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Hello Ron.....<br><br> My wife and I have spent the last two years working on a project which is a culmination of 26 years in the residential stove industry. We are close to coming to market with this. We soon will be able to start developing some peripheral accessories such electrical production, and domestic/hydronic hot water. Since the writing of the following article, our performance has increased....emissions dropped, and so has cost. Not enough for the "markets budget" but maybe the "budget" its self is limiting the growth of technology. I think it's going to be a tough call to create a stove which can burn for up to 10 hours without smoke at the current $100.00 I believe is the target price. Maybe fewer but much better built stoves should be looked at.<br> Thanks for your time.....Roger and Bridget Lehet.<br><br> <br><img src="http://threesheetsnw.com/files/avatars/65/Deb-3150e3efc513620b148b1eff71758e893f-avatar1.jpg" alt="" class="ecxavatar ecxuser-65-avatar" height="50" width="50"> by <a href="http://threesheetsnw.com/members/deborahbach/" title="Visit Deborah Bach’s website" rel="external" target="_blank">Deborah Bach</a><br>
<h2 class="ecxposttitle"><a href="http://threesheetsnw.com/blog/archives/14573" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Created in desperation, boat stove becomes business venture" target="_blank">Created in desperation, boat stove becomes business venture</a></h2>
<p class="ecxdate">Jan 12 2011 <em>in <a href="http://threesheetsnw.com/blog/archives/category/news-features/business-of-boating" title="View all posts in Business of Boating" rel="category tag" target="_blank">Business of Boating</a> by <a href="http://threesheetsnw.com/members/deborahbach/" title="Visit Deborah Bach’s website" rel="external" target="_blank">Deborah Bach</a></em></p>
<div class="ecxaddthis_toolbox ecxaddthis_default_style "><a title="View more services" class="ecxaddthis_button_expanded" target="_blank">1</a><a class="ecxatc_s ecxaddthis_button_compact" target="_blank"><span>Share</span></a></div><div id="ecxattachment_14576" class="ecxwp-caption ecxalignright" style="width:310px"><a href="http://threesheetsnw.com/files/2011/01/Rogerheater.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="ecxsize-medium ecxwp-image-14576" src="http://threesheetsnw.com/files/2011/01/Rogerheater-300x225.jpg" alt="" height="225" width="300"></a><p class="ecxwp-caption-text">Roger Lehet with a prototype of the stove he spent about six months developing, which is now being manufactured for sale.</p></div>
A year ago Roger Lehet was in a desperate situation, on the verge of
losing his business while moving onto a boat with his family because
they could no longer afford their house payments.<br>
Today Lehet is filled with renewed hope, believing that the woodstove
he designed and built to warm his boat might also be his ticket to
success.<br>
Lehet says his stove, which is currently being manufactured for sale,
will burn a single presto log for at least 6.5 hours and is more
efficient than anything else currently on the market. The stove will
also burn wood and driftwood, Lehet says, and with simple modifications
can also run on pellets, kerosense, diesel or glycerine.<br>
He’s applied for a patent and says as word of his product has spread, people are showing interest.<br>
“Every day I get phone calls from dealerships and people who want to
be able to stay out on their boats all year, and this is definitely the
key to that,” says Lehet, 45.<br>
<strong>Desperate times</strong><br>
Last winter, business at Fireside Hearth Shoppe, the Vashon Island
store Lehet opened in 1985, was so slow he started opening by
appointment only. He and his wife got rid of their cars and were barely
scraping by.<br>
So when a customer offered Lehet a 30-foot Bayliner Contessa in
exchange for a woodstove, Lehet — who had barely ever driven a boat, let
alone owned one — said yes. His wife was not thrilled about the
arrangement, Lehet says, though her 9-year-old daughter saw it as a
great adventure.<br>
The trio moved aboard in February, anchoring out in Quartermaster
Harbor. The storms came, bringing pelting rain and powerful gusts. Lehet
had to learn quickly about maintaining a boat. One of the first lessons
was that a propane heater is not the optimal choice onboard.<br>
“It just turned the boat into a shower,” Lehet says. “It was just icky, moldy sheets and the whole nine yards.”<br>
He tried a generator-powered electric heater, but it used a lot of
fuel and he worried the noise would annoy the neighbors. He looked for a
stove with a glass door, that could burn all night on a load of fuel
and that he could cook on. It also had to fit inside of a 12-inch wide
cabinet, the only convenient place on the boat to put it.<br>
But Lehet couldn’t find what he wanted, so he set about making it
himself. The back of his boat serving as a workshop, Lehet toiled
through the winter and spring, designing and testing his stove. The
first version got so hot the chimney fell off and hit him in the
forehead. Over the next four iterations he tweaked the stove’s air flow,
gradually lengthening the burn time.<br>
“I was able to extend the burn time much longer on the same load of
fuel,” Lehet says. “The only problem was, it was ugly as hell. Someone
saw it and said, ‘You should get this thing patented and make it
pretty.’”<br>
Lehet didn’t have the money for a patent application, but says a
customer of his offered to pay for it. A grateful Lehet dubbed the stove
“the Kimberly” after the man’s wife, who was also supportive of his
project. He soon partnered with a machinist, who Lehet says is now
manufacturing the first 500 units of the stove at a facility in Orting,
Wash.<br>
The first batch will have stainless exteriors and be priced at
$3,500, and Lehet plans to also offer models with copper, brass and
anodized aluminum exteriors. The stoves have a 316 stainless steel
interior and a chimney that vents from the back to keep the stovetop
free for cooking.<br>
“We cook bacon and eggs on it, hamburgers, steak … it makes the best buttered rum,” Lehet says.<br>
<strong>A new venture</strong><br>
An initial run of 500 units may seem risky, but Lehet says based on the level of interest he’s hearing, he doesn’t think so.<br>
“I think that 500 are going to be gone in probably two months,” he
says. “More and more people have been coming out of the woodwork and
saying, ‘How soon can I get one?’”<br>
Lehet is pursuing certification to ensure his stove meets U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency standards and already has plans for
expansion — adding water coils so the stove can double as a hydronic
heater, developing an oven that will mount on top, making smaller-sized
stoves suitable for backpacking, creating a line of accessories.<br>
Ultimately, he hopes to take over an empty space on Vashon previously
occupied by K2 Skis, which left the island nearly a decade ago and
moved its manufacturing abroad. Lehet, who opened his shop on Vashon at
age 18, wants to help provide jobs for his fellow islanders.<br>
“It’s going to be a very high-quality stove,” he says. “It’s going to
be manufactured here and we’re going to put people to work here.”<br>
<a href="http://www.firesidehearthshoppe.com/home.htm" target="_blank">Fireside Hearth Shoppe</a>
is now back to regular opening hours, and Lehet and his family have
moved back into their house, which he co-owns with his mother. Though
the past year has been a struggle, Lehet also sees it as a blessing.<br>
“I’m very thankful I hit rock bottom. I needed it,” he says. “I’ve
had my fat years and I’d gotten kind of lazy and complacent. To have
everything stripped away — all the toys are gone and you’re going to be
living on a boat because you don’t have a choice — it’s a very humbling
experience.<br>
“Had we never come to the brink of destruction business-wise and
moved onto a boat and gone through these experiences, I never would have
done this.”<br><br><div><hr id="stopSpelling">Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2011 18:14:43 +0000<br>From: rongretlarson@comcast.net<br>To: stoves@lists.bioenergylists.org; xvr.brandao@gmail.com<br>Subject: Re: [Stoves] WorldStove replies to BioFuelWatyche's latest imprecise reporting of facts (rongretlarson@comcast.net)<br><br>
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</style><div style="font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;color:#000000">Xavier and cc stove list:<br> <br> I own a 7 kW (name plate) PV system and have worked peripherally on what you call SHS systems in Sudan, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. I understand very well how easy it is for something to go wrong - generally not with the panels. But with the right sort of company giving service, I believe they can work. But I do applaud your suggested use of PV lanterns - which have become amazingly cheap. Some are capable of cell phone recharge and radio service as well.<br><br> So I am not surprised that you could assemble a set of quotes on SHS problems. Unfortunately, I couldn't make anything work at the google docs site. I look forward to your sending me something directly and/or telling me what I may be doing incorrectly (I have received from this site before.).<br><br> PV is too far from our core stove topics to discuss this much more, but I would like to hear from you on whether you see similar problems for the emerging rural stoves industry? I just saw a nice stand-alone teapot which could generate enough electricity to recharge cell phones. Earlier I have seen several wood stoves that could do the same. Do you have recommendations for this list along these lines? (To my knowledge, no omerta here.)<br><br>Ron<br><hr id="ecxzwchr"><b>From: </b>"Xavier Brandao" <xvr.brandao@gmail.com><br><b>To: </b>stoves@lists.bioenergylists.org<br><b>Sent: </b>Sunday, July 24, 2011 11:43:40 AM<br><b>Subject: </b>Re: [Stoves] WorldStove replies to BioFuelWatyche's latest imprecise reporting of facts (rongretlarson@comcast.net)<br><br>Dear Ron,<br><br>Yes, I am very happy to share this document to anyone, thanks for your<br>interest. There were a few references to internal documents of the<br>foundation, I removed them, the rest is not confidential and can be shared<br>with everyone.<br>I send it to you by email, and also post it on Google documents here :<br>C<br>https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nRXa32OgE0uPuyakSPlpPA0xqmU0hnH59Q7WAIof918/edit?pli=1PIc/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1<br><br>This a bit off-topic, but perhaps a few people on this list have worked with<br>solar in developing countries. The goal of this document was to show there<br>are many questions about the suitability of the Solar Home Systems, also<br>called SHS, to developing countries, especially to rural areas and to the<br>bottom of the pyramid. A SHS is a kit composed of a solar panel + battery +<br>regulator + plugs + bulbs.<br>Many hints showed projects with difficulties around the world. In my<br>opinion, SHS is not an appropriate technology. It is a costly technology,<br>with technical limitations, made in developed countries and to be shipped to<br>developing countries, then to remote regions. A technology which satisfies<br>only certain needs : some light, radio and a small TV. No productive use of<br>the electricity. SHS need maintenance, trained users and qualified<br>technicians. I believe in electrification and solar for the third world, but<br>rather with solar lanterns, or carefully localized solar power plants.<br><br>All the indicators for the foundation projects were red, yet no one would<br>react or question the technology. Amazing. No one at the board would hear<br>that something was wrong. I collected info during months, while carefully<br>trying to start a discussion. The team of business developers tried also,<br>but no critics were allowed. This was NOT open to discussion. I had a few<br>words with the board, questioning the unattainable objectives. I sent a long<br>email to everyone in the foundation, trying to break the omerta and start a<br>public debate. I was fired without warning sometime after :) Up till now,<br>the foundation goes on with SHS. It is not going better for them, actually<br>it is going much worse.<br><br>I am sure the same story happens everyday, and will happen again.<br><br>Xavier<br><br><br><br><<< Message: 3<br>Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2011 00:10:10 +0000 (UTC)<br>From: rongretlarson@comcast.net<br>To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves<br> <stoves@lists.bioenergylists.org><br>Subject: Re: [Stoves] WorldStove replies to BioFuelWatyche's latest<br> imprecise reporting of facts. (Crispin Pemberton-Pigott)<br>Message-ID:<br> <br><1592677650.193756.1311293410736.JavaMail.root@sz0133a.emeryville.ca.mail.co<br>mcast.net><br> <br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br><br><br>Xavier, list etal <br><br>1. Thanks for the added insight - with which I mostly agree. The "mostly"<br>refers to the word "hidden". BFW is very open about wanting to kill all<br>forms of biofuel. Maybe "most" is more accurate - but I haven't seen a<br>bio-gas or bio-liquid they liked. They may have approved of indigenous<br>groups collecting fuel wood for cooking and heating. <br><br>2. As you say - almost (?) every organization has a desire for self<br>preservation. BFW has no reason to be an exception. The problem as BFW<br>relates to Biochar is that they apparently see Biochar only as another<br>biofuel.. Biochar proponents, like most on the Biochar lists generally place<br>energy (or biofuels) last (if at all) among the three obvious potential<br>dollar flows.. The stoves list is more divided - but rarely open<br>hostility/denial towards sequestration or soil benefits, which BFW either<br>ignores or denies.. Jobs, rural economic development, reduced irrigation and<br>fertilizer needs, nutrient retention etc - all have to be put down by BFW-<br>even though they have little place in the world of biofuels. <br><br>3. Our Biochar job is to show that Biochar is inherently different from<br>biofuels (because so many benefits can be retained at the site of converting<br>biomass to Biochar) This assumes that the people willing to pay for<br>sequestration agree that conversion should be done where the biomass is<br>grown and harvested. We in the developed world need the developing world -<br>and there are not many (any?) economic arenas where we can say that. <br><br>Ron <br><br>3. I'd like to see your 15 page list of quotes, if you care to. I promise<br>confidentiality. <br><br>Ron >>><br><br><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>Stoves mailing list<br><br>to Send a Message to the list, use the email address<br>stoves@lists.bioenergylists.org<br><br>to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page<br>http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org<br><br>for more Biomass Cooking Stoves, News and Information see our web site:<br>http://www.bioenergylists.org/<br><br></div></div><br>_______________________________________________
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