Alternatives exist for home heat

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September 14, 2008

By DAN HEATH The Press Republican Sun Sep 14, 2008, 05:15 AM EDT

PLATTSBURGH -- High fuel prices have North Country residents scrambling for alternative heat sources for the upcoming winter.

Adirondack Hardware in Keeseville carries outdoor wood furnaces, pellet stoves and direct vent monitor heaters. Adirondack Hardware President Roger Long said the U.S. Department of Energy is predicting petroleum-based heating costs to increase by 45 percent this winter.

The company has been in the energy business for about 12 years. It even has its own energy expo each year.

Long said the company has carried Central Boiler outdoor wood furnaces for 4 years.

They're selling so fast," he said. "We get them in, and they're gone."

Several municipalities in the region have enacted measures limiting or banning the use of the devices. Long said he agrees they don't belong inside a village, but should be allowed in rural areas as long as the user follows the manufacturer's guidelines and local regulations.

That includes things like proper location and height of smokestacks and use of appropriate fuels.

All of the Central Boiler models offered at Adirondack Hardware meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.

One model, the E-Classic, meets tougher standards that take effect in 2010. It has an extra chamber that burns the excess gas and smoke, so only a heat wave is emitted.

Long said wood is carbon neutral, giving off the same quantity of carbon dioxide whether it is decaying in the woods or burned for heat. It is also a renewable resource, unlike petroleum products.

His son, Adirondack Hardware Purchaser Robert T. Long, said many politicians are talking about the need to reduce the dependence on foreign oil.

"This is a way to do it," he said.

He displayed a Model 6048, which can replace use of up to 500 gallons of fuel oil a month, enough to heat two homes, depending on size. The smaller Model 5036 can replace up to 250 gallons of fuel oil a month, Long said.

"It's suited for most homes in the North Country," he said.

The outdoor wood furnaces can work with forced-air systems, water baseboard systems and even radiant heat systems.

Long said its important to use dry wood. Green, wet wood produces excess smoke, one of the main concerns of outdoor wood furnace opponents.

Long said a larger unit was sold to the Town of Jay Highway Department. That allowed them to spend only $94 on fuel oil last year, as they used wood to replace 1,500 gallons of fuel oil.

Adirondack Hardware also carries Enviro pellet stoves and two lines of high-efficiency monitor heaters.

In Plattsburgh, Hulbert Brothers salesman Lance Hulbert said the company switched its fuel-oil boiler to a propane gas unit last year.

"We saved $10,000 last year, with fuel oil at $3.50 a gallon," he said.

That's a good alternative for people who don't want to put in the extra work of chopping wood, Hulbert said. He recommends using a 500- or 1,000-gallon tank. Companies usually offer lower prices for larger orders, he said.

A new propane boiler usually works at 98 or 99 percent efficiency, Hulbert said, while fuel oil boilers usually operate at about 83 to 85 percent efficiency.

One big seller for Hulbert Brothers has been BioBricks, brick-shaped blocks of compressed wood.

"It's like a big pellet you can burn in your wood stove," Hulbert said. "They're going out faster than we can bring them in."

Hulbert Brothers Heating Specialist Larry LaValley said each brick burns about the same as three sticks of wood. The bricks are twice the density of cordwood.

An information sheet indicates a 48-cubic-foot pallet of BioBrick delivers the same amount of heat as a cord of hardwood (with 21 percent moisture content). That means more heat into the home rather than up the chimney in the form of steam.

LaValley said the company also sells pellet stoves, but has been having trouble keeping any in stock, as they sell as fast as they come in.

Hulbert Brothers has seen extraordinary sales for this time of year, LaValley said, almost all on alternative-energy units. He said they've sold one oil boiler since June.

Hulbert said it's important to pay attention to the efficiency rating of equipment, as some stoves are as low as 50 percent. People also need to learn how to properly cure their wood. Many beginners will chop and place it right in the stove, which can lead to increased creosote buildup and eventually set a home on fire.

The company offers wood gasification units, which feature a second chamber to ensure gases produced as fuel burns are captured for combustion. LaValley said a lower-end wood boiler operates around 50 percent efficiency. The wood gasification units operate at almost 90 percent efficiency, he said.

"The one we have here is actually Energy Star rated," LaValley said.

It will burn less than half the wood of other units, Hulbert said.

Hulbert Brothers also offers coal boilers, which have been a big seller in the southern tier of New York, closer to the Pennsylvania border. LaValley said the units at Hulbert Brothers burn hard (anthracite) coal, not soft (bituminous) coal.

"They are high efficiency. Coal burns cheaper than wood," LaValley said.

The company also sells coal it orders from Pennsylvania, which it stocks in 50-pound bags.

Hulbert Brothers also has a line of solar water heaters that use vacuum tube technology that allows them to produce hot water 365 days a year. They can produce 40 to 50 percent of a household's hot water in winter, and 100 percent in summer.

"That's as clean as you can get, right there," LaValley said.

At Greg Boulrice Plumbing and Heating in Altona, owner Greg Boulrice started selling EdenPURE infrared heaters this summer.

With models starting at $397 and stable electricity prices, they are a good supplement to your regular heating system, he said. Boulrice said the feedback he's received shows they cost about $1.50 a day to operate.

"One person told me they put two in their house, and their oil furnace never ran. They said their electric bill went up about $85 a month," Boulrice said.

That would only cover about 20 gallons of fuel oil, he said, so a person would recoup their investment in about two months.

They use the same amount of electricity as a coffee maker, he said.

"These are good for people on fixed incomes who can't afford fuel. They're going to be great for spring and fall, when temperatures are about 40 degrees," Boulrice said.

They can heat up to about 1,000 square feet, depending on the shape and weatherization measures of the home. He said the furnace will still come on in winter, but not as often.

They run on 120-volt electrical systems. They are safer than space heaters, with the exterior remaining cool to the touch.

Infrared quartz heating tubes are used to heat copper plates, which retain the heat longer than many other materials. An enclosed fan then forces the heat out into the room.

Models run from basic, functional-looking units to one that looks like a fireplace, including light-created flickering flames.

Boulrice said with high heating-oil prices, he's seeing wood piles in many more yards than usual. He said people who burned wood in the oil crisis in the 1970s are dragging their wood stoves back out, and urged them to make sure their chimney is in proper working order after years of sitting unused.

Boulrice also offers a variety of wood- and oil-burning furnaces. He said sales of oil burning furnaces has been terrible.

"Everyone is looking for alternatives," Boulrice said.

dheath@pressrepublican.com