The Pete Luter Innovation Awards 2013 sponsored by The Chimney Sweep News

Paint 'n' Peel and Your Fireplace Store
Capture 2013 Pete Luter Innovation Awards

Dave Barnes, John Meredith and Thomas Meredith of SaverSystems
accept a Pete Luter Innovation Award for ChimneySaver Paint 'n' Peel from Chimney Sweep News Editor Jim Gillam.
Photo by Bart Ogden

Mary Ka Powers and Steve Hall from Fireside Distributors
accept a Pete Luter Innovation Award for Your Fireplace Store software.
Photo by John Pilger

SaverSystems' new Paint 'n' Peel Fireplace Cleaner and Your Fireplace Store software from Fireside Distributors took top honors at the 7th annual Pete Luter Innovation Awards at the National Chimney Sweep Guild trade show. Reusable Rod Ends from Duct Cleaners Supply received Honorable Mention.

The Chimney Sweep News sponsors the annual Pete Luter Innovation Awards (formerly known as The Inventice Awards) program to recognize and showcase the best new products for use or sale by chimney professionals.

The Entries

"Eight outstanding new products vied for honors this year," said Chimney Sweep News editor Jim Gillam. "I was impressed by the variety of entries," he added. Descriptions are provided by the respective suppliers.

Reusable Revolution Rod Ends by Duct Cleaners Supply

Reusable Revolution Rod Ends from Duct Cleaners' Supply can be used in many different applications.

If you break or damage a rod, you can replace the rod end and continue with your job.
With certain rod material you can create custom rods to perform specialized tasks.
You can modify or adapt other manufacturers' rods to be able to utilize our patented Build-A-Brush systems.

Model 6xr Room-to-Room fan by Comfort Geni

ComfortGeni (www.comfortgeni.com) produces residential fan products designed to efficiently move air from room-to-room and level-to-level increasing the capabilities of wood, gas or pellet stoves. ComfortGeni operates at a safe, low voltage with an energy efficient automatic temperature sensor, which turns the fan on and off, as heat is available. ComfortGeni is easy to install and is operated by remote control providing unmatched convenience. The whisper quiet operation and neutral appearance allow the product to blend into any décor.

Regency Classic™ F5100 Extra Large Wood Stove

Regency’s largest classic wood stove with hybrid catalytic technology delivers 30 hours of heat or more from a single load of wood with emissions of only 1.46 grams per hour. The 4.42 cubic feet loading capacity combined with the controllable burn rate of Eco-Boost technology provides flexibility to heat smaller homes with less reloading and bigger homes with the largest firebox available. The heavy duty cast iron door offers 180 square inches of viewing area and opens to 170°, making wood loading easy.

Chimney Pro Assistant App by Royal Chimney Supply

Chimney Pro Assistant is a mobile tablet app that helps chimney professionals create and manage inspections and estimates. Customized inspection reports and company services are easily created. When it's time to go over job details with the customer the simple and quick layout of the inspection report tool is sure to make an impression on the homeowner.

Pre-insulated Forever Flex by Olympia Chimney Supply

Pre-Insulated Forever Flex is manufactured from 430 stainless steel in the outer skin and the option of either a 304L or 316Ti inner stainless steel liner. It comes ready to install with Olympia's non-carcinogenic Super Wrap Insulation Blanket already wrapped around the liner. It is convenient for the installer; saving both time and money. In addition to these great features, it carries the Forever Warranty, is UL/ULC listed, has 0 to 0 clearance, and ships FREE.

Paint 'n' Peel by SaverSystems

ChimneySaver Paint "N" Peel Fireplace Cleaner is a safe, effective way to clean your fireplace front. Your hearth professional has the proper tools and experience to apply the product correctly, which in simple terms, is painted over the stained areas. The product dries to a thick, rubbery, non-hazardous film in 6-12 hours. When completely dry, it is easily peeled away from the surface and discarded. Paint "N" Peel Fireplace Cleaner saves you time and eliminates the hassle of cleaning your smoke/soot stained fireplace.

Chimney Professionals' Presentation Kit by Marge Padgitt

Industry veteran Marge Padgitt offers four professionally produced PowerPoint presentations for trade shows, homeowner meetings, and in-house employee training. Topics include chimney inspections 101, identifying chimney damage, historic chimney restoration and alternative heating solutions. Plus a bonus CD with over 1500 images of chimneys, fireplaces, flue tiles, smoke chambers, crowns, covers, stoves, and weird stuff to use in your own presentations!

Your Fireplace Store by Fireside Distributors
Your Fireplace Store is a FREE tool designed to enable ANY size service business to have an immediate retail business presence/store through common “on hand” technology: tablet, laptop or smartphone. YFS provides access to a large selection of hearth products from a single supplier – over 3000 – enabling the service professional to provide a substantial offering of the latest products to meet customers’ needs in their homes. YFS sales technology allows the homeowner to review product needs before or after the service appointment. Customization of business profile enables the sweep/professional to set profit margin, predetermined freight rates for his region, and include state or local sales tax. One click order processing electronically sends a copy of order to business, Sweeps America and a confirmation to customer.

These products were on display at the National Chimney Sweep Guild Trade Show at Branson, Missouri, where they were evaluated by an independent panel of experienced chimney professionals.

The Decision

Entries were evaluated by a team of five judges: Yvette Aube (AIM Chimney Sweep & Hearth, Midland, Ontario), Bob Priesing (Havelock's Chimney Sweep, Havelock, NC), Bart Ogden (Home Safe Hearth & Chimney, Wichita, KS), Bob Harris (Top Hat and Tails, Belleville, NJ) and Sally McKnight (The Irish Sweep Inc, Alameda, CA). The judges were invited to participate by Chimney Sweep News Editor Jim Gillam on the basis of their integrity and to represent a variety of experiences and geography. Yvette returned for her seventh term as a judge and Bob Priesing returned for his second term; the other judges were serving for the first time. No one associated with The Chimney Sweep News (SNEWS) was involved in the judging.

We are looking for useful, innovative new products for use by professional chimney service specialists or their customers. In addition to evaluating the products’ utility and degree of innovation, judges are invited to consider quality of construction, safety, marketability and anything else they deem important.

After interrogating the participating vendors about their entries, the judges retreated to a private area to make their decision. Their task proved daunting, and for the second year in a row the judges decided that two products - ChimneySaver Paint 'n' Peel Fireplace Cleaner and Your Fireplace Store from Fireside Distributors - truly excelled for their innovation and usefulness to chimney sweeps. In addition, the judges singled out Reusable Rod Ends from Duct Cleaners Supply for Honorable Mention.

Be There Next Year

We invite innovative suppliers to prepare for the 2014 Pete Luter Innovation Awards at the NCSG convention in Columbus, Ohio next March.

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