Read this before you buy a wood boiler in Wisconsin
The Econoburn is available with the H stamp, or ASME certification.
Just got this in from our Econoburn rep:
“I just got off the phone with Rick Merkle, Boiler Chief for the State of Wisconsin. He did verify that any pressurized boiler, regardless of installation location (indoor or outdoor), needs to have the {H}-Stamp and a National Board number.”
In case you’re not familiar with it, the H stamp he’s referring to is the mark indicating ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) certification. ASME certification is the gold standard for safety in pressurized boilers.
Econoburn is one of only two (as far as we know) gasification boilers available that are ASME certified. If you are currently running one that’s not, be warned: boilers not bearing the H stamp (presently including all foreign-built wood gasification boilers) can and will be shut down by the State of Wisconsin.
If you’d like to see an Econoburn boiler in person, please call us at 715-218-1373 and we’ll be happy to set up a viewing.
Tags: ASME, Econoburn, H stamp, Wisconsin, wood boiler, wood gasification, Wood heat
Home Performance Consultant Discusses Gas Range Safety
Did you know that code allows gas ranges to vent right into your kitchen and emit more parts per million of carbon monoxide than a water heater which vents into your chimney?
Just because it’s legal doesn’t make it safe. Here, Dan tells you what happens when you cook with a gas oven or cook top and how to do it safely.
Tags: carbon monoxide, CO, cooking with gas, energy audit, gas appliance safety, gas oven, gas range, Home performance, home rater, kitchen safety, Wausau
Solar Roofing or Traditional Solar Panels – Which Should You Choose?
Snow can present a major problem for owners of solar roofs in northern climates.
Don’t get me wrong. We’re not anti-PV. Quite the contrary. We install PV as well as solar thermal systems. On a personal note, we lived completely off-grid and used two small PV systems to supply electricity for our home and an outbuilding for three years before moving to the Wausau area. It was a wonderful experience in many ways and we plan to install PV in some capacity on our new home once we’ve gotten that far in the renovation process.
Visit Performance Energy, Inc.
Tags: installing solar, photovoltaics, PV, solar, solar installation, solar panels, solar roof, solar roofing, Wisconsin
EconoBurn Boiler on display in Wausau
Our first EconoBurn wood boiler unit is now on display at 1699 Schofield Ave. Suite 304 in Schofield, Wisconsin. It is solid. I just learned today that it is the only pressurized wood boiler to meet code requirements. All the outdoor wood boilers are open vessel, which means they rust out fast. A pressure vessel has no air and always the same water so there is no internal rust.
To view the boiler, please call me at 715-218-8654 for available times.
Dan Michelsen
Tags: outdoor wood boiler, outdoor wood boilers, Renewable Wood, Wausau, wood boiler, wood gasification, Wood heat
Thanks to Wausau Daily Herald for Publishing our Solar Water Heating Article
A big, belated Thank You to the Wausau Daily Herald for inviting us to submit an article as part of their series on energy efficiency this month. Our article on Solar Water Heating appeared in the Wausau paper last Friday, Sept. 18. It contains a short history of solar hot water, a brief explanation of how a solar thermal system works, and an explanation that solar water heating is the most efficient form of solar energy.
Econoburn: A clean-burning alternative to outdoor wood boilers
The Econoburn wood boiler boasts an impressive 87% total thermal efficiency.
When you live in Wisconsin, one of the most abundant sources of renewable energy around is wood! Trees are everywhere. Even if you don’t have a wood lot of your own, you can most likely beg, borrow or buy inexpensive wood fuel from a friend or neighbor.
Trouble is, “renewable energy” doesn’t always mean “clean energy.” There’s been a big bruhaha in recent months about outdoor wood boilers. Seems that the neighbors of outdoor wood boiler owners don’t appreciate the fact that said owners are saving money. Rather, for some reason the neighbors are upset by the great clouds of noxious black smoke that regularly engulf their homes and yards whenever the aforementioned outdoor wood furnaces are fired up.
Imagine.
Seriously, I’m being a little snide here, but smoke from outdoor wood boilers really is a big problem in rural neighborhoods. According to the State of Washington Department of Ecology:
(T)ests done by the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) found that the average fine particle emissions (a particularly harmful pollutant) from one OWB are equivalent to the emissions from 22 EPA certified wood stoves, 205 oil furnaces, or as many as 8,000 natural gas furnaces. One OWB can emit as much fine particle matter as four heavy duty diesel trucks on a grams per hour basis.
Yuck.
And think about it – if outdoor wood boilers burn that dirty, surely their owners must be spending twice the amount of time they really need splitting and shoveling wood.
A clean-burning wood boiler alternative
In the interests of upholding wood as a viable renewable energy source, we decided to look for a cleaner-burning alternative to outdoor wood boilers. And we found one we think is a real winner.
We’d like to introduce the Econoburn wood gasification boiler to Central and Northern Wisconsin. It’s got a lot of endearing features, which we’ll highlight in future posts. But for now I’ll start off by mentioning that Econoburn wood boilers get an amazing 87% total efficiency – approaching the efficiency of a natural gas boiler.
Now that’s making clean energy out of a renewable resource!
Visit our website to find out more.
Tags: Econoburn, heating with wood, high efficiency wood boiler, wood boiler, wood boilers, wood fired boiler, wood gasification, wood gasification boiler, wood gasification boilers, Wood heat
Solar + new energy products & services = new company name
Same company, new name.
To reflect our expansion into home performance services, we’re changing our name to Performance Energy, Inc.! (We think you’ll find it easier to say, too!)
We’ve got a lot of exciting stuff in the works – stay tuned for new product announcements as well as energy-efficient living tips and renewable energy information.
Tags: energy audit, energy auditor, home performance test, home performance testing, insulation, Marathon Renweable Energy, Performance Energy, renewable energy contractor, solar contractor, solar installer
Marathon Renewable Energy Meets The Samuels Group
Marathon Renewable Energy, Inc. would like to thank the Samuels group for their invitation to present to their staff. Dan spoke with about a dozen employees of the Wausau architecture and construction firm today about the benefits of solar thermal heating.
The Samuels Group has made a corporate decision to become a front runner in the LEED/Green movement. In light of this goal, Dan’s presentation was received with interest.
We look forward to partnering with them on future projects.
Visit The Samuels Group’s website at www.samuelsgroup.net.
