Are Wood Stoves Good for the Environment?
The Birth of the Green Stove
At first glance, a wood stove might seem like a picturesque smokestack. In reality, today’s wood burning stoves are one of the greener heating sources available to home owners.
In the early 1900s, even the best stoves were not all that efficient-and you could tell. The haze they produced was a sign that some undiscerning home owner was literally letting his heating budget go up in smoke. However, a lot has changed since the days of the smokestack-style stoves.
A growing awareness of the environmental impact of fossil fuels-like natural gas and oil-along with the desire to be more self-sufficient with energy caused a renewed interest in alternative heating methods. As home owners looked at stoves with new eyes, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) got involved to ensure that the “new” wood burning stoves would be kind to the environment.
The EPA authorized demanding particle emissions standards for manufacturers of wood burning stoves. And engineers rose to the challenge. Since 1990, all new wood stoves are EPA-certified, producing very little smoke (2-5 grams per hour) and virtually no ash. This amounts to 90 percent less emissions and 33 percent more fuel efficiency than the old pot belly stoves. And on a nuts and bolts level, this means the wood burning stoves are much more cost-effective and friendlier to the earth.
You may be wondering: Don’t wood stoves create air-borne pollutants just like oil or coal? The answer is nuanced. When oil and coal are extracted from the earth’s crust and burned, they cause an unhealthy level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. And after all the effort involved in their production, when fossil fuels are burned, they’re gone.
As you can guess, wood is different for several reasons.
Like all green plants, trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air as they grow, and convert it to fiber. When wood decomposes, carbon dioxide is released-but in this case, it’s part of the natural cycle. And this is also true when wood is burned. In addition, wood is a renewable fuel.
To recap: New-model stoves are fuel efficient. Today’s stoves meet strict EPA standards. And with wise management, trees are a renewable fuel source.
Remember that rust-tinged, black iron stove in your mind’s eye? Who would have guessed that today’s wood burning stoves would be, environmentally, green?
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