Heating Your Home with Wood: Your Health
back to Did you know??
back to Did you know??
|
|
|
| Heating Your Home with Wood: Your Health back to Did you know?? |
 During the chill of a Wisconsin winter, there are few things more satisfying than a warm fire. Heating your home with wood can be less expensive than other sources of home heating energy, and firewood is a renewable resource. Prices of heating fuels vary considerably, but non-renewable fossil fuels and electricity are commonly 2 to more than 10 times more expensive than firewood for the same amount of heat.
While heating with wood can be pleasant and cost effective, it has a reputation for being "dirty" and producing a lot of air pollution. Old equipment, careless users, and cold weather inversions (common in mountain valleys of the Western US, but not so common in Wisconsin) can combine to produce nasty conditions, and the health concerns associated with excessive exposure to wood smoke are real. However, a conscientious firewood user can safely enjoy the benefits of heating with wood. Small hot fires built from well-seasoned split, clean, and dry firewood produce minimal smoke if any. Additionally, modern equipment is significantly cleaner. Modern air-tight high-efficiency wood stoves produce roughly half the smoke of stoves built as few as 10 years ago. Combine a modern stove with a conscientious firewood user, and you can produce heat that is significantly cleaner than many common heating optionsincluding coal and electricity. Smoke is the problem. Wood smoke contains a bunch of nasty stuff that can have negative impacts on your health. A conscientious person can burn firewood cleanly and produce heat that is as clean or cleaner than other common heating options, but the trick is to minimize the amount of smoke that is produced. In general, wood smoke fits into a class of air pollution called fine particulate matter, because it consists of very fine particles that can remain suspended in the air and can be inhaled into your lungs. The EPA has identified more than 100 chemical compounds in wood smoke, but some of the nastier components include: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, tars, formaldehyde, benzene, and dioxin. Some of these compounds are known to be carcinogenic. Excessive exposure to smoke can cause lung disease and heart disease and can aggravate problems with asthma and allergies. And burning wood outside doesn't solve the problem. The pollution in wood smoke consists of very small particles that can easily find there way inside even modern air-tight construction homes. Indoor air pollution from wood smoke commonly reaches 50% to 70% of the levels found outside. Even when burning outside, the solution to air pollution is the minimize the amount of smoke your fire produces. All of the nasty stuff in wood smoke is produced by incomplete combustion from a relatively cool smoldering fire. The primary indication of whether or not you are burning your wood well is the presence of smoke, especially blue or gray smoke. The exhaust coming from your chimney should be perfectly clear or white with steam. Also, notice the amount of ashes in your fireplace and creosote in your chimney. Significant accumulation of ash and/or creasote indicates that your fire is not burning as completely as it should. The easiest way to achieve good clean heat is to use a modern air-tight high-efficiency stove and burn small hot fires using well-seasoned, clean, dry, and split firewood. A hot small fire that burns quickly will produce much less smoke and air pollution and will provide you with heat that is as clean or cleaner than other common heating fuel options. For more information about air quality concerns associated with burning wood, contact Raj Vakharia, Air Management Engineer with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, at 608-267-2015 or rajen.vakharia@dnr.state.wi.us Additional valuable resources available at:
|
Photo courtesy of US EPA |
