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Jeannie Herpolsheimer
Jeannie Herpolsheimer co founded, with husband Dan, Essential Energy Supply, Inc, DBA Warming Trend in 1980. She is certified wood burning specialist by National Fireplace Institute. Jeannie has also judged several Vesta competitions and The Hearth Patio and Barbeque Association’s annual trade competition. Her business goals are to provide high efficient and or outstanding quality fireplace and barbeque products. She is backed up with knowledgeable staff and expert installation. Warming Trends has two locations at 3101 N. Rock Rd. #130 in Wichita, (316) 636-9677 and at 121 W. Main in Mulvane, (316) 777-1515.
House & Home
2006-09-01 16:04:00
Advantages of fireplaces and stoves
Different people have different criteria about how they expect their hearth product, i.e. fireplace to perform. Mainly it boils down to five categories:
Back up heat source: if the power goes out heat can be supplied by wood burning and gas stoves, inserts and fireplaces. Electric, pellet or corn products would require either a generator or a battery back up.
Heating capacity: wood burning, pellet, gas, or corn stoves, inserts and fireplaces can be sized or set up to heat one room or an entire home. Electric hearth products are designed to heat up to 250 square feet, (a room about 18 ft. x 14 ft.)
Cleanliness: Electric and gas have no by products to clean up. Pellet fuel has very little ash, a typical 40 pound bag leaves roughly a half cup of ash. Wood burnt in a high efficiency stove, insert or fireplace requires you to clean up the incoming bark mess as well as removing roughly one gallon of ash from burning hard woods, every 168 hours of operation. Corn is the dirtiest fuel of all. It should be cleaned before burning. Care must be taken when storing corn so one does not create a rodent problem. With corn, the stove requires cleaning the sugars left behind as well as the residue.
Maintenance: Electric systems require changing the light bulb and oiling the motor.
Wood requires the chimney be cleaned when 1/8” of creosote builds up. If there is a catalytic combustor it will need to be cleaned annually for folks who use the stove, fireplace or insert daily and less often for evening and or weekend users. Pellet stove, insert and fireplace maintenance varies depending on the fuel purchased. A low ash pellet will require the heat exchanger and exhaust blower to be cleaned after about 1 ton of fuel, motors should be serviced annually, and vents should be cleaned as needed. Corn generally requires daily cleaning of the burn pot. It has been found that the vent system can become clogged in as little as one month, others not nearly that often.
Renewable fuel: wood, pellet and corn fuel are considered renewable. Pellets are made from wood, cardboard and even textile waste. Electric and gas are provided through utility entitles.
 
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