Heating with Wood - the Econoburn Gasification Boiler

4/18/09: To put it mildly, the Econoburn Gasification Boiler isn't exactly your grandmother's potbellied stove. This big blue box proposes an old-fashioned alternative to today's fossil fuel heating systems by burning wood in an especially efficient way. I spoke with Peter Watson (the younger) and Peter Watson (the elder) at their booth in the 2009 Vermont Home and Garden Show about their boiler, business, and the environment.

The boiler operates via wood gasification, which sounds complicated but is deceptively simple. The burner starts out fueled by regular cord wood. When the wood burns, air is heated by being forced through the burning wood. The heated air and smoke goes into a smaller chamber beneath the main furnace, where it is quickly injected with another stream of even hotter air. The mixture burns both the air and any soot, getting the most possible energy out of the fuel. As the younger Watson explained, “it's a way to use locally abundant renewable resources that is essentially carbon neutral. What you're producing is CO2 and steam, which is exactly what we produce!” Insulated by hot air, the boiler reduces energy loss, and has recently passed Canadian safety benchmarks, allowing for international expansion by the Dunkirk, NY-based company.

Watson said that business had been good, but that people had been a little off-put by the idea of having to chop their own wood. “The thing we always hear is 'I don't have time,' but we need to make time. We should be willing to exert a little extra energy to live a little lighter.” Like many of the other exhibitors I interviewed at the show, Watson credited rising fuel prices for increased interest in alternative energy. However, he mentioned his frustration with the difficulty in developing alternatives. “One of the things that's been troubling me is how long it takes technology to mature because of bureaucracy.” The technology is out there, but often gets bogged down by politics, he said. For example, “'things can't happen because George [Bush] is here.' It turns things into political choices,” instead of practical ones.

However, Watson questioned the current rush to exploit alternative fuel sources. “People talk about future need- maybe we should cap it where we are.” Instead of working to support a greater number of people living the energy-intensive lives of those in especially prosperous areas, why not aim for a sustainable level of consumption? “If we capped it, tried to manage in there, [it] would be a great test.”

Econoburn Gasification Boilers are made just over the border in Dunkirk, NY by Alternative Fuel Boilers LLC and Dunkirk Metal Products, Inc. You can learn more about Econoburn at www.alternativefuelboilers.com