Do you heat with wood? If so, here’s a chance for you to upgrade your old wood stove or wood fireplace insert to a cleaner burning unit and save some money while improving local air quality.
Until April 30, municipal and rural residents of the RDOS can receive a $250 rebate when they replace and render unusable their old wood stove or wood insert with a new EPA/CSA emission-approved wood, gas, pellet or electric appliance. But don’t delay as this offer is limited to the first 40 exchanges.
Participating retailers are also offering upfront a discount of $150 or more. They have all the information needed as well as documentation that shows the emission ratings of all the new stoves.
In many valley communities, smoke from wood burning units is the greatest source of particulate matter next to open burning. Particulate matter is one of the main pollutants that leads to poor air quality and can have serious health impacts. Upgrading is important, but equally important is the operation of a wood stove, the firewood used, and the chimney. New EPA wood stoves when operated correctly will reduce smoke pollution by 90 per cent and use 1/3 less wood. Chimney smoke is a sign of an inefficient burn, produces unnecessary air pollution and wastes wood. Burn only clean dry wood; do not burn wood with glue, paint or treated wood. A moisture meter is an excellent tool to measure the woods moisture content and it should read between15 – 20 per cent. Wood that is too dry, such as kiln-dried wood, is great wood for a campfire but not for wood stove use. Kiln dried wood burns too hot and can damage your stove. Wood with more than 20 per cent moisture will smoke, creating more air pollution and you will lose the benefit of the heat as all the energy generated goes to boiling off the water in the wood.
For more information on the Great Okanagan Similkameen Wood Stove Exchange Program visit one of the participating retailers: Princeton Builders Mart, Bob’s Stove Repair, Paquette Heating, Accent Living, Okanagan Home Centre, Penticton Home Hardware, and OK Falls Red Barn. You can also obtain information on the RDOS website: www.rdos.bc.ca (click on Departments - Public Works - Air Quality - Wood Heating).