Split, Stack, Cover, Store: Four Simple Steps to Drying Firewood

Wet Wood is a Waste

Going Green

The season has started, and we are full of new products for the homeowner.

First, let's start with the "GreenSmart" remote.  Having an on/off thermostat for your wood or pellet stove is not necessarily new, but having a remote that anticipates temperature settings and automatically raises and lowers the flame height, adjusts the blower and back lighting, and can turn off one of the burners to offer a 70% turn-down ratio.  Our gas fireplaces and inserts cannot be beat.  They are heavier with more reinforced steel, eliminating all banging.  We have the greatest number of face plates to match your decor.  And, just as important, are units out heat the competition.  We heat homes, not just rooms

For wood stoves, "GreenStart" has emerged onto the scene.  Load your wood stove, press a button, and walk away.  Your stove is lit.  How cool is that?

But there is more.  Travis has been releasing  their new line of "Hybrid" stoves, non-cat stoves with catalytic assist, bringing emissions down to a record 0.45%.  The better the emissions the better the heat transfer, using less wood with less work.  I think we would all like that.

Pellets anyone?  I hope so, and once again we have a winner with the new AGP pellet stove or insert.  Yes, these stoves will burn All Grades of Pellets.  Independent feed rate and convection controls, very quiet, holds up to 80 lbs, and a breeze to clean and service.  This stove is a winner.

Cold Fireplace, maybe?

The other day, I went to preview a cold fireplace. It was a Monesson Vent Free unit installed as a bump out. This particular fireplace I later discovered, was installed in a Barness home, about 15 years old. When I entered the room, there were cushions, blankets, and two children chairs backed up the the fireplace. I pulled everything away to view the unit, and was shocked to discover how cold the marble surround was, unbearably cold. Colder than the window panes. Immediately, I knew why. All development builders cut corners whenever they can, and this home was no exception. No insulation in the bump out. Cold air was pouring into the home, all because they do not have to insulate. Shame on them.

Travis Fireplaces - A Smarter and Greener Choice For Custom Builders

We had a pretty good year last year, very good considering the economy. One of the reasons is our product knowledge, and another is our line of products from Travis Industries, maker of Lopi, Avalon, Xtrordinair, and the Tempest Torch. However, it is their gas fireplaces and inserts that are capturing the ever smarter consumer. Some of you have recognized this shift while others of you are just watching those customers pass you by.

You promote yourself as being a custom builder, more capable, knowledgeable, and now more “Greener” than your competition. But in this rapidly changing field, it is ever more difficult to keep up with so much change. Yet, your potential client is looking for just that builder. Like you, we too have trouble keeping up; however we do know about fireplaces.

If you are still recommending Heatilator, Heat-N-Glo, Lennox, or some other cheap builder firebox, shame on you. If your customer wanted cheap, they would certainly not have hired you. They expect excellence from you, in your workmanship and your choice of materials and products. Believe me, there is not one homeowner that does not regret their lack of attention to, or oversight of their choice in choosing a fireplace if they are the proud owner of a builder’s firebox. “Oh, well”, they say. But I say, “Shame on you.”

I have given up being tactful when customers come in and inquire about one of the “builder” units. I tell them that they are not their customer. Toll Brothers, Ryan Home Builders, W.B Homes, etc. are the intended buyers. And the only thing important to them is the price. When more than 55% of your business is to the large builder, quality has to take a beating. You cannot have price and quality in the same unit.

Additionally, our units can heat houses, not just rooms. In my own house, a W.B. Home, I installed one of my fireplaces and chose not to install a gas furnace. I also insulated and dry walled the chase, a requirement in my industry, but rarely found in building codes. This one unit heats my entire 3000 sq. ft home.

Direct Vent Fireplace Not Heating Your House

We often get customers in our store who will state that their Direct Vent fireplace doesn’t heat and has cold coming in around the unit.

Before they go any further, I probably know their situation. They probably live in a development built by a large builder. Result, they have a builder’s grade decorative unit that is not intended to heat. Their fireplace is “Decorative”. Even worse, however, is that the bump out, where the unit is often situated, is not even insulated let alone dry-walled to seal up the chase. Depending on the pressure of the house relative to the outside pressure, cold air is leaking in, or heated air is leaking out.

Today, most track homes are built with either a builder’s grade pre-fab wood fireplace, or a builder’s grade Direct Vent gas fireplace. They look decent, and are easy for the builder to have installed by a sub-contractor. What you are not getting, however, is a quality product and a unit that heats.

The fireplace is one of the least understood amenities of a home. Realtors, consider the fireplace as the focal point of a room, or even the house, and builders are eager to oblige. But an open fireplace is extremely wasteful allowing heated air to escape up the chimney f24 hours a day. Using the fireplace is even worse. A good fire can pull 600 to 800 cfms of household air out of the house, more than can be replaced through cracks around our windows and doors leading to depressurization of the household. When this situation happens, the homeowners often smells creosote if burning wood, but nothing if they are using gas logs. Yet, the situation still exists.

In a depressurized house, your furnace will not work properly spilling toxic fumes into the area.

$300 TAX CREDIT IS BACK!

January 10, 2013

Great news! The recently passed American Taxpayer Relief Act includes a bill that extends the tax credit towards biomass (translate: wood and pellet) burning appliances.

This means you are eligible for a 10% tax credit of up to $300 on qualifying wood and pellet stoves.

ALL TRAVIS WOOD AND PELLET MODELS QUALIFY!

You can apply for the tax credit on any qualifying purchase made from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2013.

Please be aware that this tax credit is an extension of the previous Residential Energy Credit bills that date back to 2008. There is a lifetime limit of $500 on this credit.