Interesting tidbit of pellet stove history

[Mt Ski Bum]

Was just reading around on the website of my local stove store- reading the 4th paragraph, it says that the first "pellet stove", a simple hopper created as an add-on to an existing woodstove, was created by a guy in Bozeman, Mt- only 40 miles from where I live! I guess I never knew that pellet stove technology had its roots in SW Montana- or anywhere in Montana! http://www.bares.com/history.html

 

[smwilliamson]

It didn't. The Collins Hopper was an invention and a kit sold with all of the parts to convert a wood stove to a pellet burning stove. This was around 1984. Whitfield was already making pellet stoves for 3 years. The first patented pellet stove dates back to 1979, though there was even stoves further back than that but were gravity fed systems.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Yw...&resnum=6&ved=0CDkQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=collins hopper&f=false

 

[Delta-T]

I even got to meet the legend, Mr. Whitfield at the Heat the NE shindig (sorry Scott, was hoping to get to hear you speak, but I was there Thurs, and not Fri) and he's still sharp as ever with a great accent.

 

[Don2222]

Hello

Here is some more info from Popular Science. As Scott said, they show the Whitfield and the Collins Hopper which were both available.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Yw...t&resnum=3&ved=0CGAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Pellet stoves and Collins Hopper&f=true

I enlarged and enhanced the pic of the Collins hopper with my software to see it better in 2nd pic below:

 

[Mt Ski Bum]

Hello

Here is some more info from Popular Science. As Scott said, they show the Whitfield and the Collins Hopper which were both available.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Yw...t&resnum=3&ved=0CGAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Pellet stoves and Collins Hopper&f=true

The Collins hopper better in 2nd pic below:

just reading through that old Popular Science issue, it's amazing how far we've come in technology (wood-burning related or not) in the past 25 or so years... the next article after the one on wood burning was about satellite tv- with giant 10-ft wide, 92-lb dishes. Now if you want satellite tv, all you need is a small wall-mounted dish that is only a couple feet wide at most & weighs less than 10 lbs...

 

[Stentor]

The other interesting change since the first stoves a few decades ago is in design and appearance. Now there a lot of functional stoves that will work fine in the right upstairs area, such as a living room or family room.

 

[smwilliamson]

You should check out the old Dovetec stoves. The look more like a console 8_track player than an stove. About 7 feet wide with large round grills.

 

[Delta-T]

Looks like it gets AM AND FM.....very nice. I can smell the ozone coming off the vac tubes from here.

 

[Don2222]

Hello

From
http://www.pelletstovefires.com/whitfield-pellet-stove.html

The Whitfield Pellet Stove, one of the market leaders, was first produced by Dr. Jerry Whitfield, one of the originators of the pellet stove.
A former Boeing engineer, he founded a company called Pyro Industries inc. in 1983 to market his stoves.

Lennox Hearth Products, The current manufacturers of the Whitfield pellet stove and a division of Lennox Industries, was formed in 1996 and took over Pyro Industries in 1998.

Apart from the Whitfield, Lennox Hearth Products also manufacture pellet stoves under the names

Country Collection, which used to be Country Stoves, acquired by Lennox Hearth products in 2006.

 

[Malibusurfer]

I have an old Collins Hopper converted to a woodstove that I am restoring back to working order Will have pics soon.

 

[tlc1976]

just reading through that old Popular Science issue, it's amazing how far we've come in technology (wood-burning related or not) in the past 25 or so years... the next article after the one on wood burning was about satellite tv- with giant 10-ft wide, 92-lb dishes. Now if you want satellite tv, all you need is a small wall-mounted dish that is only a couple feet wide at most & weighs less than 10 lbs...

I still use a 10 ft satellite dish for my primary TV, as well as a manual wood burner and a landline.

 

[Malibusurfer]

I'm old school too ( except for the dish ). Built my own woodstove insert, drive old cars, and have landline too

 

[pip3398]

You should check out the old Dovetec stoves. The look more like a console 8_track player than an stove. About 7 feet wide with large round grills.

My father was a rep for Dovetec Stoves. I remember them quite well. Lots of other old ones too. Ever hear of a Volcanic Glo, Martin FS III or Fabco? My father rep all of these in the 80's.

Fabco's were natural draft and had a battery for the auger motor. Had to have a pipe all the way up.