Photos: 2015© Amiee Stubbs Photography. www.amieestubbs.com

After a spectacular 2014 sales year in the hearth industry, the HPBExpo was the frosting on that cake, or the flame on that log; it took place from March 4 - 7 in Nashville, Tennessee. There were smiles everywhere as the show ended, and even the predictable curmudgeons were hard pressed to find anything to gripe about.

What a difference a year makes! Show attendance jumped 58 percent, from 5,131 in 2014 to 8,116 in Nashville. In almost every attendance category this show was the best since ’08 in Atlanta. Non-exhibitor attendees were up 83 percent; buying entities were up 46 percent, and retail companies attending were up 57 percent.

Exhibiting companies were up 19 percent with total indoor booths jumping 26 percent over the 2014 show. First-time exhibitors were up 30 percent; there were over 100 of them.

Only the number of outdoor booths was off, down 13 percent. That may have been blind luck, for record-breaking snow and cold weather set in during the first few days. The cold and stormy weather throughout the East and Upper Midwest that has fueled hearth sales took a small toll on show attendance; more than a few industry members were not able to get flights to Nashville.

On opening day, Thursday, there was snow and freezing rain in Nashville, with a temperature of eight degrees F, which set a record. That left the outdoor-burn area almost lifeless, except for outdoor exhibitors happy to put their hearth products to good use, and it certainly slowed attendance at Thursday evening’s Big Green Egg Chef Cook-Off Competition. On Friday and Saturday, warm weather returned to Tennessee, providing outdoor burn exhibitors with all the traffic they needed.

The Nashville location was instrumental in the success of the Expo. Its central U.S. location brought dealers and distributors from both coasts – for a change. Nashville proved a great location with many attractions, restaurants and night life, good hotels near the show hall, and an outdoor-burn area right at the entrance to the excellent, new Music City Center convention hall.

Exhibitors were universally happy with the show, with the number of buyers and their serious interest in products on display. After an incredible sales year in 2014, the pipelines and warehouses were empty and cash registers were full.

“This was a fantastic show,” said Glenn Thomson, executive vice president of Sales and Marketing for Innovative Hearth Products. “We were slammed the first day, and customers were very optimistic.”

“We had a very good show,” said Cheryl Predy, Marketing manager for Pacific Energy Fireplace Products. “We tracked our dealers and had great attendance from them. We loved the hall and Nashville.” Predy volunteered a very uncommon compliment for any trade show: “The Freeman show staff was excellent to work with. Very professional and helpful. The best ever.”

“We had great traffic,” said Paul Miles, director of Sales for Valor Fireplaces/Miles Industries. “Our sales reps were happy, and if they’re happy, we are too.”

HPBExpo – Facts & Figures

*Unaudited HPBA figures.

“We were extremely busy,” said Ross Morrison, senior executive vice president of Marketing for Stellar Hearth Products (formerly Big Woods Hearth Products). “We didn’t even get breaks for lunch even before the Vesta Awards.” That success came even though Stellar only had an outdoor-burn booth during the very cold weather.

“What’s not to like?” asked Wayne Stritsman, Sales manager for Albany, New York, retailer Best Fire. “We had more exhibitors, more products and more attendees. It was well worth the expense.”

“Our show was excellent,” said Jess Baldwin, senior vice president of Sales and Customer Service for Vermont Castings Group and incoming chairman of the HPBA. “We were very busy, and the show exceeded our expectations. Dealers were investigating new products and feeling good about this year – and us.”

It was Regency Fireplace’s first time exhibiting in five years, but president Glen Spinelli said that Regency’s show experience went “very well. We were very busy, particularly the first day, and dealers were optimistic.” South Central manufacturers representative Shirley Byrd summed up most attendee’s feelings when she said, “It’s been crazy busy!”

Management of the HPBA was certainly very happy – and relieved. “We had great traffic and lots of energy,” said HPBA president Jack Goldman. “It shows that the industry is coming back. We’re not there yet, but we’re getting there.”

Regulatory Briefings

A Vermont Castings display.

During the show, a variety of meetings updated attendees on what is happening in the complex world of regulations affecting the hearth industry.

The Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association (HPBA) is continuing to tackle the challenges to gas hearth products presented by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) recent actions to regulate all gas hearth products.

“The DOE proposal is broad enough to cover all natural gas and propane products that produce a flame for any purpose,” according to Barton Day, legal counsel to the HPBA on the DOE actions. “But we don’t know yet what will be covered. And this is just the beginning. The DOE is required to periodically review its rules, so this could be an endless cycle of rulemaking.”

Of particular concern is the DOE’s proposed ban on “continuous burning” pilot lights, perhaps encouraging IPI ignition systems. The DOE actions will make manufacturer warranties void if a thermostat is used with the appliance. “The DOE is either making up numbers or is not revealing its data,” said Day. “They are trying to cover products they know nothing about.”

The HPBA is challenging the DOE on the adequacy of a notice and opportunity for public comments, the basis for the coverage of certain products, the basis for a standard without considering alternatives and the technical and economic justification of the DOE actions.

“We need to nail down exactly what products they are trying to cover and the numbers and information behind their analysis and assumptions,” said Day.

A public meeting on the DOE proposal was to be held March 23, 2015, in Washington, D.C. All comments on the proposal are due April 10, 2015, with the final rule to take effect in five years.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) New Source Performance Standard (NSPS) is expected to take effect May 1, 2015, but that is not yet a “hard date,” said David Chung, an attorney working on the HPBA’s regulatory challenges with long-time HPBA counsel Dave Menotti.

Step one of the now-published NSPS requires catalytic and non-catalytic wood stoves and inserts and pellet stoves and inserts to produce a maximum of 4.5 gph of emissions, the current Washington state standard. Manufacturers of current EPA-certified models will not need to test or recertify, but will be included as having met the step-one standard.

Production of non-EPA models, such as some pellet stoves that previously were not required to be EPA certified, must cease May 1, 2015, but both manufacturers and retailers may sell those non-EPA models until Dec. 31, 2015.

Step two of the NSPS will go into effect in five years with an emissions limit of 2.0 gph, a number that is of concern to some manufacturers. “Step two has significant problems that must be addressed,” said Chung, “but we have five years to do so.”

Regarding barriers for hot glass on gas fireplaces and stoves, Tom Stroud, the HPBA’s senior manager of Codes and Standards, pointed out that appliance installers must have the barrier installed on the appliance when they complete, and leave, the installation. That new standard for barriers took effect Jan. 1, 2015.

The recently announced NFPA 211 requires that all aftermarket products installed on a factory-built fireplace must be listed and approved by the fireplace manufacturer, Stroud said. Those aftermarket products include, but are not limited to, andirons, blowers, log lighters, dampers, fire backs, grates, heat exchangers, gas logs, glass doors and chimney caps.

Public comments on the NFPA 211 were scheduled for March 17-18, 2015, with the HPBA actively working to change the proposal at least to not include normal replacement maintenance items.

“You cannot require a listed product if there is no standard to list it to,” Stroud added.

The proposed ban on all wood- and pellet-burning during the winter in seven Utah counties was withdrawn after heavy negative response from Utah consumers, said John Crouch, the HPBA’s director of Public Affairs. “The reaction from 35,000 citizens stopped this one in its tracks,” he said. “There were hundreds of angry people at every citizens meeting.”

PFI Breakfast Touted Pellet Growth

The Outdoor Burn area – cold and windy.

“Last year was a most amazing year for pellets,” said Darryl Rose, PFI chairman and vice president of Marketing for Energex America in opening the PFI breakfast meeting. Then he aptly described the pellet industry as having “more ups and down than the Kardashians’ bed sheets!”

That set the tone for a very upbeat morning.

Sales of pellet stoves and inserts were up 41 percent over 2013, totaling 76,346 units, according to Jessica Boothe, the HPBA’s new director of Market Research. The association’s new “Hearth Market Report” indicates that 57 percent of U.S. households own a hearth product, with two percent of total households opting for a pellet stove.

The research says that pellet stoves today are an average of six years old, and pellet stove owners indicate they are more satisfied with their stove than owners of other hearth appliances. Three percent of households say they are likely to purchase a pellet stove in the next 12 months.

Darryl Rose reported that six pellet fuel manufacturers are now qualified to sell pellet fuel with the new PFI fuel quality mark identification on their bags: American Wood Fibers, Curran Renewable Energy, Forest Energy, Lignetics, Marth and New England Wood Pellet. Others are finalizing their standards quality programs to qualify for the PFI fuel standards. Development of the PFI fuel standards is a requirement of the EPA’s recently released NSPS.

Pellet stoves are covered in the NSPS and must be certified by the EPA when the NSPS goes into effect on approximately May 1, 2015, or 60 days after the NSPS is published in the Federal Register, said HPBA’s John Crouch. Pellet appliance manufacturers will be required to publish the grade of pellet fuel with which that stove was tested and certified.

“Retailers should be happy that the NSPS requires fuel standards,” said Richard Thomas, co-owner of hearth retailer Courtland Hearth & Hardware. “Now what is in the bag is what we think is in the bag. Besides cutting down on service calls, there is a safety element, too, reducing hopper fires and burn-backs. We all want the consumer to select the fuel that is appropriate for that appliance.”

Thomas also chided fuel manufacturers by reminding them that fuel shortages felt dramatically last year in the East “directly affected stove and fuel sales.” He pointed out that, after the “banner year” of 2014, the supply lines for wood pellets “will be empty.”

The Tax Extender Package, offering a $300 Federal tax credit for purchasing a high-efficiency pellet or wood appliance, expired Dec. 31, 2014, said Bruce Lisle, chairman of the PFI’s Government Affairs committee and president of Energex, but the industry is trying to get the program passed by Congress once more.

The new Biomass Thermal Utilization Act of 2014, known as the BTU Act, soon will be introduced in both the Senate and the House. The BTU Act will offer Federal tax credits for high-efficiency (minimum 75 percent) biomass heating systems for residential, commercial and industrial use.

With a great sales year and a great trade show finished, and with optimism for a great 2015 sales year, next stop is the HPBExpo 2016, March 17-19, 2016, in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in the Big Easy, New Orleans, Louisiana. See ya’ll there.

While many interesting and innovative new products are featured in the Vesta Awards, some fly under the awards radar. Here are a few of the other interesting products that were on display.

Creative Firepit offered hand-sculpted, ¼-in. steel fire pits shaped into a sphere, some duplicating the look of the Earth’s globe.

Dimplex showed its growing line of electric fires, but added a tongue-in-cheek model to its Opti-V offering, a simulated aquarium using the same technology as its electric fires, featuring virtual fish swimming through a very realistic scene in three dimensions.

In a joint venture with Vesta award-winning Stellar Hearth Products, the Astria brand of Innovative Hearth Products features a versatile, custom, gas fireplace program offering linear models from two ft. wide to “infinity” in corner models, see-throughs, piers, bays and islands. Optional mirrored walls provide the effect of multiple flames.

Vin de Flame has combined California wine barrels into stylish fire pits.

The Outdoor GreatRoom has taken fire pit burners to the next level with its Wave Burner, featuring three stainless-steel tube burners that are “woven” together, up and down, that add a wave effect to the 100,000 Btu flame.

SolSource moves outdoor cooking up a couple of notches with its “parabolic solar concentrator” that uses the sun to cook. Looking like a small, mirrored satellite dish, the company says it can produce temperatures as high as 750 degrees F and sear with only a 10-minute warm-up.

Earthcore Industries, long known for its Isokern brand modular masonry fireplaces, showed its Burnie brand, all wood grills. A circular model available in two diameters, it’s made of compressed wood much like a firelog. Burnie can be placed in a charcoal grill to replace the charcoal or can simply be placed on the ground on which to cook directly, such as in an outdoor camping scenario.

Napoleon Fireplaces introduced its fascinating Fireplace Design Studio, an interactive floor display that allows dealers to realistically show the company’s wide range of hearth products with any option and in customizable room settings. This touch-screen kiosk display itemizes and totals the features, parts and prices. This “studio” is also available as a web application.