I'll probably move this to the wiki history section, but I wanted to tell a short story of long ago!
Back in 1986 I had the pleasure of meeting a true stove genius...maybe one of the very few that ever existed. Sure, there have been lots of stove designers, stove engineers and stove experts - but, really, how many stove geniuses have there been?
I met said genius through a certain stove company we bought products from - a very small company, but the man had recently left a BIG stove company where he had worked on some of their products...
This was right when the EPA and Oregon and other clean air regs were coming into play, so most manufacturers simply closed up shop. Others worked long and hard (and spent a lot!) to try and come up with stoves that were going to meet the numbers. But this dude didn't have to work hard. He thought hard. He developed a program on his computer (a mac, in this case) which simulated all the variables of combustion. This may seem like nothing special to those who work with such systems today, but this was the late 1980's and computing power was nowhere near what it is today.
So, how smart was he? Well, here is an example - you decide!
The small company needed some quick sales in order to get their cash flow going. They already had a small line of two models, but those were sold through dealers....and they didn't want to sell those to big box stores or mass merchants. But SEARS wanted a stove which could pass the EPA tests and be very reasonable in price. My buddy designed such a stove OVER ONE WEEKEND IN HIS GARAGE, and sure enough it worked. He sold a bunch to Sears, but they didn't do much with them so he made it into a smaller model in the existing line.
The same stove, with small changes, has been sold since that day...under various names and brands...right up until today, and remains a best seller!
He went on to design EPA stoves as an independent contractor for many of the stove companies in the biz.....of course, he's not allowed to kiss and tell, so you will never know! But suffice it to say one guy is responsible for more stoves than you could imagine.
OK, who is going to guess the man and the stove(s)?
Back in 1986 I had the pleasure of meeting a true stove genius...maybe one of the very few that ever existed. Sure, there have been lots of stove designers, stove engineers and stove experts - but, really, how many stove geniuses have there been?
I met said genius through a certain stove company we bought products from - a very small company, but the man had recently left a BIG stove company where he had worked on some of their products...
This was right when the EPA and Oregon and other clean air regs were coming into play, so most manufacturers simply closed up shop. Others worked long and hard (and spent a lot!) to try and come up with stoves that were going to meet the numbers. But this dude didn't have to work hard. He thought hard. He developed a program on his computer (a mac, in this case) which simulated all the variables of combustion. This may seem like nothing special to those who work with such systems today, but this was the late 1980's and computing power was nowhere near what it is today.
So, how smart was he? Well, here is an example - you decide!
The small company needed some quick sales in order to get their cash flow going. They already had a small line of two models, but those were sold through dealers....and they didn't want to sell those to big box stores or mass merchants. But SEARS wanted a stove which could pass the EPA tests and be very reasonable in price. My buddy designed such a stove OVER ONE WEEKEND IN HIS GARAGE, and sure enough it worked. He sold a bunch to Sears, but they didn't do much with them so he made it into a smaller model in the existing line.
The same stove, with small changes, has been sold since that day...under various names and brands...right up until today, and remains a best seller!
He went on to design EPA stoves as an independent contractor for many of the stove companies in the biz.....of course, he's not allowed to kiss and tell, so you will never know! But suffice it to say one guy is responsible for more stoves than you could imagine.
OK, who is going to guess the man and the stove(s)?
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![[Hearth.com] The short story of a stove genius!](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/119/119737-c430f04146625175abc1cc8334707cfe.jpg?hash=G7PpFnxTi2 "[Hearth.com] The short story of a stove genius!")
![[Hearth.com] The short story of a stove genius!](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/119/119739-80cbd22c50ee94281e0018b45c282ea3.jpg?hash=IOoGSUsbd6 "[Hearth.com] The short story of a stove genius!")
