Pollution and Wood Burning Fireplaces
Posted by easy eco blog
It was another Spare the air night in the San Francisco area, where it is illegal to burn wood, pellets, or manufactured fire logs. The Spare the Air winter season runs from November 1, 2009, through February 28, 2010.
An article showing how bad wood smoke pollutes during bad air days in the San Francisco Bay Area was surprising. Pretty shocking that 1/3 of fine particulate matter is from wood smoke.
According to Sparetheair.org, “In the wintertime, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) becomes the pollutant with the greatest impact on air quality. Fine particulates can bypass the body’s natural defenses, penetrating deeply into the lungs and even passing into the bloodstream. Prolonged exposure to the fine particulates in wood smoke has been linked with aggravated asthma, lung and heart disease, and increased mortality rates.”
Wood burning fireplaces emit many times more pollutions than EPA-certified woodstoves or Pellet stoves. If you need to use one, try to improve your fireplace efficiency.
Consider Enviro-Log instead of wood for your fireplace. It is made from 100% recycled waxed cardboard boxes. No additional petroleum added. The ash can be used as fertilizer or potting soil.
If it is time to upgrade for the upcoming winter season, keep these figures in mind. You can be green and buy a more efficient stove or fireplace. Take advantage of the Federal Tax Rebate too.
EPA has information on Cleaner Burning Wood Stoves.
Related posts:
- Federal Tax Credit – Wood Heat Stoves, Pellet Stoves, Fireplace Inserts
- Smoking Vehicle Assistance Program
- Eco Friendly Zero VOC Wood Stains
- Eco Friendly FSC Certified Wood
- Improving Fireplace Efficiency
- Happy New Year from EasyEcoBlog.com!
- Alternative Heating Sources
- New Gemini Eco Friendly San Francisco Ferry
Filed under: Alternative Energy, Effort, Energy, Entertainment, Green, Hard, Home, Indoor Air Quality, Pollution | Tags: Pellet stove, Spare the Air, Wood burning fireplaces, woodstoves
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2 Responses to “Pollution and Wood Burning Fireplaces”
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May 17th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
[...] Fireplaces are known to be inefficient ways of heating a home. Some rate fireplaces as being -15% efficient as they suck more heat out than they create. They can create a convection current that can pull heated air out of the room and up the chimney, causing your regular furnace to work harder. Fireplaces also generate a lot of air pollution. [...]
May 17th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
[...] up. Set heat to off when you are gone. Be careful when using your fireplace because they can be polluting. Get a home energy audit to help find your problems. They use blowers that will detect areas [...]