Friday, December 9, 2011

Counting Stoves: Dirty vs. Clean Burning



Ever wondered how many of the approximately 10 million wood stoves in the field today are clean-burning? According to a new article written by James E. Houck and published in Hearth & Home magazine, 35% of free-standing cord wood and pellet stoves are EPA-certified. The estimate is based on manufacturing records supplied by HPBA and the American Housing Survey, and does not include fireplace inserts. 

Finding accurate data on certified vs. uncertified stoves was no easy task, Houck writes, because many home occupants don’t know the status of their heaters. To make matters worse, many states in the South and Mid-Atlantic region have few regulations or programs to encourage the purchase of new lower-emitting wood stoves. Oregon remains the only state that requires uncertified stoves to be removed when a home is a sold. It seems much more must be done before the reality of wood heat catches up to the precedent set by the New Source Performance Standard, passed over two decades ago.

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