This Woodburner Needs No Chimney !

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With such a low gas temperature, natural chimney draft would be neither effective nor desirable. Instead, the Pellefier has a blower that draws combustion air through the heater and expels the meager volume of fumes out a natural gas-rated stack. (A conventional "Class A" woodstove chimney isn't needed.) The Pellefier burns so cleanly, in fact, that Bruce Collins—one of the stove's designers—has run one without a chimney, exhausting it directly into the room. Once Collins Bio-Energy perfects a cyclone filter to remove the few particles that do pass through the system, people in dry climates may actually be able to forgo a chimney altogether. (In damp areas, the moisture generated by the fuel would make the house air too humid.)

The Pellefier is capable of heat outputs between 7,000 and 30,000 Btu per hour, a range suitable to the majority of homes. Its fuel-feed rate is automatically controlled to maintain an air-temperature thermostat setting, and the 65 pounds of fuel in the bin will last from 24 to 48 hours-depending on the heat output.

At this point, pellet fuel is available in many parts of the U.S., but Collins Bio-Energy sees the market expanding dramatically. Pellets can be made from corncobs, peat, paper, coal, and agricultural waste—as well as the more conventional forest products. Pelletization offers the potential to burn a wide variety of biomass that otherwise would become waste; furthermore, the Pellefier burns such fuels so cleanly that it's preferable, on the basis of emissions alone, to just about any other current combustion technology.

EDITOR'S NOTE: To find out more about the Pellefier and where your nearest dealer is located, write to: Collins Bio-Energy Co., 11426 Gravelly Lake Dr. S. W, Tacoma, WA 98499.

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