4. The technology is not what your grandpa remembers! Modern stoves emit less particulate matter pollution than fireplaces, and pellet stoves emit next to nothing. Sometimes there's a stigma attached to wood burning, but that's only because back in the day stoves simply weren't as advanced as they are now.
3. It's part of a diversified energy efficient future! Any expert will tell you that we cannot rely on any single energy source for our nation. Every area and every energy usage has a different set of needs and suitable sources. Unlike solar and wind power, direct wood combustion is the most efficient use of wood energy.
2. It's clean and renewable! When sustainably harvested, wood and wood byproduct heating fuel is carbon-neutral, and can easily reduce your carbon footprint by 2 to 4 tons per year. Plus, it only takes a few decades to grow a tree compare to a few millennium to make fossil fuel.
1. It's affordable and stable! With ever fluctuating high fuel prices, traditional fossil fuel heating systems drive up energy expenditures substantially. Wood and pellet prices don't fluctuate as much, and are always cheaper. Plus, the upfront cost of installation is significantly less than wind, solar, or geothermal.
It seems like almost all new woodstoves are elgible for the 75% tax credit? What's up with that? Aren't these tax credits only supposed be for the most efficient appliances? How can we tell which wood stoves are really more efficient?
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a fantastic point. It's true that it can be difficult to figure out which stoves are really "green" if you're not sure where to look.
ReplyDeleteWe've done our best to provide some comprehensive information and some suggested models on our site. (We do not have relationships with the manufacturers of these stoves or receive any money, we simply think they're the best.)
Always look for EPA certified stoves, unless they're pellet stoves in which case they're probably very clean anyway. Even the certified ones can be a bit questionable though, so try to find one of the models on Washington States certified list. They use stricter standards than the EPA does.
http://www.swcleanair.org/woodstovelist.html
There will be more articles on this blog soon about how to pick the right stove for you, so stay tuned and follow our RSS!