Ok ok you have a very good point i understand that the EPA is trying to change the ways and effiency that wood burners produce not completly get rid of them but dont you think that the EPA has bigger fish to fry before going after things that produce a natural thing. If they need to go after something go after people who burn tires in the middle of town not after a eco friendly thing
So just to clarify we are primarily disucssing OWB...
Unfortunately, that's not the only problem. If some irresponsible individual decides to burn garbage in his OWB (whether its an EPA certified one or some piece of junk) once the unit is installed there is nothing the Govt can do to rip the unit out of there. Correct me if I'm wrong but it takes an awful lot to get the city to move in and clean someone's mess. We have a bylaw in our town where if some homeowner doesnt take care of his front lawn (junk cars, garbage, overgrown weeds) the city will come and clean it up and charge him. How often do they actually do this? Next to never. It turns into a huge legal battle. It takes years.
At least, if the EPA steps in new regulation it will improve the situation. Why?
1) An EPA fire box is a lot smaller than a standard firebox. Therefore you are limited in the size and amount of stuff you can put in there.
2) Due to their design an EPA certified burner severely restricts air intake. Which means that you will get a lot of smoke with garbage fuel and little else. No Heat! Therefore the irresponsible idiot will soon find he's bought an expensive piece of gear and he better respect it if he wants any useable heat.
3) The consumer and local govt will now have a standard. They will state that as of such-and-such a date only EPA units will be approved to be installed. Granted, that wont get rid of the older units and the crappy home made jobs but at least its a start. In a couple decades, these bad wood burners will rust their units out by burning chemicals and garbage and they'll have to upgrade. See #2 above.
4) No self respect EPA appliance MFG will warranty a unit where garbage has been burned. This should at least make some people thing before burning junk.