EPA moves to cut woodstove pollution

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lampmfg

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Nice to see a little PR for Lamppa MFG...

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/287789/
: John Myers, Duluth News Tribune

The smell of wood smoke wafting on a cold winter’s night may be a hallmark of life in the Northland, but the federal government says it also may be a health hazard.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday moved to reduce pollution from new woodstoves, wood boilers and pellet stoves used for heating purposes starting in 2015.

The new nationwide rules would not affect fireplaces or wood burners already in people’s homes and businesses but would restrict the sale of new wood burners to those that emit about 80 percent less pollution than old models – namely particulate matter, carbon monoxide and organic compounds.

The new rules, in the works for more than two years, also do not apply to campground or backyard fire pits or wood-fired barbecues.

Particle pollution, or soot, is linked to a wide range of serious health effects, including heart attacks, strokes and asthma attacks. Several studies have linked wood smoke to premature death among people who suffer from heart and lung disease.

Many wood furnaces and stoves burn inefficiently, sending a lot of smoke, creosote and soot up the chimney. That particulate matter builds up to cause smog, sometimes in levels unhealthy to people in places like Denver, Albuquerque, N.M., and Fresno, Calif.

“Smoke from residential woodstoves and heaters is a significant source of harmful, fine-particle pollution in many areas of the country,” said Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. “Today’s proposed rule would make new stoves and heaters more efficient and about 80 percent cleaner starting in 2015.”

She said that by reducing air pollution associated with asthma attacks, heart attacks and strokes, the new rules will save Americans up to $2.4 billion a year in health care costs.

Indoor wood burning stoves and outdoor wood boilers are a popular method of heating in the Northland with the region’s abundant and inexpensive supply of firewood, especially in rural areas. A Minnesota Pollution Control Agency survey found state residents burned about 1.3 million cords of wood over the winter of 2011-2012 for heat and pleasure, double the amount of 10 years ago and the highest since the energy crisis of the late 1970s.

The survey found the highest level of wood burning in the northeastern region of the state

The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates 11.5 million U.S. homes heat with wood. The EPA says about 85,700 wood-burning heating devices will be made and sold annually by 2015.

For wood stoves, the new rules would require a maximum of 4.5 grams per hour of pollution in 2015 and reducing that to 1.5 grams per hour by 2020.

Daryl Lamppa, president of Lamp Manufacturing stove works in Tower, has been making high efficiency wood burning stoves for years. His design already meets the new federal standards. In tests conducted by an EPA-certified independent lab in Wisconsin in 2011, his stoves produced less than 1 gram of particulates per hour - and in some tests as low as 0.45 grams.

“We’re already there. This is good news for us,’’ Lamppa told the News Tribune on Friday, who said the key to increasing pollutants is by vastly increasing efficiency – how well and how completely the wood burns. “But there are a lot of stoves on the market out there that are going to have to make some serious changes… or get out of the business.”

Lamppa said his plant is nearly two months behind in meeting orders for his patented Kuuma Vapor Fire indoor wood gasification furnaces. The federal government already has required a thermal efficiency rating of 75 or higher to qualify for the current federal energy tax credit for stoves. The Kuuma hit 84 percent. Lamppa’s stove, intended to replace an indoor furnace, has a fuel combustion efficiency rating between 98.1 and 99.4 percent.

Meanwhile, for outdoor wood boilers, also called hydronic heaters, emissions would be limited to 0.32 pounds per million Btu heat output, with a cap of 7.5 grams per hour starting in 2015 and then a limit of 0.06 pounds per million Btu by 2020.

While the new EPA rules do not apply to traditional indoor fireplaces, at least for now, the EPA has invited comments on whether new fireplaces should be included.

The EPA also is considering allowing until 2023 for the final restrictions to be in place, depending on public comments. The agency will take comments on the proposal now before it becomes final next year.

For more information on burning wood for heat, and the new wood burner regulations, go to epa.gov/burnwise.
 
Alright guys, you know where threads go when they get all political. You want this in Politics, keep posting the political side of it. I'm gonna go delete a bunch of replies, and if any more show up that aren't anything more than slams at the political side of this - ##################### (my thoughts edited), I'll send this sucker sailing over the fence.
 
It was easier just to toss all the replies and start over than to judge which ones were too political.

Anyone who wants to argue the politics of the EPA can message me for the password to the Politics/Religion forum.

I apologize if anyone thinks their toes are getting stepped on here, but these always degrade into crap slinging if there's no intervention.
 
I have not had time to read much of the new rules. For stand-alone traditional wood stoves, have the limits actually changed? It kind of looks like they've just been extended to other appliances, but like I said I haven't read it well yet.
 
Not really liking it as I live in the middle of no where, more crap gets flung into the air then you can imagine. My wood burner is like a fart in a whirl wind.
Time to buy a couple of older stoves before they are long gone.
Remember the low flush toilets and how well they worked at first.
Maybe we will get there.
 
Not really liking it as I live in the middle of no where, more crap gets flung into the air then you can imagine. My wood burner is like a fart in a whirl wind.
Time to buy a couple of older stoves before they are long gone.
Remember the low flush toilets and how well they worked at first.
Maybe we will get there.

same out this way where i live. although, i doubt they will outlaw metal and a welder for a few years yet so i can still build my own if it gets to that point
 
I wonder how exactly anyone would effectively re-design a fireplace, which with the exception of add-in modifications like burn-tubes, etc has been relatively unchanged since dirt was invented, to meet these new guidelines IF applied to them? The whole point of a fireplace is the visual ambiance of the fire. A stove by contrast is much easier to redesign as it is an encapsulated box. Also, why would the fireplaces NOT be the target of ire, since they by definition and design emit much more physical pollutant than ANY stove to include smoke dragons, when run properly? This makes no sense from any point f view, but especially from a scientific, physical or practical standpoint.
 
same out this way where i live. although, i doubt they will outlaw metal and a welder for a few years yet so i can still build my own if it gets to that point
I would love to build my own but the insurance company frowns upon home made wood stoves.
 
I wonder how exactly anyone would effectively re-design a fireplace, which with the exception of add-in modifications like burn-tubes, etc has been relatively unchanged since dirt was invented, to meet these new guidelines IF applied to them? The whole point of a fireplace is the visual ambiance of the fire. A stove by contrast is much easier to redesign as it is an encapsulated box. Also, why would the fireplaces NOT be the target of ire, since they by definition and design emit much more physical pollutant than ANY stove to include smoke dragons, when run properly? This makes no sense from any point f view, but especially from a scientific, physical or practical standpoint.
I suppose the logic is that since few people actually use them as a source of heat and run them 24/7, then the cumulative effect is not very large compared to stoves, furnaces and OWBs.
 
It was easier just to toss all the replies and start over than to judge which ones were too political.

Anyone who wants to argue the politics of the EPA can message me for the password to the Politics/Religion forum.

I apologize if anyone thinks their toes are getting stepped on here, but these always degrade into crap slinging if there's no intervention.
Can't seem to figure out how to send a PM to you for a password.
 
Fireplace burn cleaner than smoke dragons. Especially damped down smoke dragons.

Love our glass doored Jotul F600CB. It meets EPA standards of 1988 and kicks out the BTU's!
he's refering to an actual masonry fireplace, NOT an insert, as an insert is actaully much more like a wood stove than a fireplace...
 
OMG‼ How funny is that??
They still don't work... it requires a Royal Flush to best my crap...
*
My newer one works way better then my older one that I just took out.
It was the toughest toilet in NW Iowa, would not take crap off of any body.
 
So if I understand correctly its probably safe to say by the end of the year any company that builds stoves without some type of secondary combustion will need to do a drastic redesign on their units or go out of business. Seems It would ban most all indoor forced wood furnaces but a few within a year
 
What makes a stove burn more efficiently?
Std answer: time, temperature and turbulence.
The temperature part is a hard one, often addressed by wrapping firebox in firebrick. Experiments by Jay Shelton in the '70s found that 1100 deg F was a "magic temp" for complete combustion. Good turbulence (mixing) can help reduce extra (cooling) air.
The immense amount of cooling air really makes a fireplace dirty. Reportedly in some areas of southern Germany, open fireplaces require catalytic converters, the temps still have to be elevated to get the cat to light off.
 
Yep... won't be long and your stove will look like the engine compartment of an early 80's auto... catalytic converters, stepper motors, exhaust gas recirculation valves, liquid pre-heated intakes, air injection pumps, itty-bitty exhaust ports, O2 sensors, 700 ft. of wire... and 700 miles of vacuum hose. There'll be a "malfunction indicator lamp" that comes on twice a year... which will lock the door so ya' can't put anymore wood in... it'll cost ya' $135.oo per hour to have some guy come plug his WOODBOXIII into it, retrieve the codes, run diagnostics, and replace a $460.oo "sensor". Of course, 10 days later it will do the same thing, same problem... this time the guy will test your fuel and tell you it's your fault because the firewood is at 18.2% moisture and the maximum allowed in your model is 17.9%. And don't forget, he'll be required to send a report for each "service visit" to the EPA... just in case they need to fine you for "Improper Use Of A Regulated Device".

And if you think I was trying to be funny or make a joke... think again.
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