EPA, wood stove

Man I love mine!!! I had the fortune of picking up a small wood burning stove for close to nothing last spring. I never installed it due to the complexity of the installation, and the high cost of stove pipe material. This winter though, I bought the necessary attachments and installed the stove on my hearth.


A standard wood burning stove pumps approximately 60-40 grams of smoke into the air per hour. An EPA approved stove pumps 7.5 or less grams per hour.


http://www.epa.gov/woodstoves/technical.html

It is said that burning wood through a EPA stove release less CO2 than allowing the wood to naturally decompose in the forest. Each year I apply for a wood cutting permit with the US Forest Service, and purchase 2 cords worth of tags. I cut only dead or downed trees, thus removing potential wildfire fuels from our over fire controlled forests.

http://www.woodheat.org/

Most recently I added a "Cold Air Intake" to my stove. This allows fresh air from the outside (garage) to be feed directly into the stove. The fireplace has an ash trap, which I tapped into to access the "outside". The door of the ash trap is inside the garage and I leave it opened. Hope nothing decides to crawl in to my stove. Initially this addition was for warmth and safety. Interior oxygen depletion is a safety concern. And drawing inside air for the fire creates a cold draft across the house. A surprising side effect is the increased efficiency of the fire. An efficient fire, not only produces more heat, but also decreases emissions due to the a more complete combustion.


We have cut down our heating bill this winter significantly, approximately half. More than 3/4's of our heat is provided by the wood burning stove. Can you say win win!