ReplyVermont castings closed a plant a few towns away from me...they made fireplace inserts at that one
Regular Guest
Have there been casualties among fireplace manufacturers during the current recession?
Who has closed their doors, who might be shaky and who looks to be a survivor?
Any new companies, and if so do they have special qualities to encourage their survival?
Professional Member
Vermont castings closed a plant a few towns away from me...they made fireplace inserts at that one
Professional Member
Yes, Monessen, in Paris, KY bought them in July 2008
AOP Committee/Professional Member*
industry in sad condition
Depends on how far you want to go back. Lot's of mfr.s going under or being bought out only to die in their second life.
Most recent I guess is DESA, who had just bought out FMI. Monessen, who blew all their cash on buying Majestic/ Vt. Castings along with some capital improvements, is hanging on by a thread. They also bought out Martin, which had died. They tried resusitating Martin twice so I'm not sure if Martin is alive this week or not. Kinda like a cat with 9 lives.
Last summer, Hearth & Home Technologies bought Harman Stove for 27.5 million in CASH. They have cut waaaaaay back on personel, network and locations but the parent company, HNI corp. has no debt to speak of and is very stable.
Lennox, who bought Superior & Temco, is in trouble, not only because of their hearth division but their HVAC was hurting. We'll see if the stimulus saves them. They did change the name of their Fps to Lennox but they are the same Superior boxes and mfg.
RSF came out with their clean burning Rumford fireplace which rocked the industry. Sales will be slow until there are more bans around the country on burning wood. Calif, Wash, Oregon, and Co seem to be leading the way on burn bans with Long Is. banning outdoor wood fired boilers in Suffolk Co.
This new NSPS from the EPA coupled with the ICC trying to outlaw standing pilots threaten to kill the entire hearth industry. If they get their way, these eco-nazis will put tens of thousands out of work for nothing while denying homeowners a basic freedom they've had since this country was founded. Make no mistake, we're in the gunsights of the Left and they want us skinned out and hanging on their walls as trophys. All this right when the hearth industry is poised to offer homegrown alternatives to buying oil for heat.
As homeowners get desperate for heat, they will resort to haphazard installations, modifications and uses which will result in a large rise on unfriendly fires and deaths just as we saw in the 1970s-80s. A grim forecast
Hearthman
Keep the fire inside the fireplace.
Regular Guest
This new NSPS from the EPA coupled with the ICC trying to outlaw standing pilots threaten to kill the entire hearth industry. If they get their way, these eco-nazis will put tens of thousands out of work for nothing while denying homeowners a basic freedom they've had since this country was founded. Make no mistake, we're in the gunsights of the Left and they want us skinned out and hanging on their walls as trophys. All this right when the hearth industry is poised to offer homegrown alternatives to buying oil for heat.
As homeowners get desperate for heat, they will resort to haphazard installations, modifications and uses which will result in a large rise on unfriendly fires and deaths just as we saw in the 1970s-80s. A grim forecast
Hearthman
Tell us more, Hearthman, I'm not familiar with this.
Why do you see this as a big issue? Frankly, I'm partial to intermittent pilot systems as the best way of igniting a gas flame, and hot surface ignition systems are good too.
AOP Committee/Professional Member*
Death of the hearth industry?
The NSPS means the EPA wants to set much lower acceptable levels for solid fuel emissions. These new proposed levels are so low, it will be virtually impossible to meet or will make the stoves economically unfeasible. We are already close to the design limits. If you try to exceed 83% AFUE, you must extract the latent heat in the water vapor, which means a secondary heat exchanger. However, the condensate will be combustible liquid phase creosote. Nobody has figured out what to do with this spitoon of tobacco juice-looking mess. The higher efficiences coincide with pushing the emissions cleaner. No way to keep efficiency below 83% while burning pure.
The ICC is trying to outlaw all standing pilots. They already succeeded with pool heaters. The hearth industry is small change and thus an easy target. IF this goes through, ventfree is done. The only gas logs will be those with IPI, DSI, or HSI somehow. This is going to put a lot of people out of business: mfrs., wholesalers, distributors, retailers and service techs.
This is just one step for these eco-nazis. The EPA is exploding with new regs. and interpretations of existing regs. For instance, they are using the Clean Water Act to restrict air emissions. They have shutdown a lot of coal mines and killed offshore oil drilling while other countries drill a few miles away in international waters. They don't care about the few jobs that will be lost by all this regulation. Just more fascist Marxism at work.
You can check out the Gov't Affairs section at www.hpba.org
HTH,
Hearthman
Keep the fire inside the fireplace.
New Guest
Hearthman, I have read a lot of your posts. I need advice. Martin 3EDV model, natural gas, direct vent shutting off after getting hot. Has wall switch to light gas. Martin Industries out of business. How do I go about replacing the unit?
Two fireplace stores dont do their own installs and only want to up sell me.
Professional Member*
These guys make a nice product.....
https://napoleonfireplaces.com/produ...as-fireplaces/
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