The Changing Face of Wood Stove Change-out Programs

Online Resource Center launched to assist program managers & consumers

States and counties are increasingly looking to wood stove change out programs to encourage people to give up old, polluting wood stoves for cleaner alternatives.  In 2016, there were 34 stove change-out programs. The average incentive was about $900 to replace and old wood stove with a new one, $1,300 for a pellet stove, $1,500 for natural gas stove and $1,900 for a heat pump.

Trends in 2016 change-outs include more programs only allowing old wood stoves to be replaced by pellet, gas or electric appliances; more bounty programs that pay for decommissioning both old and newer wood stoves; more programs requiring or considering lower particulate matter standards for eligible stoves; and increased documentation for stove retailers and program managers.

Stove change-out programs are often compared to “cash-for-clunkers,” the $3 billion program in 2009 to get older, more polluting cars off the road.  That program became more controversial as program performance data was evaluated. Stove change-outs are also often criticized for not providing enough benefit per dollar invested.  This Online Stove Change-out Resource Center strives to help maximize benefits for local air quality, participating households and the manufacturers of cleaner, more efficient heating appliances.

This Resource Center was also designed to be a resource for a national change-out fund, like the federal diesel program to replace older diesel engines. Several members of Congress had been working on federal funding for a stove change-out fund and it is now unclear if that goal may be more difficult under a Trump Administration.

“Stove change-out programs are a great tool for communities to reduce excessive wood smoke pollution but many programs underperform,” said John Ackerly, President of the Alliance for Green Heat.  “Best practices developed by innovative change-out managers need to be integrated into more programs,” he added.

Key parts of the Online Resource Center for Wood Stove Change-outs include:

•          An in-depth analysis of all 2016 change-out programs
•      A zip code search feature for consumers to find change-out and incentive programs in their area (coming soon),
•      10 Best Practices for change-out programs,
•       Tips for Homeowners, to navigate the process of buying a wood stove and keep costs down.
•          Recommended educational videos

This Online Resource Center is the most comprehensive summary of change-out programs in the US with details about their budgets, eligibility requirements and innovative features.  It is based on extensive research of each change-out program and interviews with scores of change-out managers, stove retailers and experts. The Resource Center is an ongoing project that welcomes input and corrections from all stakeholders.  Please send comments to info@forgreenheat.org.

This Online Resource Center was supported in part by the Osprey Foundation.  Content for the Resource Center was written by Melissa Bollman and John Ackerly, staff at the Alliance for Green Heat.  The Alliance for Green Heat is an independent, non-profit organization that promotes cleaner and more efficient wood and pellet heating.

Dec. 4 Webinar: Best Practices in Wood and Pellet Stove Programs

The University of Maryland Extension Woodland Stewardship Education program will host a one-hour webinar on Thursday, December 4th from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. to provide an overview of the “best practices” in wood and pellet stove incentive programs across the United States. 

Sign up here.

As renewable energy programs grow around the country, more and more states are including incentives for wood or pellet boilers and stoves. Unlike other household appliances, such as refrigerators, furnaces or washing machines, wood heating equipment have no “Energy Star” labels for consumers to consult to make energy efficiency comparisons. Consequently, several states have devised a range of methods to determine the eligibility of cleaner and more efficient stoves and boilers.

This webinar will explore the features of these programs, and will use Maryland’s stove incentive program as an example of how one state met its goals for ensuring consumers purchase the most efficient appliances available. The speakers will identify what they see as emerging best practices in stove and boiler incentive programs as these initiatives become more mainstream.

This webinar features presentations from Jonathan Kays, University of Maryland Extension Natural Resource Extension Specialist; John Ackerly, President of the Alliance for Green Heat; and Emilee Van Norden, Clean Energy Program Manager of the Maryland Energy Administration.

The webinar is free and open to the public.  Sign up now to reserve a spot.

For related content: 

Pellet Stoves a Hot Commodity in Maryland Incentive Program

Federal Stove Tax Credit Not Likely to be Extended in 2014

Analysis of Maryland Stove Rebate Program (2013)

Senators Propose Adding Wood and Pellet Heat to Renewable Energy Incentives

For years, homeowners have enjoyed a 30% tax credit on the cost of installing solar panels on their home or adding geothermal heat.  In Europe, virtually every country also includes automated, high efficiency pellet stoves and boilers. Why hasn’t it happened here?

Senators Angus King (I-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) introduced the Biomass Thermal Utilization (BTU) Act to do just that. The tax credit for solar panels has disproportionately benefited wealthy urban and suburban residents, who can already afford fossil fuel energy, but want to help the planet. By adding tax credits for modern wood and pellet stoves, you benefit a more rural demographic that is not necessarily trying to be “green” but who are merely wanting to use a more affordable fuel than fossil fuels to heat their homes. 

Congress can pick and choose which technology it wants to favor, and which demographic it wants to favor.  But a more technology neutral approach has many benefits and the case for high-efficiency wood and pellet appliances is a strong one: it displaces about the same amount of fossil fuel as the average solar panel installation. Wood and pellet stoves have a shorter payback period, which makes it more likely that a middle-income family chooses a pellet stove. The technology is less expensive thus it costs the tax-payer far less to displace the same amount of fossil fuel. Utilizing thermal biomass helps ordinary families without access to natural gas that struggle to pay high heating bills. The BTU Act extends technology options to low and middle income families.

The BTU Act will add a provision to include biomass fuels to the list of existing technologies that qualify for the residential renewable energy investment tax credit in Section 25d of the Internal Revenue Code. To qualify, the property utilizing biomass fuel must operate at a thermal efficiency rate of at least 75% HHV and be used to either heat space within the dwelling or to heat water. The BTU Act allows for both wood and pellet appliances to be eligible but the 75% higher heating value (HHV) means that only the most clean and efficient ones will be incentivized.

The justification for solar subsidies is not just the displacement of fossil fuel, but also to help an emerging technology off the ground so that it can be cost competitive without subsidies.  Pellet stoves and boilers need a similar boost.  The higher up front cost of a pellet stove or boiler is a major deterrent and until there is greater demand, when the per unit cost is likely to drop. Like solar, there needs to be a more robust infrastructure to permit, install and repair the appliances.  Over 10 million Americans use wood or pellet stoves to heat their homes but only perhaps 20% have modern high efficiency appliances that do not emit smoke. If our country is to switch to modern, clean, high efficiency wood and pellet heating, we need to incentivize those appliances.  Our current approach is not working.

Urge your Senator to become a sponsor of the BTU Act, click here:

http://www.forgreenheat.org/act/act.html

For more information: BTEC link

http://www.biomassthermal.org/legislative/action.asp

Verified Pellet Stove Efficiency Key to Industry Success

The pellet industry has been developing certification standards to ensure that consumers know the quality of the pellets they are buying, but a similar issue is being overlooked when it comes to the equipment that uses the pellets—the efficiency of the stoves.

There is virtually no credible information available to consumers that indicates which stoves are extremely efficient, and which are pellet guzzlers. The federal and state governments should be clamoring for this information, because pellet stoves and boilers are the biomass heating appliance that most deserves incentives, and incentives are almost always tied to efficiency.

For full story, click here.

ACEEE says Wood Stoves Should Have Higher Efficiency for Tax Credits;

Group finds the biggest “bang” for the tax credit “buck” includes heating appliances such as wood stoves

 





Alliance for Green Heat, 12/12/12 - Well-targeted energy efficiency tax incentives will result in significant energy savings and more energy-efficient products being released into the market faster, according to Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), who testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee today. The Senate hearing focused on appropriate uses of the federal tax code for promoting investments in energy efficiency, particularly in the context of emerging discussions on tax reform.

Nadel said ACEEE found incentives for residential heating and cooling equipment were also successful in encouraging purchases of the most energy-efficient products. One of ACEEE’s recommendations for future tax credits was to promote higher efficiency levels and practices for residential boilers and stoves. ACEEE said that provisions from the recently expired section 25C should be updated for high efficiency residential furnaces, boilers, stoves, heat pumps and water heaters.

“The ACEEE has been very supportive of including wood and pellet stoves and boilers among appliances that receive tax credits, but have been frustrated that the 75% efficiency threshold for stoves is not third party verified or measured in a consistent manner,” said John Ackerly, President of the Alliance for Green Heat.

“High efficient wood and pellet stoves have a low market share in America and federal support could give advanced stoves the momentum to catch on in the marketplace,” said Ackerly.

The ACEEE report found that “in the case of appliances, tax credits have permanently transformed the market, which is the ideal outcome. For example, for refrigerators, clothes washers, and dishwashers, the tax credits spurred manufacturers to develop, introduce, and broadly market new high-efficiency products.”

To read Nadel’s complete testimony, click here.