Econoburn Press Releases
New "Made in America" wood gasification boiler now available for residential and commercial customers.
Dunkirk, NY (PRWEB) October 23, 2006 -- A complete line of Econoburn™ wood gasification boilers designed to meet the heating and hot water needs of both residential and commercial customers has been unveiled by Dunkirk, NY-headquartered Alternative Fuel Boilers, LLC.
“As heating costs continue to rise, the demand for wood gasification boilers continues to grow,” said company president William Raines. “Wood is a renewable resource and the gasification process is both environmentally friendly and energy efficient. Those benefits are very attractive to the many home and business owners considering the use of wood as fuel for heating or hot water”
traditional wood furnaces, Raines noted, lose a significant amount of heat up the chimney which also results in the release of air polluting greenhouse gases. The gasification process, he explained, captures then reignites flue gases in the combustion chamber resulting in a heating efficiency nearing 90 percent. And with virtually no exhaust gases, the high-tech boilers help ease the burden on the environment.
Econoburn™ units range in size from 150,000 to 1 million BTUs for use as either a primary heat source or to supplement one that already exists. The boilers are adaptable to both hot water and forced air heating systems, and the company offers accessory products for swimming pools and hot tubs along with heat exchanger fans for industrial buildings.
The company, www.alternativefuelboilers.com, offers pre-purchase consultations for customers on appropriate boiler sizing, systems integration, accessory applications and any other specialized design criteria. Alternative Fuels’ toll-free telephone number, 866-818-5162, is available to customers seeking detailed product information.
Raines said the Econoburn™ brand offers several benefits to customers considering a wood gasification boiler:
-Heavy gauge, ¾” thick steel plate construction, primarily double-welded for
strength, durability and temperature and corrosion resistance.
-A custom designed, high-technology refractory and large water jacket for
increased hot water volume and output.
-High-quality “Made in America” manufacturing by Alternative Fuel Boilers’
corporate parent, Dunkirk Metal Products, Inc., an ISO 9001-2000 certified metal
fabricating company with 50 years of industry experience.
“Dunkirk Metal Products has been a successful metal products manufacturer since 1946. The design and production of these boilers reflects the depth of our experience and breadth of our capabilities,” Raines said. “We look forward to having many, many satisfied Econoburn™ customers in the months and years ahead.”
Abraszek
Named Sales Manager for Econoburn Boilers
2/5/2007 - Henry Abraszek of Bemus Point has been named
sales manager for Econoburn wood gasification boilers by
Alternative Fuel Boilers, LLC.
The Dunkirk-headquartered company produces its trademark, high-efficiency
boilers for use in homes and businesses as a primary or supplemental source of
heat or hot water.
"Hank brings to our organization an outstanding
background that includes 26 years of construction sales and project management
experience," said company principal William L. Raines.
...
Abraszek, an interior firefighter and vice president of
the Bemus Point Fire Department, has completed numerous
advanced education and training programs in construction technology, heating,
ventilating and air conditioning and residential, commercial and industrial
wiring.
An experienced estimator, he has worked with architects,
general contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and commercial property and
individual home owners to prepare budgets for construction projects of all
sizes.
"I look forward to further accelerating the rapid increase in the number of
installations of the entirely American-made Econoburn boiler,"
Abraszek said of his new responsibilities. "This
is a high quality product that is very friendly to the environment and that can
help individuals and businesses achieve substantial savings on their energy
costs. It is low-maintenance and uses a plentiful and renewable fuel."
Abraszek explained that heating with a conventional wood
furnace results in a large amount of combustible gas being released up the
chimney flue. The gasification process used in Econoburn boilers captures,
extracts and mixes those gases with super heated air and delivers them back into
the combustion chamber to be burned. The benefits, he
said, include a heating energy efficiency level approaching 90 percent and the
burning of gases that would otherwise be discharged into the atmosphere.
Dunkirk, NY (PRWEB) May 3, 2007 -- It has been less than a year since
Alternative Fuel Boilers, LLC first announced the introduction of its Econoburn™
boilers, but the wood gasification furnaces have already caught fire with three
more HVAC dealers.
"We shipped our first unit just last January and since that time our network of
dealers has grown to nearly a dozen throughout the country," said company
president William L. Raines. "There is a very substantial consumer demand for a
high-efficiency, environmentally friendly wood boiler that is 'Made in
America.'"
Raines announced that Alternative
Heating Solutions of Herkimer, NY, Buck's Boilers & Stoves of Vanessa,
Ontario, and Everygreen Boilers & Stoves of Old Orchard Beach, Maine recently
joined the firm's dealer network.
He said customers are attracted to the Econoburn® product because it uses
gasification technology to capture then reignite flue gases resulting in a
heating efficiency nearing 90 percent. With virtually no exhaust gases, the
high-tech boilers help ease the burden on the environment and eliminate the
typical creosote build-up that occurs in the chimneys of traditional wood
furnaces and stoves.
Econoburn's custom designed, high-technology refractory maintains its heat for
extended periods of time, and its large water jacket provides a high volume and
output of hot water.
The boilers are adaptable to both hot water and forced air heating systems, and
the company offers accessory products for swimming pools and hot tubs along with
heat exchanger fans for industrial buildings.
To meet the demand of the growing dealer network, Raines said the company
expects to have nearly 100 boilers in production at all times. Econoburn™ offers
typical residential units ranging in size of 100,000-300,000 BTUs up to
industrial facility boilers with 1 million BTUs of output.
Dealer and customer support provides pre-purchase consultations on appropriate
boiler sizing, systems integration, accessory applications and any other
specialized design criteria through Alternative Fuels' website,
www.alternativefuelboilers.com, or its toll-free telephone number:
866-818-5162.
Alternative Fuel Boilers' corporate parent, Dunkirk Metal Products, Inc., is an
ISO 9001-2000 certified metal fabricating company with 50 years of industry
experience and the Econoburn™ has received ASME certification.
"We look forward to accelerated expansion of our dealer network as demand
continues to grow for the quality and capabilities we've built into the
Econoburn boiler system," Raines said.
William Raines encourages his employees to share ideas. That's why, when some began talking about the possibility of fabricating wood-burning boilers at his 5,000 -square-foot facility in Brocton, he listened. Raines handed the reins to plant manager Dale Furman and lead engineer John Fitzgerald, both with experience in this arena.
"They were the ones who knew how to get things done," said Raines, adding the boilers are hardly oversized Franklin Stoves. His products, which carry the Econoburn name, employ a gasification process, the same used when igniting burning coal at energy plants in Tonawanda, Dunkirk and Somerset. The low-pressure wood burning boilers are used as a supplementary source of heat or hot water for homes or small manufacturing facilities such as his own.
The boilers can be installed as the main furnace or integrated into an existing hot water or forced-air system. Wood is fed into a fire-breathing compartment at the top of the unit. Inside, gases are captured, extracted and mixed with super heated air and delivered back to the combustion chamber and burned.
"Eight hours after all the wood is burned, you could drop another piece in, and it would instantly ignite," said Raines, who sells the units through a newly formed network of 12 dealers nationwide.
Early beginnings: In 1994, Raines bought Dunkirk Metal Products, a metal stamping company on Deer Street in Dunkirk. He serviced various industries, including furniture and automotive. With increasing costs of heating oil and natural gas, he further explored the wood-boiler concept. The idea allowed the company to re-invent itself, and in 2006 a new wholly owned subsidiary, Alternative Fuel Boilers LLC, was born.
Number of employees: Raines has 40 on staff, nearly three dozen more than when he purchased Dunkirk Metal Products in 1994.
Expanding business, expanding workspace: In 1999, the company leased 5,000 square feet in a facility in nearby Brocton. Today, the company is finalizing acquisition of the entire 27,000-square-foot-facility.
The extra room is necessary, Raines said, to house his burgeoning Alternative Fuel Boilers business. All the boilers are manufactured at the Brocton site.
To transmit large files between the company's Dunkirk engineering operations and the Brocton Plant, fiber optic service is scheduled to be installed. The Dunkirk Local Development Corp. and County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency each provided $5,000 in the form of deferred loans to help fund the $29,000 fiber optic infrastructure installation project.
Leadership: Raines is president and the lone company principal. He previously owned Nuttall Equipment Co., which he sold in 1992. He is a graduate of North Tonawanda High School and the University at Buffalo, and attended Hanover College and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Korean War veteran who, for the last 25 years, has made tennis part of his daily routine. He and his wife. Marlene, enjoy traveling the country in their motor home.
How the company leverages the Internet: "This is a new experience for me," said Raines, who used a local public relations firm and a Canadian-based design firm to develop his Web site, www.alternativefuelboilers.com. Primarily, it's an educational site where wood boilers and alternative heating solutions are explained. It's comprehensive and well thought out, and provides color schematics of how the company's boilers work. It also provides criteria and answers questions for prospective dealers.
What's on the horizon: Raines encourages the kind of creative thinking which launched the boiler business. A patent is pending on garage storage system designed by Vice President of Sales Arnold McHone, that folds down from the ceiling to hold power tools. "Products like these," said Raines, "will allow us to approach big-box retailers."
Lesson learned: Since Dunkirk Metal Products owner William Raines was open-minded, he listened to employee suggestions. As a result, a new business unit, Alternative Fuel Boilers LLC, was formed. The first Boiler was shipped in January.
"We're interfacing more with people and designing other products," said Raines, whose fabricators cracked the door open to a new opportunity that resulted in the formation of the boiler business. The next innovation is a tool storage product devised by another employee.
Given the company's facilities, employees and their commitment, Alternative Fuel Boilers is an example of maximizing the expertise and strength of a staff.
Alternative Fuel boilers LLC
795 Deer St.
PO Box 281
Dunkirk, NY 14048
Phone: (716) 336-4726
Web site:
http://www.alternativefuelboilers.com
Dunkirk, NY (PRWEB) December 6, 2007 -- Mark Odell has been named vice president at Alternative Fuel Boilers LLC, the Chautauqua County-based manufacturer of Econoburn™ wood gasification boilers.
For the past seven years, Odell has worked at ECR International, the third largest heating and cooling equipment manufacturer in the United States. He was most recently corporate sales engineer with responsibility for manufacturer representative management.
"Mark brings a wealth of experience to our rapidly growing wood gasification boiler business," said Dunkirk Metal Products president William Raines. Alternative Fuel Boilers is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Dunkirk metal fabricating company. "His knowledge of the industry will advance the development of our dealer network across the country and into Canada."
Raines noted that since the first boiler shipped in January of this year, over 70 of the high energy efficient, low-emission Econoburn™ boilers have been sent to customers from the company's Brocton, NY plant.
"We have shipped boilers as far west as Alaska, as far east as Maine and as far south as Alabama," Raines said. "One of the first boilers was shipped to a very remote area of Washington State and one right after that went into the heart of New York City.
"The demand for fuel cost savings combined with clean-energy, gasification technology is widespread and growing."
Odell holds a B.A. in Business Economics from the State University of New York at Fredonia and has served on the college's Phi Kappa Sigma alumni council.
A Brocton resident, Odell serves on the advisory board of the American Cancer Society and currently co-chairs the Child I.D. Program of the Chautauqua District Masonic Councils.
Econoburn™ offers typical residential units ranging in size of 100,000-300,000 BTUs up to industrial facility boilers with 1 million BTUs of output.
Dealer and customer support provides pre-purchase consultations on appropriate boiler sizing, systems integration, accessory applications and any other specialized design criteria through Alternative Fuels' website, www.alternativefuelboilers.com, or its toll-free telephone number: 866-818-5162.
Alternative Fuel Boilers' corporate parent, Dunkirk Metal Products, Inc., is an ISO 9001-2000 certified metal fabricating company with 60 years of industry experience.
Sales of the energy-efficient, carbon nuetral Econoburn™ wood gasification boilers have grown steadily since Dunkirk, NY-headquartered Alternative Fuel Boilers, LLC shipped its first unit early last year, and new marketing initiatives are expected to rapidly expand the company's sales volume in 2008.
Dunkirk, NY (PRWEB) March 16, 2008 -- Sales of the energy efficient, carbon neutral Econoburn™ wood gasification boilers have grown steadily since Dunkirk, NY-headquartered Alternative Fuel Boilers, LLC shipped the first unit early last year, and new marketing initiatives are expected to rapidly expand the company's sales volume in 2008.
The gasification technology used in the Econoburn™ boilers captures then reignites flue gases in the combustion chamber resulting in a heating efficiency nearing 90 percent. With virtually no smoke and extremely low emissions, the high-tech boilers help ease the burden on the environment.
Econoburn™ models include residential units ranging in size of 100,000-300,000 BTUs up to industrial facility boilers with 1 million BTUs of output for use either as a primary heat source or to supplement an existing system.
The boilers are adaptable to both hot water and forced air heating systems, and the company offers accessory products for swimming pools and hot tubs along with heat exchanger fans for industrial buildings.
Building on a successful first year of marketing the Econoburn™ direct to consumers via the internet, the company is implementing an aggressive, three-part promotional plan. The plan includes trade show participation, development of a dealership network and new costumer financing program.
Going Green Expos
The completely "Made in the U.S.A." Econoburn™ boiler was "very well received" during its trade show debut at the Going Green Expo in Boston last month, said company president William Raines.
"There is a great deal of enthusiasm in the market for the Econoburn," Raines said. "People like that it is manufactured in the United States, that it is extremely energy efficient and that its gasification technology results in air emissions well below EPA standards."
More Going Green Expos are on the docket including those scheduled for Burlington, VT in May, Portland, ME in July and Manchester, NH in November.
The Going Green Expos, according to the trade show's website www.goinggreenexpos.com, allow visitors to "learn more about green building, renewable energy...and conscientious consumerism."
Alternative Fuel Boilers vice president Mark Odell said Going Green Expo visitors, like the estimated 15,000 who attended the Boston event, represent "a perfect demographic for the Econoburn boiler. These are people who appreciate the 'carbon neutral' benefits of burning wood using gasification technology."
He explained that because trees absorb carbon in order to grow, wood energy produced in a gasification boiler that captures and re-combusts flue gases does not contribute to global warming.
"Wood burned in an Econoburn boiler releases no more carbon dioxide than would be released naturally in the forest were the tree to die and rot," he noted. "That is not as certain in the case of non-gasification conventional outdoor wood boilers that, due to less efficient combustion, allow significant energy and higher levels of pollutants to simply go up the flue."
Emerging Dealerships
Odell joined Alternative Fuel Boilers last fall and brought to the company seven years of experience in manufacturer representative management at ECR International, the third largest heating and cooling equipment manufacturer in the United States.
His assignment is to build the company's network of stocking distributors and installers.
Odell is concentrating his initial efforts on the nineteen states in the Northeast, Middle Atlantic, Great Lakes and Eastern Midwest regions of the country where an estimated 95 percent of some 155,000 conventional outdoor wood boilers (OWBs) have been sold since 1990.
"The demand for fuel cost savings combined with clean-energy, wood burning gasification technology is widespread and growing," Odell said about targeting those areas of the country where most of the conventional OWBs have been sold. "The people who have OWBs are already committed to burning wood. Whether as a result of the obsolescence of their existing units or the imposition of increasingly strict air emission regulations, many people will be seeking to upgrade to the cleaner burning units.
"We are offering a select number of distributors and dealer-installers to be in the forefront of the wood gasification boiler market."
Odell said dealer-installers will go through a rigorous evaluation process before they are deemed qualified to represent Econoburn™. He said they will need to demonstrate the financial capacity necessary to carry an inventory of boilers in order to ensure on-time delivery to customers.
Econoburn™ dealer-installers will also have to show they can meet the company's high standards for installation and service.
"Our company's core philosophy is founded in on-time delivery and quality of product and service," Odell said. "We'll do our part for our dealers, and we'll make sure they do their part for our mutual customers."
Energy Loans
To help the company's on-line and dealer customers, Alternative Fuel Boilers has partnered with AFC First Financial Corporation's EnergyLoan program to offer up to 100 percent financing with fixed rate monthly payment plans when the purchase an Econoburn™ boiler.
In many cases, Odell explained, the cost to purchase and install a new boiler is more than what many people want to put on a credit card, but not enough to justify a home equity loan.
"The EnergyLoan program provides convenient, unsecured financing for the
purchase and installation of a new Econoburn boiler," Odell said. "It's an
option we can offer to our direct-purchase customers and one that our dealers
can offer to their customers as well."
To promote the program, Alternative Fuel Boilers is, for a limited time,
offering to pay the registration fee for its dealers who sign-up to use the
program.
Odell noted that dealers must meet certain standards set by the lender in order to participate. They must have been in business at least 3 years and have a net worth of at least $50,000 with a satisfactory credit history. They must also have satisfactory Better Business Bureau and trade and customer ratings as well as a reputation for a high level of service and workmanship.
"I would expect that our high standards in selecting dealers would likely make them well-qualified to participate in the EnergyLoan program," Odell said.
Dealer and customer support provides pre-purchase consultations on appropriate boiler sizing, systems integration, accessory applications and any other specialized design criteria through Alternative Fuels' website, www.alternativefuelboilers.com, or its toll-free telephone number: 866-818-5162.
Alternative Fuel Boilers' corporate parent, Dunkirk Metal Products, Inc., is an ISO 9001-2000 certified metal fabricating company with 60 years of industry experience.