Locally-Owned Small Businesses: GreenHeat Stove & Appliance

Karl Livingston of Butler, Tennessee, took a rather circuitous road in order to arrive where he is today. After graduating from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, he, as he says himself, "chased money all over the U.S." He was an agent/owner of Xerox Corporation (basically a small businessman operating as an Authorized Xerox Agent) for 12 years. He had three successful sales agencies before selling his agency in Eugene, Oregon, and moving back home to Butler, Tennessee. He built his own home in 1999 and followed that by working as a licensed contractor for the past 8 years building residential homes in the Watauga Lake and Boone areas. It was during this time that Karl began to realize that we are wasting our wood refuse and the opportunity to save money and to be more environmentally friendly.

While in the Pacific Northwest, Karl learned that the people of this region of the country recycle everything that is practical. Wood pellets are made of sawdust and waste wood and are not only carbon-neutral but also an excellent heating source. The wood pellets can reduce energy costs by one-half the cost of electricity and 60% that of gas. Karl, therefore, created GreenHeat Stove & Appliance, which is owned by High Country Pellet Fuels Inc. of Mountain City, Tennessee. (Karl is the director/owner of both of these small corporations.) His goal is to offer a way for customers to lower their overall heating costs and also to provide them with independence from the large utility companies. From this concept comes his motto: "Local benefits from local resources."

The primary reason that pellet fuel appliances have not become more popular is due to the lack of dependable suppliers of the fuel. GreenHeat is also a broker for wood pellet fuels and has existing relationships with manufacturers in order to always be able to provide their customers with fuel for less. Karl says, "We are breaking the 'chicken or the egg' dilemma." Karl is dedicated to bringing this cost-saving, renewable energy source into the limelight in the local area.

GreenHeat sells wood stoves, wood pellet stoves and appliances (i.e., central units and boilers), and pellet fuels. Their showcase brands, or those they sell and install, are: Harman, Quadra-Fire Pellet Stoves, and other popular brands such as Heat and Glo, as well as Heatilator. Green Heat offers quality products, representing the best manufacturers on the market, that enhance the user's experience with pellet heat for years to come. Wood pellet appliances do not require a chimney or vent like a monitor heater or outside wall heater. They also do not need to be plugged into or connected to an existing flue or fireplace. In addition, they are much safer and more efficient (producing only 1% ash) than traditional wood stoves. Furthermore, they are thermostatically controlled and clean.

All of GreenHeat's products qualify for the IRS Energy Efficiency Tax Rebate of 30% of the purchase and installation up to $1500. Go Green, Save Green.

The showroom for GreenHeat Stove & Appliance is located at 9393 Highway 67, West Butler, Tennessee, in the new Stone Mountain Reality building (a very nice log cabin style office building). You may contact them at 423-727-6037 or email them at highcountrypellets@live.com. (Be sure to watch for their website, which is coming soon.)

Other small businesses of interest:
Rick Bolton Plumbing
Alpha Services