INVENTOR OF FUTURISTIC FURNACE SEEKS MARKETER U.S. OFFICIAL NOTES BREAKTHROUGH IN DESIGN.(Local)

Byline: Craig Brandon Staff writer

It may be the furnace of the future, a machine that not only heats your house but generates enough electricity that it actually can make your electric meter run backwards.

Or it could simply be an ingenious gadget that will never be manufactured.

It's on display this week at the Altamont Fair, where you can take a look at it and talk to its inventor, Frank Wicks of Schenectady.

The U.S. Department of Energy calls it the "WEFUS" - prounounced WEE-fus - an acronym for the Wicks' Efficient Fuel Utilization System.

Wicks thinks it could be part of the answer to the world's energy and pollution problems. The Department of …