurgence of catalytic stoves. Fifty of the 216 stoves with verified efficiencies are cat stoves, compared to 61 that are non-cat. Many manufacturers are now using the term "hybrid" for stoves that have a catalyst and robust non-cat secondary combustion. Given the spotty reputation of catalytic stoves in the 80s and 90s, some manufacturers appear to be using catalysts to pass the 2020 standards but not advertising that the stove has one. In the Massachusetts change out program, hybrids are treated like catalytic stoves and receive the higher rebate.

Pellet stoves comprise the biggest share of stoves with listed efficiencies with 95 models. This high number of pellet stoves is a reflection of the ease of getting pellet stoves re-certified to the 2020 standards, which require efficiency testing and disclosure.

Steve Pike, CEO of the
Massachusetts Clean Energy
Center announced the program at
the Fire Place in Whately MA.

Possibly the most surprising part of the Massachusetts list is that the  6 stove models under 65% efficiency are all pellet stoves. It is vital for consumers to rely on the efficiency figures on the EPA list because most stove manufacturers continue to provide exaggerated or misleading efficiencies on their websites and promotional materials. For example, the Regency Greenfire GC60 made by Sherwood Industries was tested at 60% efficiency, which had to be disclosed on the EPA list.  But the manufacturer's website says "76.6% optimum efficiency."

Massachusetts' program gives its highest stove rebate of $1,250 to "fully automated woodstoves (FAW)" that consumers can "load and leave." A FAW is defined in the program as a "stove that (a) automatically adjust the stove’s airflow and therefore includes no manual airflow controls and (b) has sensors that provide temperature-control capabilities." There are currently four such stoves on the list. Determining which stoves can be designated as fully automated is tricky. Other states and change out programs are interested in this issue as well.   The development of automated wood stoves could eventually reshape how we think about wood stoves, as they transform an age-old technology into a modern, high-tech appliance.

One important characteristic of wood stoves that does not appear on any list of stoves is whether the stove was designed for, and tested with, cordwood. Change out programs may see value in giving an extra rebate to encourage more consumers to use stoves designed to burn with cordwood instead of crib wood.

The 2019 Commonwealth Woodstove Change-Out Program has a budget of $450,000, which adds to the more than $2 million in funding for change-outs since the program began in 2012. The program has helped more than 2,300 residents swap out their non-EPA certified, inefficient stoves for newer, cleaner models. More than 500 of these rebates went to residents earning less than 80 percent of the state median income.

The program is run the by Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) in coordination with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER). Residents must have the new stove installed by a Participating Stove Professional who ensures that the old, uncertified wood stove is destroyed. There are currently 65 stove professionals participating, double the number from 2 years ago. Installers are encouraged, but not required, to be NFI or CSIA accredited.