Wood Burning Stoves Reviews

Canadian homeowners have many heating options available to them.  However, many homeowners stick with wood-burning stoves to give their homes heat. Why do homeowners opt for wood burning stoves over other heating methods? It’s thought there are two reasons:

1. Historical reasons
2. Friendly to the environment

It does seem like wood is the more environment friendly option… at least when compared to non-renewable fuel sources like fossil fuels. However, although wood is an environmentally-friendly option, it releases a significant number of pollutants, which indicates it’s really not that friendly.

The Canadian Government, for that reason, began an investigation to look into the performance of fuel burning stoves, which resulted in a standard being set for the production of wood burning stoves and their performance features.

It’s because of this investigation that, in 1992, a 77-page long CSA standard was printed that outlined the Performance Testing of Solid Fuel Burning Stoves. Thanks to the CSA standard, wood burning stove companies had a list of government-approved standards that assisted them with both the design and production of any solid fuel burning appliance like the wood burning stoves.

The Problem With Wood Burning Stoves

The biggest problem folks had with the wood burning stoves was their incomplete combustion of gases as they were swept into and out the chimney. The end result of the incomplete combustion was the release of pollutants into the environment.

A 2000 Toronto Medical Officer of Health Air Pollution Burden of Illness study deduced that the amount of pollutants going into the air from the incomplete combustion would results in thousands of people being admitted into the hospital with hundreds of untimely deaths.

The emissions of wood smoke play a key part in the release of respirable particulate matter (respirable dust).  And, because of this, it became a priority in the country to test the efficacy and performance of wood burning stoves.  The incomplete combustion releases the fine dust that get down deep into a human’s lungs, which results in both cardiovascular and respiratory problems and multiple trips to the hospitals. The age groups most at risk for suffering complications are children and the elderly.

According to the Canadian Wood Stove Pollution Control Requirements, traditional wood stoves fail to meet the CSA/EPA emission standards due to the lack of their having the advanced-combustion technology. In saying that, CSA/EPA-certified wood stoves do meet the US EPA or CSA B415 standard for emissions that the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment have put in place. Based on tests, performance of both the non-catalytic and catalytic advanced-wood stoves is comparable.

British Columbia is the only Canadian province that demands new residential wood burning stoves met the CSA/EPA standards. The US EPA standard was generated in 1994, which the province adopted. The Hearth Products Association of Canada (or HPAC) has approved the province’s adoption of the US EPA standard. Both the government of Ontario and the federal government are mulling the possibility of adopting similar standards.

With a Burn It Clean initiative in place, the Natural Resources Canada looks to further teach people on matters that deal with residential wood burning. A significant amount of educational material is available through the Burn It Clean campaign, which has recommended a change out program for persons who want to upgrade to an efficient wood-burning standard compliant stove. It has been a combined effort by the Federal Government and the Provincial government to begin and carry out the Canadian wood-burning stove change out programs.

Thanks to the continued efforts of the Canadian Wood Stove Pollution Control Requirements and the adoption of the standards, the efficiency gain and pollution reduction has led to the improvement of Canada’s air quality and fewer hospital visits for cardiovascular and respiratory problems due to incomplete combustion.

Sources:

Air Pollution from Wood-burning Fireplaces and Stoves, Toronto Public Health, Dr. SheelaV. Basrur, Medical Officer of Health, Authors: Sarah Gingrich and Ronald Macfarlane, Dec. 2002. Found online August 10, 2011

Canadian Standards Association B415b Found online August 10, 2011

City of Kelowna, How to Choose a Wood Stove. Found online August 10, 2011

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