UL Approved Grandma
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There are lots of things that go into it past just testing for clearances to combustibles. But that is a big one. And no stoves can be sold now that don't pass 2020 emissions regulations. UL approval is pretty easy compared to emissions testing.
A test stove and about $30,000. Then EPA Certification.
The stove needs to be built like the Series III with shields. No welded corners, basically built like the UL Listed box. Testing includes things such as radius corners, sharp edges, temperature of controls during seriously overfired conditions... And of course they give you the clearance to combustibles required and floor protection requirements. Testing also is approval as built and tested. So to compete, the stove would need a 6 inch outlet and be approved as such. It would need that to make secondary combustion work anyway. The manual becomes part of the listing, as well as each illustration in it. There are revisions to approvals changing anything in manual. It is quite complex. You supply a stove for testing, not worth much when you get it back.
There was such a thing as a hobby stove builder that allowed a limited number produced. I don’t know what became of that since EPA emissions got involved or if there are any exemptions for that type of builder.
Of course you can always put a baffle in a Fisher stove and increase efficiency while decreasing emissions. Definitely not an EPA stove but a big improvement.
The problem besides legality is most people want the performance gains that modern stoves offer. And for those that don't there are plenty of used ones to be had cheaper than you could build a new one.
There was one entrepreneur in VT that was "rebuilding" Vermont Elm stoves and upgrading them for lower emissions. He had sourced new parts and could effectively build a new stove and represent it as a "rebuild". His website is still online but I think he is no longer actively rebuilding them. I expect someone could do the same with old Fishers and expect some do it on a small basis. Note some jurisdictions prevent used stoves not meeting current standards from being installed so this backdoor method would not work in those jurisdictions.
The reality is its hard to compete with low end "Home Depot" off shore sourced EPA compliant stoves. The margin between the cost of new stove and what you can sell a rebuilt stove is just not high enough when someone can a new EPA stove out of the box for less.
The reality is its hard to compete with low end "Home Depot" off shore sourced EPA compliant stoves. The margin between the cost of new stove and what you can sell a rebuilt stove is just not high enough when someone can a new EPA stove out of the box for less.
Many of them are either us or canadian made. There are pretty much only 3 companies selling those stoves. New england stove works from the us. Sbi from Canada. And us stove works which ironically is asian imports
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