Thanks to stee for posting!
Full disclosure: I recently partnered up with a former co-worker to do what might be referred to as "two lazy but curious guys trying to stay busy". Formerly we were both employed by a pellet boiler installer in Maine that had large growth objectives. Neither of us were that committed to or enthusiastic about the product we were charged with installing, but we respect the company and its goals. We've been working with Windhager for about six months, and are pretty happy not just with the boiler itself but the system it is part of. Personally, I've been heating 95% exclusively with wood I cut, stack and burn, in a 1990 stove that I refurbished, for the last three and a half years. If the house were mine, I'd have done any number of modifications to the heating system already, but the stove is it thus far. I turn on the oil boiler twice a week to shower and wash dishes, year round. My area of expertise is logistics, not hydronics. I was a Hearth member before being introduced to the pellet industry.
Now, I really appreciate stee's evaluation of the program. I didn't read the requirements so closely that I picked up on the PE stamp for storage. It is a bit strong (okay, ridiculous) but let's look at it this way: the state of Massachusetts needs to show that they're doing something to decrease the dependence on fossil fuel, despite what is probably a lobby against alternative fuels by oil, natural gas and electricity industries. One can pick on the benefit to "qualified installers", but let's face it, the groups that are dead set against alternatives are head, shoulders - down to the ankles - more powerful than the alternative lobbies. All those oil service companies alone are looking at a dying industry that they've invested in and profited from for decades. Do you really believe an installer (who has the lowest margins, regardless of fuel) has much say in the requirements? Believe me, he or she would like a reasonable set of criteria under which to sell a product, not bring in an engineer to approve the methane contents of the air after lunch while they're working. Those requirements are not dictated by the pellet lobby, which probably doesn't exist, but by those who would rather not see pellets (or any other renewable) get established UNTIL they can control it. The real profits in the heating industry are in fuel supply, followed by service.
I don't know from New Hampshire, but Maine is a good deal less burdened with the sort of politics going on in Mass for its rebate program. Requirements and inspections have not been particularly rigorous or frequent under the rebate/grant program. The residential pellet industry is sort of a cottage affair at this point. And because of the low stakes involved, I doubt it will show up on too many radar screens to make it more burdensome. (Fingers crossed, knock on wood) It strikes a good balance IMHO because it will do some good, but not cost a fortune in public money, and be less likely to cause terrific abuse. Mass on the other hand, is a big target for any large company that is selling: lots of well-off people concentrated in a small area. Of course oil and gas interests will choose to have a battle there, there is a lot to lose. They are stalling the progress until they can justify the expense of retraining, retooling and getting rid of their old stock.
So, all you DIY'ers that feel you're being slighted by the program(s) that states are trying to run to get people to get off oil should reevaluate the problem. Stop and think about who you'd be pissing off by jumping through the hoops to get such a system installed in the near future: the concerned person who sees all the negatives of heating with oil, gas and electricity produced by one of those fuels and goes out on a limb to get certified in solid fuels, studies the requirements, makes the mistakes, OR the industries that would rather not see the oil/gas cash cows slip outside their grasp?
I was involved in the process for well over 100 installs and probably 1000 service calls in my previous employment. I CLAIM to be an idiot where hydronics are concerned. That said, in 75% of the basements we were in, the sophistication of most systems installed before 2000 was primitive. Yes, it can cost $22K to get a new system installed. But if it was installed by people who learned what they were doing in the 1960's and used equipment available in the 1990's, why would you expect miracles? Using modern stuff seems expensive, but when has it not? And if the payback is less than ten years and is better for the environment and the local economy, and you can service it yourself for the most part, what are you focused on? Pay the local installer, who has kids in your school district, rather than some conglomerate that wants you to be discouraged from buying an alternative product and sends its profits to an off-shore account.
Regards, all. .
