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Spring Home Remodeling: Plan Now for a Cheaper Winter Bill

Jennifer Morkunas, Celilo Group Media Tuesday, March 31, 2009 06:30 PM
TAGS: HOME, energy efficiency

Many houses have heaters, fireplaces, woodstoves or a combination of all three, yet are still uncomfortably cold inside. Aren’t we smart enough to keep ourselves warm? Even beavers build their dens to stay incredibly toasty and dry, so what’s going on with us? You may have taken one look at your heating bill over the last few months and wondered the same thing.

Spring is finally here and we can use this time to prepare and remodel for next winter. Here are some ways to manage staying warm, saving money and being green (besides wearing that green thrift store sweater you bought for St. Patrick's Day).
Image: Flickr/Creative Commons

A good place to start is to search for potential rebates for upgrading to more efficient appliances in your abode. Energy Star has a “Heating & Cooling” page where you can type in your zip code and find special offers and rebates from Energy Star Partners. The U.S. Department of Energy also offers Weatherization Assistance that enables low-income families to permanently reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient.

Each of our EcoMetro cities has a different program with information that you can use regardless of where you dwell. In Portland, Energy Trust offers a free home energy audit, and their website hosts many kinds of discounts and cash back for appliance upgrades. Searching on Seattle’s official city site, I found a complete Home Energy Audit you can reference and print out. Programs listed here at the California Bay Area’s Spare the Air offer rebates to change out your old wood stove entirely.

If you have a wood stove or fireplace, check out cleaner burning logs such as Java-Logs or Duraflame. Burning wood adds particle pollution and, in some parts of the United States, smoke from wood stoves and fireplaces is the largest source of outdoor air pollution from residential sources.

An alternative to burning firewood is to burn wood pellets, which are made from recycled wood and other lumber byproducts that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill. Wood pellets have a much lower moisture level and burn very hot, producing more heat than normal wood. Pellets also contain no creosote producing material and are considered carbon neutral. They are much more convenient to store than gigantic chunks of wood that spill bark all over your floor and invite spiders. Pellets are also easy to use, and brands like Nature's Heat Pellets are also pretty easy to find at your local hardware or gardening stores (search our directory with those keywords). If you are interested in converting to a wood pellet burning stove, read all about them and search for a retailer here at the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association.

You can also easily convert your existing fireplace to use pellets. I found a company that makes a wood pellet basket that fits most fireplaces. Just scoop some clean-burning wood pellets into The Pelleteer and check out the cool green flames*!

*Flames from wood pellets are not actually green, and are not cool but actually quite hot.

Comments
mt tabor chimney guy April 14, 2009

As a hearth professional in the Portland area, licensed, bonded, insured chimney sweep as required by the OR CCB, I have to take some time to point out some broad generalizations and stereotypes as well as incorrect statements in your article.

If you want complete information about proper maintenance of chimneys, fireplaces, wood stoves and the like, start with the National Chimney Sweep Guild site, www.ncsg.org, then check out the Chimney Safety Institute at www.csia.org.

If you are truly interested in using alterntative heat sources there is more to consider than pellet stoves. Your statement that wood stoves emit particle pollution is not accurate. Wood stoves built 20 or more years ago are polluters but wood stoves built in the last 20 years have to comply with EPA Clean Air Standards. In fact, the EPA is taking testimony and is in the process of reviewing the clean air standards that apply to wood stoves right now in the effort to revise and update those standards. Wood stoves sold in OR are required by the DEQ and EPA to meet clean air standards and have since 1988. If you check the OR DEQ web site, there is an entire section devoted to wood stoves that qualify. If you go to buy a wood stove, the dealer will show you the manufacturer plate showing compliance with the EPA standards. A wood stove without this plate cannot be legally sold and permitted for installation in OR. No wood stove manufacturer is simply going to manufacture wood stoves to meet EPA standards for Oregon. They instead meet the EPA standards and sell the same model in the entire country. Further, wood stoves today are extremely efficient, 70% plus, burn less wood, produce more heat, and produce little pollution. This is accomplished through new technologies that I will not take the time to explain here, but a local wood stove retailer would be happy to explain. If you want even more information, check out woodheat.org.

Pellet stoves can be an option and the pellets are not just made from wood and lumber byproducts and waste products, they can also be made from any biomass products. The pellets do not necessarily produce more heat than "normal wood" as you claim. It is dependent upon the type of material used and the manufacturing process. The moisture content of pellets vs. wood is also misleading. Burning wood with more than 20% moisture is a problem. However, properly split and stacked wood that is allowed age a minimum of 1 year has less than 20% moisture and will burn without problems and is quite similar to the moisture rate of pellets. In addition, creosote is a byproduct of incomplete combustion and is often due to the wood stove operater improperly setting the air intake on the wood stove. It can also be created by burning wet or green wood. If you want additional information about pellets then visit pelletheat.org. You should also visit the National Fireplace Institute or NFI.org for more information.

I am concerned over the lack of balanced information in your article and am disappointed that you did not take the time to fully investigate this area. Had you taken the time to check it out, perhaps you would have known that the HPBA was able to insert language into the Federal Stimulus Bill about alternative heating appliances such as wood stoves and pellet stoves. Currently there is a 30% tax credit for the purchase of wood stoves and pellet stoves. This tax credit is for 2009 and 2010. A local stove retailer can provide all the details.

In the future, it would be wise for you to contact an expert in the field of hearth technologies and consult them prior to writing in this area. Any local hearth appliance dealer would be happy to discuss trends, options and applications with you. Chimney sweeps such as myself can be found at CSIA.org or the Oregon Chimney Sweeps Association at ocsa.com.

Finally, all homeowners with fireplaces, wood stoves, pellet stoves and even gas fireplaces should have a properly certified, licensed, bonded, and insured chimney sweep inspect and clean these hearth products on an annual basis, regardless of the level of use.

If you want to contact me, I would look forward to talking with you about this area.

Kent Swanson

Mt. Tabor Chimney Co., LLC

OR CCB 180592

CSIA #6212

FIRE Inspector #FP-105

NFI Certified #153104

Proud member of NCSG and NFPA
March 31, 2009

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