Back to basics
Before the 20th century, 90% of Americans burned wood to heat their homes. As fossil fuel use rose, the percentage of Americans using wood for fuel dropped, falling to as low as 1% by 1970. Then during the energy crises of the 1970s, interest in wood heating resurfaced as a renewable energy alternative.1
Consumers can now choose from a new generation of wood- and pellet-burning appliances that are cleaner burning, more efficient, and powerful enough to heat many average-sized, modern homes.1
How it works
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) categorizes WoodMaster and other manufacturers' outdoor wood furnaces as outdoor wood boilers (OWB). These hydronic heaters, or OWBs, are typically are located outside the buildings they heat in small sheds with short smokestacks. Typically, they burn wood to heat liquid (water or water-antifreeze) that is piped to provide heat and hot water to occupied buildings such as homes, barns and greenhouses. However, hydronic heaters may be located indoors and they may use other biomass as fuel (such as corn or wood pellets).6
Clean concerns
Hydronic heater emissions from older, unqualified heaters are a significant concern in many local areas. Numerous scientific studies report potentially serious adverse health effects from breathing smoke emitted by residential wood combustion. Residential wood smoke contains fine particles, which can affect both the lungs and the heart. In some areas, residential wood smoke can be a significant source of exposure to fine particle pollution.6
Read more about outdoor wood furnaces impact on health and the environment.
WoodMaster is part of the solution
EPA has initiated a voluntary program for manufacturers of hydronic heaters. Northwest Manufacturing, which develops and markets WoodMaster products, has collaborated with the EPA on new testing standards. The company also works with state and local governments on appropriate regulations to encourage cleaner burning outdoor wood furnaces.
What are the regulations?
EPA's primary intent is to first encourage manufacturers to produce cleaner hydronic heater models. EPA also wants those who buy a hydronic heater to buy the cleanest models available, which are those that qualify for the EPA voluntary program.6
This program encourages manufacturers to produce and sell cleaner, more efficient hydronic heaters. To participate in the hydronic heaters program, manufacturers commit their best efforts to develop cleaner models, approximately 70 percent cleaner for phase 1 orange hang tag and approximately 90 percent cleaner for Phase 2 white hang tag.
The WoodMaster AFS 900 model qualifies for and carries a Phase 2 white hang tag.
See EPA's list of cleaner hydronic heaters.
Local regulations
In general, States and municipalities have lead roles in regulating wood-burning activities.6 Some states and municipalities have developed regulations or voluntary programs to address the fact that most stoves are still not EPA-certified and, in some cases, to prohibit use of woodstoves during certain air-quality conditions.6
Your WoodMaster dealer will also help you with local, municipal and other guidelines and regulations. Some municipalities restrict wood heating appliance use when the local air quality reaches unacceptable levels. Others restrict or ban the installation of wood-burning appliances in new construction.1
Find information about regulations where you live.
Change outs
If you have an older wood-burning appliance, consider replacing it with a new, efficient, EPA-certified wood or pellet stove, or install a catalytic combustor (just like the one in your car's exhaust system) on your existing stove. EPA-certified stoves are easy to identify because they carry a special label and hang tag. Because these stoves are cleaner burning, you will need to clean your chimney or stove pipe less often, and will reduce the probability of a chimney fire.6
See the list of EPA-certified wood stoves.
Renewable resource
Wood and wood pellets can be restored and replenished by nature in time compatible with human use. The heat released is actually stored energy from sun. Meanwhile, gas, oil, coal are being depleted at rates much faster than the time it took to create these resources.
No net increase in carbon dioxide emissions
Burning any fuel produces carbon dioxide - primary greenhouse gasses, and some say this causes average global temperatures to rise. Wood is part of natural carbon/carbon dioxide cycle and produces no net increase in carbon dioxide emissions.
Convenience, then environmental considerations
The first thing that attracts most people to wood and pellet fuel is the convenience.2 Yet increasingly, people are also attracted to wood stoves because of the environmental benefits. Consider:
- Wood and pellet fuels provide high heat output and a very low level of unwanted emissions due to the uniformly low moisture, controlled fuel batches, and precisely regulated combustion of air.2
Pellet furnaces, in particular, offer these benefits: - As a biomass fuel, pellets offer the advantages of sustainable energy supplies through renewable raw materials which in the long term only can benefit the world. In addition, pellets are a by-product, not a primary user, of these renewable materials. Using pellets also helps reduce the costs and problems of waste disposal.2
- In 1993-94, more than 6.5 million cubic yards of waste were diverted from landfills and converted to home heating in the form of pellets.2
- More than 600,000 homes in the United States and Canada use wood pellets as an economical and environmentally-friendly heat source.3
- Wood pellets help reduce air pollution. For example, the particulate emissions from a pellet stove are approximately 1.2 grams per hour compared to 7.5 grams per hour for a typical wood stove. Additionally, after burning wood pellet fuel, little ash is left over, reducing clean up. And wood pellets produce virtually no creosote - a major cause of chimney fires. Wood pellets also reduce the burden on landfills by creating commercial demand for sawdust, which would otherwise be considered waste.4
Burn better
WoodMaster and the EPA recommend that your hydronic heater be professionally installed to insure its safety and proper performance. There are many building code requirements (e.g. heat output, efficiency, life-cycle longevity) and safety requirements that are applicable in most areas. Your WoodMaster dealer can help you finding a qualified professional.
See EPA best burn practices for outdoor wood furnaces.
What size?
It's important to use a properly sized appliance for the space to be heated. When an appliance is too big, residents tend to burn fires at a low smolder to avoid overheating, which wastes fuel and is one of the biggest causes of air pollution.1
Your WoodMaster dealer will discuss your size requirements, but a good rule-of-thumb is that a stove rated at 60,000 British Thermal Units (Btu) can heat a 2,000 square foot home, while a stove rated at 42,000 Btu can heat a 1,300 square foot space.
How we've heated
Consider these milestones in biomass energy use:5