How to keep the home fires burning without choking out the atmosphere
Many Nova Scotians have long relied on wood as a way to chop down their winter heating bills. This renewable resource is usually much more affordable than other forms of heat – and it comes with the added bonus of producing a pleasant crackle, dancing flames, and that lovely, homey aroma. Bring on the hot chocolate! Unfortunately, traditional ways of burning it have also produced greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Residential wood burning is a major source of air pollution in Nova Scotia and has a very real effect on the health of our friends, family and neighbours as well as our environment. Air pollution contributes to the deaths at least 10,000 Canadians annually. But that doesn’t mean we have to give wood burning the axe! Far from it. We just need to make sure we’re doing it right. Here’s some fuel for thought:
Woodstoves, Fireplaces, and Pellet Stoves
A Burn for the Better
Woodstoves, Fireplaces and Pellet Stoves
Woodstoves Work
Just as with every other appliance in our homes, woodstoves have undergone an efficiency revolution. Today’s advanced combustion models burn 90 per cent cleaner than older ones. That does more than help our environment; it saves you money on maintenance. With less creosote forming in your chimney, you won’t have to clean as often – and your risk of chimney fires is reduced, too. High-efficiency stoves will also stop money from burning a hole in your pocket because they use up to a third less wood. Find out more about what models to look for and how to get yours properly installed at this site.
Fix Your Fireplace
When those home decorating shows say nothing warms up a home like a fireplace, they mean the doo-dads you can display on the mantel. Santa’s front door may look charming, but traditional fireplaces really do more to suck the heat and air out of your home than to put any real warmth back in. (Ever notice how cold the other rooms are in your house on the nights when you have a fire in the fireplace? That’s why!) And we haven’t even talked about what went up the chimney and out over the neighbourhood. But don’t brick in the family hearth just yet! Switch it for an advanced combustion wood fireplace. This will give you all the benefits of a modern, efficient woodstove while maintaining that “home and hearth” look in your living room. Curl up before the roaring info on this site.
Pellet Power
These stoves look just like a wood-burning stove or fireplace insert but feed on pellets, not wood. They are so energy efficient, and burn so cleanly, you could could be eligible for a rebate if you upgrade your system.
A Burn for the Better
You’ve heard the expression garbage in, garbage out, right? Computer programmers may have coined it, but it applies to wood-burning appliances, too. To get the right stuff from our appliances, we need to put only the right stuff in. For starters, garbage – real garbage, including diapers or household rubbish, plastic, or cardboard – must never be burned. Trash like this can emit toxic chemicals that could damage your appliance’s catalytic combustor, not to mention your neighbour’s lungs.
Which Wood Wouldn’t Do?
Just because a stick is made of wood doesn’t mean it would do for your stove or fireplace. Wet wood, green or pressure-treated wood, driftwood, painted wood and any particle boards or plywoods should not be burned at home. Check with your municipality about how to get rid of them properly.
Light My Fire
The best wood for your wood stove or fireplace is dry, well seasoned, and cut to the right length. For tips on how to stack it, store it, and start it, go here. And to make sure you don’t get burned when buying it, follow these steps.
Fake Out Your Fireplace
If you still have a traditional fireplace and burn wood only once in a while because it looks pretty, consider a fake log. No, not the crinkly tinsel with the lightbulb behind it, although that is cute. Fake logs look and burn like a real log, but they’re made from wood and paper byproducts. They’re easy to find in many hardware stores and grocery stores, light easily and don’t produce the emissions of regular wood. Java Logs, in particular, are made here in Canada from recycled coffee grounds, along with wood and vegetable by-products.
Note: Fake logs should never be burned in a wood burning stove, advanced combustion fireplace, or pellet stove.
Pick Up Some Pellets
Pellet-stove owners love how clean and convenient the fuel is for their stoves. No chopping. No lugging. No chips left in a trail from the door to the woodbox. No spiders and other bugs hiding in the logs. Pellets are a renewable resource, made of compressed wood and other biomass wastes. You can get your pellets from the same dealer who sold you your pellet stove, or look in your YellowPages under Stoves-Wood, Oil & Gas-Retail.
Your Energy Rebate
Check out the Nova Scotia EnerGuide for Houses/ecoEnergy Retrofit Program for information on upgrading your wood-burning appliance.
Any other burning questions? Download the Burn it Hot, Keep it Clean brochure here.