The Skinny on Wood Stoves

Here's an interesting international piece. Wood stoves are used to heat and cook all over the world, but sometimes they compromise health. It's good to see this innovative stove in Argentina. I wonder whether it's affordable.

Treehugger: High Performance Non-Contaminant Stove Designed in Argentina

We're seeing more changeout programs - get those non-certified wood stoves replaced. $200 is nothing to sneer at, even if the price for new certified wood stoves has skyrocketed.

The Reporter - Rebates offered to change wood stoves: "Rebates offered to change wood stoves

The Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District, [California] in an effort
to reduce particulate matter emissions from woodsmoke, is sponsoring a Woodstove
Changeout Program Aug. 15 through Sept. 30.
The program offers a $200 rebate
to anyone who resides within the district when they replace a non-certified
woodburning stove or insert with any of the following appliances: natural gas,
propane, pellet stove or EPA certified woodstove. "

Still no regulation of wood furnaces from the EPA, and some are getting impatient as another winter approaches.

Why the reticence when the certification of wood stoves has proven so effective at reducing particulates? Is the wood furnace lobby that strong?

Here's an article from Bangor, Maine

Smoke gets in your lungs - Bangornews.com Staff:

"When it comes to health issues, there are some where we can 'wait and see' while others need an immediate and
aggressive response. When the threat is to our lungs due to air pollution, we can't afford to wait and see. That's why the American Lung Association of Maine has identified the use of outdoor wood boilers as a serious lung health hazard requiring immediate action."

Here's one Kevin Kelly at Cool Tools recommended --

Cool Tool: Wall Tent Stoves

Portable wood stoves are for tents, tipis, huts or other temporary shelters. More efficient than a campfire, and more powerful than a backpacking stove, they are often used by ranchers, hunters, fisherman, and other trail groups who need to set up a moveable camp.

Modern Mechanix » Modernistic Fireplace Opens to Reveal a Small Bar

Modernistic Fireplace Opens to Reveal a Small Bar

I love discovering old articles that describe modern home design for gracious living.  This one, circa 1939, describes a fireplace mantle and surround that opens into a bar -- just the thing for a small apartment. And you can build this one yourself.

The photos are great!

No, we're not talking people cuddling by a woodstove here. No human romance. We're talking birds.

And I'm going to have to start a page on wood stoves and pets, I guess. I've heard old stories about sending canaries down into mines to test the air. I guess Love Birds have a similar sensitivity.

aaasite445's space: A Beginners Guide to...: " No matter how hard you may'try, a wood burner will emit fumes and smoke into your home that may kill your lovebird. If you have a home with a wood burner completely isolate a room only for your birds and use an infrared or electric heater. "

HUGIN Online: "Ratos new main owner of Jotul

-Ratos is acquiring 62.5% of the Norwegian wood burning stove and fireplace manufacturer Jotul
-Jotul's previous main owner, Accent Equity, will stay on with a 22.5% stake in the company

Read more about what Jotul owners think of their wood stoves here.

The Maine Lung Association has raised the alarm about wood furnaces this week.

You may remember that Eliot Spitzer, New York Attorney General and candidate for governor, raised this same alarm last winter. Last winter he organized the northeastern states to pressure DEP to develop standards and testing for wood furnaces.

We've yet to see anything from DEP and expect this issue to become even hotter by fall. The price of oil, the air pollution issues, and the growth in the sale of wood furnaces all contribute to opposition growing more vocal.

You can read more about wood furnaces and the issues they pose here.

New Data Shows Increasing Consumer Demand for Fireplaces, Stoves, Inserts and Other Hearth Products: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance: "Shipments of cordwood appliances, which include fireplaces, freestanding wood stoves and inserts, also showed impressive growth, increasing 13% from shipments in 2004. The new wood burning technology seen in today's stoves has not only become less polluting but has become more efficient over the past decade. According to HPBA, shipments of cordwood products went from 498,630 in 2004 to 561,596 in 2005."

If you're one of those half million, tell us how often you used your stove and how you like it. (Remember to tell us what stove you bought, please.)

ScienceDaily: Indoor Pollution From Cooking On Wood Stoves Affects Women In Developing Countries

Wood cook stoves present a whole different set of issues... If, like my brother Richard, you prefer a wood cook stove to the modern one next to it, pay attention to the indoor pollution issues. Although you may not use your wood cook stove to the extent these Mexican women do, you don't want to exacerbate anyone's health problems.

The contractor was doing the stove owner a favor. But favors from people who don't know what they're doing wreck havoc. This fire was the result of an improperly sized 'thimble' where the stovepipe passes through the wall.

"The Waterbury Connecticut Republican American Newspaper": "No one was home when a neighbor spotted flames shooting from the raised ranch on Holabird Avenue at 3 a.m. Saturday. The building was engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived a short time later, and was largely destroyed. The value of the loss has been estimated at between $150,000 and $200,000. "