EPA moves to regulate new wood stoves
Source: Washington Post
The Environmental Protection Agency moved Friday to curb emissions of particles and other gases from residential wood stoves and other wood-fired devices built after 2015 in an effort to combat pollutants that can present a significant health hazard in parts of the country.
The proposed new rules would require manufacturers of wood stoves, wood pellet stoves, forced-air wood furnaces, wood boilers, fireplace inserts and masonry heaters to build a generation of devices that burn 80 percent more cleanly than current models. The rules would go into effect in 2015 and become more strict after five years, though the EPA is asking whether they should be phased in over eight years instead.
The new rules do not apply to wood heaters already in use or to residential fireplaces, backyard fire containers or fire pits used by campers and beachgoers. Nor do they apply to smokers, other wood-fired barbecue devices or pizza ovens.
“Particulate matter is a big health issue,” said Alison Davis, an EPA senior adviser. It has been linked to heart attacks and strokes and can aggravate asthma. A number of studies have linked it to premature death among people who suffer from heart and lung disease, she said.
Read more: http://m.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/epa-moves-to-regulate-new-wood-stoves/2014/01/03/b08cb232-7484-11e3-8b3f-b1666705ca3b_story.html?tid=HP_federal
= new reply since forum marked as read
of years. And those were 80% more efficient. I know, because I threw the old one away when we bought our house and got this one, not because they made me, but because it was stupid to throw all that heat up the chimney.
My "fury?" (you mistake fury for derision 
) is that the greatest pollution is coming from sources these gutless bastards won't confront, like China, and our energy corporations...
http://discovermagazine.com/2011/apr/18-made-in-china-our-toxic-imported-air-pollution#.UsdVlvjyOsR
...who blow their pollution around the earth with abandon. That is exacerbated by our nation's policies which allow for a trade deficit, meaning that those products can be created in a place without our environmental regulation so we have no chance to mitigate it. It also means the jobs which would be here are somewhere else, another way our policies further the unemployment we are supposed to be correcting.
I'm sure that these busybodies cracking down on beach fires will result in bluer skies for all of us. Wouldn't be the first blue sky promise from this administration.
certified stove isn't because there are no EPA certified stoves . Hell, they can buy mine, with the EPA plate on the back, and I will go get another, if they can't find one of the thousands that are already out there.
And many people wouldn't need to be poor if we weren't paying banks $1.4 trillion every year while trying to shave bits and pieces from their food stamps and social security. Instead we have a bunch of busybodies doing what has already been done, to avoid taking on the people that are big enough to fight back. Which is nothing more than bullying.
I don't think I'm the off the rails here. An OP was posted on a discussion board, we are discussing the issue. Except for the two times now that you have tried to turn this into a personal attack because, apparently, you would rather hear the choir singing the same song to each other. But from what I've seen, that's pretty typical. Such an attack is also rude, but to have any real impact, your target needs to care. And I have found nothing you've said persuasive. Again. So I don't.
That has made it a waste of time, however. but there is a remedy for that sort of behavior. Wait right here, I'll show you...(man, I hope you can take a hint)
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So if manufacturers build like crazy in 2014 . . . . .
hmmmmm
Also - from the article at the link:
"EPA laboratory testing does not reflect the way wood stoves and heaters are used by consumers. Most particle pollution occurs because the majority of wood stoves are old and because consumers do not use wood that has been sufficiently dried"
I agree - I look at my smokestack, and never see smoke - moisture on the coldest days, just vapors most of the time, because my wood is super dry, and I burn it in the "hot" zone - use a special thermometer to keep an eye on the woodstove burning temperature to keep it above the creosote level and below the overfiring zones. I do not underfire my stove to save wood - I want my stove and pipes safe, so if it get's too warm in the house, I will open some windows rather than underfire the stove.
I see most of the stoves burning around here way too cold, or way too hot - too cold (or wood too wet) indicated by constant blue smoke - too hot, indicated by the stainless steel insulated pipes turning blue (yep, the steel itself) from burning too hot.
Outside wood furnaces are the worst offenders for pollution - many people throw unsplit/undried wood in there, as well as garbage or anything else that will burn.
Insurance companies may come into play here for inside wood stoves. I see nothing to prevent the insurance companies from requiring the homeowner to upgrade to the newer stoves or face higher premiums to continue using their present stove, not that insurance companies would take advantage or anything . . .
I do not know about in the USA, but here if you have a woodstove in your house, it must be approved by the insurance company OR THEY WILL NOT INSURE YOUR HOUSE FOR ANYTHING!
I know some people get around that by not claiming their wood stove as their source of heat - instead reporting electric/oil/gas on the paperwork. But file a claim, and the insurance company discovers otherwise . . . .
Back to outside woodstoves for a moment - because they burn so slowly, they STINK! Some municipalities ban them within town limits. Recently the township I used to live in increased the minimum size of building lots to 2 acres from one acre - I suspect wood smoke was part of this reason.
Anyhoo, I'm warm and toasty with my 8 year old "Super 27" doing it's thing.
CC