Stove required for "Wood Stove Design Challenge"

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
The stove itself cleaned up pretty well.

treemont_redone.jpg
 
Dang I'd out that in the farm house!!
 
Score!
 
Hi all,

I have been back in New Zealand for just over 24 hrs and one of the first tasks I want to do is to thank everyone here that helped me along with this project, in particular Mellow who was an enormous help.

Unfortunately the huge Treemont and 8" flue meant I didn't get it dialed in and working right in time but there were some glimpses of the capability of The IntensiFire. On the first official test run they thought the analyser was broken because it was reading zero emissions. This result was backed up on the Tuesday with an even better result, and mostly zero emission run, but I had operated the stove for most of that so it wasn't an official test. Zero means both zero carbon monoxide and zero particulates. I have to do more research on that but this sort of result could mean a different world for biomass fuels.

Also unfortunate is that this project did push me past my limit and now that I am back in New Zealand I have found out that I have, and have since the Friday of the competition, pneumonia. It isn't something I am familiar with so I dragged myself around the US just thinking I had a cold on top of jet lagg. Hopefully I haven't passed that on to those I spoke to at the venue. So I wasn't at my best for those that spoke to me as I was dealing with that plus still trying to tune the Treemont. But regardless of that I still apologise to anyone that I was short with when you spoke to me.

The original result did change and I was later advised the award for affordability was incorrect. The IntensiFire was placed 2nd= for affordability and 3rd for innovation.

Cheers

Jason
 
Congrats Jason!! Hope you stay tuned into hearth.com and join in with our conversations here.
 
Congrats on the placement.

Get well soon . . . treat pneumonia seriously.

Finally . . . don't be a stranger here.
 
Rest and get well soon Jason. I look forward to hearing more about your progress.
 
Greetings Begreen, Jake, Bart and the rest of the Gang,

It has been a while since anyone has posted on this topic but one of the last comments was to keep ya all posted on updates concerning the Intensifire technology and what Jason has been up to. Jason and I have become business partners and are working together on this technology and implementing it into various solid fuel heating products for the North American market. We are working with various manufactures using this Patented technology to help their products comply with the new EPA regulations that are challenging the industry once again. Obadiah's is looking forward to what the future holds concerning this joint venture with "The NZ Firemaster" to bring wood burning into a new level, through the introduction of new product lines that utilize this unique technology in the combustion process. Although I cant get into too many details concerning this technology at this stage, the original Intensifier was designed as a retrofit into existing solid fueled appliances, it does take up considerable room inside the firebox in smaller EPA style stoves, however the pre EPA woodstoves are much larger and this is not really an issue. Retrofitting newer clean burning stoves was never the goal and yes they work well in a barrel stove. Starting from scratch designing a firebox utilizing this technology presents certain challenges, but also opens other doors and opportunity to engineer a more streamlined, less obtrusive Intensifier Combustion System. We have assembled a design and fabrication team and are working in conjunction with our local college to help facilitate the next level of Intensification. Jason also has some interesting folks in Germany at a major university there doing some high tech testing on the combustion process. His daughter is also quite capable in engineering and design, I think we are only scratching the surface here on this technology and what we will be able to accomplish in many areas of Biomass burning, as well as 3rd world cookstove design. As many of you my three main niches are Biomass Boilers, Wood Cookstoves, and Firefighting. Working together with Jason has been one of the best business partnerships for me, as we seem to flow well together and our strengths and weakness's are complimentary. Being in different Hemispheres, Jason always being one day and one step ahead of me, which has been interesting as well. Hopefully the fruit that comes out of the venture will prove beneficial to many folks in terms of respiratory health and the ability to no longer have to split and season their wood. The most impressive part of this technology is that it allows you to burn green damp wood and not have any of the usual issues we have battled with for eons. Unlike the European "Upside Down Combustion Process" as I call it, "Gasification" as many in North America have grown fond of naming it, found in many wood boilers these days. That "Gasification" technology is fussy about what is put in the firebox, however we can burn almost anything that burns, cleanly, including rubber!
As it is now Winter in New Zealand, Jason is in his busy season selling and retrofitting The Intensifire into stoves there and helping folks burn cleaner. Here in Montana we are gearing up for what is looking like a very active Wildfire Season and I am expecting to be dispatched and engaged in battling wildfires in the West very soon. Obadiah's is now the North American representative for Intensifire, feel free to fire off any questions concerning where we are taking this technology.
We are considering another go round in DC next April for the Pellet Stove Competition, we'll see how it plays out. http://forgreenheat.blogspot.co.nz/2015/06/technology-design-challenge-to-promote.html
 
Last edited:
I was glad to hear you guys were working together, I can't wait to see what you come up with as I felt this technology would be a great upgrade for older stoves where people do not wish to give up that Fisher or Timberline (or even a treemont :) ) they have had for the past 30 years but want to burn cleaner.

I wish you guys the best on this endeavor.
 
Thanks for the update Woody. This is great news. I'm also glad to hear that you are working with Jason. That means we'll see this technology in the US too. Any thoughts on importing the Pyroclassic from NZ too?
http://www.pyroclassic.co.nz/

As get more information can you start a new thread on this topic so that it is easier for folks to find? Maybe put NZ Firemaster in the title for easy searching.
 
Thanks for the update Woody. This is great news. I'm also glad to hear that you are working with Jason. That means we'll see this technology in the US too. Any thoughts on importing the Pyroclassic from NZ too?
http://www.pyroclassic.co.nz/

Will do Begreen, I asked Jason for the skinny on the Pyroclassic to see what can be done there, looks like a excellent product, totally! Not sure if we can swing the cost of getting it through EPA and UL listed anytime soon. We have a lot on our plate already just getting the Intensifire to a place where we can make it available in N. America.
We have launched our own line of woodstoves and are also working on our chimney line. Here is our new fireplace cookstove conversion that converts a masonry fireplace into a more efficient unit that you can also cook on.

Our new wood cookstove line should be ready this fall. We have been pretty busy here and I think with the fire season now upon us time is running out as well as the funds are running low.
Last I checked uncle JD Rockefeller has not sent me any "trust fun" checks lately.

I here that your neck of the woods is looking like a Tinder Box and we are also looking like we could be in trouble this summer as well. We are geared up and ready to roll, hopefully Wildfire Season wont turn into another 1910 firestorm from hell. http://amarillo.com/stories/2000/08/23/usn_firestorm.shtml#.VaWnZ9DAbXo
 
Last edited:
Actually Jason is flying out to Montana and will be staying with us until Mid Dec. We are working together on building our new stove line that will incorporate the Intensifire technology. We have the design nailed down and most of the details. Our team has been assembled as well as our facility to build and test the prototypes. Now is where the rubber meets the road so to speak. Looking forward to actually having something that we can actually kick the tires on. Yippi Kai! Will keep you posted as much as I can. Thanks for asking.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.