Why did Aspen C3 lose EPA certification?

[mycelianhollow]

Hi all,

In doing my taxes this year, I was unpleasantly surprised to find that the Aspen C3 I installed last year (2025) doesn't qualify for the tax credit. Aspen C3s apparently previously were 75% HHV (here's the 2019 EPA test report saying that), but somewhere along the way dropped to 71% HHV, which does not qualify for the tax incentive. I then found certifications (1, 2) from Vermont Castings' parent company that appear to indicate that the Aspen C3 is no longer a "qualified energy property" for that tax incentive as of June 2024. The second linked certificate in particular shows the new date that the tax credit ends (2025, instead of 2032) and the Aspen C3 is no longer listed.

Does anyone know what happened to the Aspen C3? I know there was an issue with them needing to get re-tested and they were unavailable for a while (learned that from other threads on this forum), but I thought that was resolved and their certification was re-confirmed?

Thanks in advance~

 

[wjohn]

Interesting... And unfortunate. I have a copy of the 2019 certification test report from when I installed my C3 and downloaded a bunch of documents, but can't find anything for the newer report. I guess if it didn't pass the certification for the credit there was no reason to publish it.

What is weird to me is that when I search the EPA Wood Stove Database, two records turn up for the C3 - the older one which has the higher HHV and matches my documentation, and what I presume is the more recent one with the lower HHV. However the older/higher HVV one has cert # 196-19a and the newer one has 196-19. I would think the "a" should have been tacked on as a sort of update/revised newer report? So that seems backwards. From looking at those two items, there isn't even a date or anything to differentiate them on the EPA's site other than the "a" designation.

My older manual shows 196-19 as the cert number, with the 75% HHV value, so something weird happened. In the EPA's database that one is showing with the "a" but I am not sure if that is a mistake or what.