New 2020 Government Testing Regulations

K, Saw info on "another" site. I will admit, I have not kept up on the "new' upcoming regulations/recommendations, for about 1.5-2 years. Used the links,read some of them, I think reducing particulate matter and other emissions is a good thing, but seems to me the testing procedures are about like testing the fuel mileage of a one ton truck, falling down a mine shaft. I will leave 1 link,about the "new" P43c Harman stove. Will stop here,and discussions should be interesting. Also,more info can be had at the Gov website, and on Harmans website. https://downloads.hearthnhome.com/c...ort Summaries/Harman/P43-c Website Report.pdf

 

I wish they had also included a picture of the Max setting they used for confirming that they did what they said they did.

I find it interesting that Max temp set was 90* (7) but their Medium temp setting was a little over 55* (2). I would have that the Medium would be closer to 65-70* (3 or 4).

Also found it interesting that less fuel was used for the Medium, but it also coincides with the input heat and output heat numbers, so I'm not calling it incorrect.

If they truly used 1.33 for the feed dial then I don't want to hear anymore from people when I use "renegade mode" . But seriously, why would they not set the feed rate at 3 or 4, where Harman states is the best place?

The 3rd paragraph under the Testing Procedure confuses me as they state

The manufacturer’s instructions specified leaving the fan on the maximum dial setting (fixed stop) throughout the run, and operating the preburn and high burn segments at maximum heat dial setting (fixed stop), the medium burn segment at heat dial setting 6 of 14 (see photo in table 4), and the low burn segment at the minimum heat dial setting (fixed stop). These settings were used for the test run, as specified.​

But the pictures of the Medium burn settings along with the numbers on the tables don't coincide with the statement.

 

Yep,you caught the discrepancies.When the manufacturer proscribes the settings to be used for the test procedure, all bets are off.Harmans stoves are not the most "earth friendly" but less maintenance,easier to clean.People do not realize the cheaper pellet stoves(the people that purchase the pellet stoves from farm stores and hardware stores) generally require higher maintenance,and cleaning,and most of them run them until they no longer work,By doing that,they have created so much pollution,the numbers would be almost be incalculable.People that purchase higher end stoves tend to take care/service them properly.Cheap stove buyers,not gonna happen.they purchase a unit,install it,and have the mindset that it is perfect,and will be that way until they no longer need it.Woops,sorry for the rant,but I have not seen this very common issue brought up,for quite some while.

 

I was the resident technician for a round of EPA fact checking tests some years back at the Brookhaven National Labs testing campus on Long Island. What I found interesting was this: 1, no one can argue that the folks (okay let's call them scientists) who are there running the testing equipment know their stuff and know how to conduct a test properly...but the problem is this...nobody in the room knows anything about how to use the stove. That's why I was there. It doesn't surprise me one bit that a rep from the said company being tested wouldn't be on hand to "pad the system" in favor of the stove. When I was testing, nobody in the room knew how to operate any of the stoves...and they do this all day long every day.