tip_of_month
Tip of the Month - February 2008
As published in the Lafayette Today newspaper.
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Many Lafayette residents have wondered about the environmental impact of having traditional wood fires in the winter. Does a wood fire create much pollution? Is it an efficient way to heat a home? Does it contribute to global warming?

First a little background. Traditional fireplaces are truly ancient. A hearth with a stone or masonry chimney represents the first advance from a fire built on a dirt floor. But in a modern home there is still nothing that fully replaces a fireplace as the focal point in a living room and we all enjoy the ambiance of a flickering, crackling fire in the fireplace.

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Does a wood fire create much air pollution? The short answer is yes. When wood burns, complete combustion does not occur, so it produces wood smoke. Wood smoke contains many types of air pollutants regulated by state and federal rules because of their known health effects. These include: carbon monoxide (reduces the blood’s ability to supply oxygen), oxides of nitrogen (impairs the respiratory system), volatile organic compounds, toxic pollutants (cancer-causing substances), and others. Burning wood also causes indoor air pollution. Remember, if you can smell smoke, then you are breathing smoke!

Is a wood fire an efficient way to heat a home? It can be, but not using a traditional fireplace. Traditional fireplaces rob your house of heat because they draw air from the room and send it up the chimney. Yes, you’ll be warmed if you sit within six feet of the fire, but the rest of your house is getting colder as outdoor air leaks in to replace the hot air going up the chimney. For more efficient heating with wood use an EPA certified fireplace insert or an EPA certified wood stove. Even more efficient is a “pellet stove” which only produces 1 gram per hour of particulate emissions.

Do wood fires contribute to global warming? Not significantly. Global warming is almost entirely caused by the burning of fossil fuels, which releases CO2 into the atmosphere that otherwise would never be there. Burning wood speeds up, by some decades, the release of CO2 captured in trees (about 2/3rds of the total weight) that would be released eventually when the tree dies and rots. If a tree is cut down and used as firewood without being replaced then it does add to global warming—CO2 is released without an equivalent amount being recaptured by a new tree.

So, to help protect the environment you can have wood fires less often, use seasoned hardwood that burns cleaner, convert your fireplace with a certified insert or to natural gas, or just fill your fireplace with candles! For more information about burning wood you can visit: http://www.arb.ca.gov/cap/handbooks/wood_burning_handbook.pdf
For other ideas about how to live more sustainably, please visit www.sustainablelafayette.net.




pdflink to PDF of Lafayette Today that included article on page 9