A fire inside

I have always been a little conflicted about fireplaces and wood stoves.  No matter how much I love sitting next to my wood stove I must admit that it releases pollution and carbon dioxide into the air.  This fact has caught the attention of municipalities and governing bodies around the country and air pollution laws often times address residential wood burning.

See what the City of Los Angeles did in 2008.
Arcata, California also addressed wood burning at home.

Diagram showing the relative emissions of 7 common heating methods.  

I found this diagram and think that it is worth sharing but I certainly don't take it as gospel.  The diagram suggests that oil, gas and electric heat emit the least amount of fine particles.  If you only calculate emissions at the home, this diagram is accurate.  If you take into consideration that your home's electric heat was produced by burning coal in a factory, you might have to take out your paper and pencil and double check your math.  Obviously, this diagram is too simple and doesn't account for other sources of pollution along the process of production.  What the diagram does do well is illustrate that not all wood stoves are created equal.  Most open-faced fire places are still pretty inefficient, but we have entered the world of efficient residential wood stoves.  Since Neanderthals first made fires in caves,  efficient and clean-burning fire technology has come a long way.

My wood stove is much more efficient and clean burning than this fire

My wood stove is not the primary heating source for the Armstrong House.  Its more like a very fun and entertaining way to heat up my living room.  I fire it up at night when I watch a movie, when I entertain guests or when I simply want to play with fire.  I don't think too much about releasing airborne toxins because my wood stove is an amazing piece of technology.  

Generously donated by Wittus (a local stove dealer), my EPA certified, soapstone-covered stove boasts a handful of technical efficiencies, including: 

Clean burning - many of the organic particles (like ash) are burned in the firebox instead of being sent up the stove pipe. 

Cold air intake pipe – This is my favorite feature. My stove has two pipes that connect it to outside: 1) The smoke stack (necessary for any stove) and, 2) an air intake pipe.  Without this intake pipe, the fire would steadily pull in the room's air (remember, fires need to breath).  As the fire sucks in the room's air, the room needs to replace it – where does the room get this air?  Cold air from outside enters the room through the windows and walls to replace the air being sucked into the fire.  While that air exchange is going on the temperature of the room goes down.  My air intake pipe streamlines that whole process and directly sends air to the fire without inadvertently cooling the room.        

Insulated combustion chamber - the materials used to insulate the combustion chamber allow it to reach extremely high temperatures, which increases efficiency while reducing emissions.  

The Armstrong House's wood stove.  

The soapstone stays hot for hours and is actually still warm to the touch in the morning.  I have found that wood stoves certainly have their place in residential home heating and, like at the Armstrong House, stoves are suitable components of the overall heating system.  Now with efficient and technologically advanced stoves, burning wood doesn't necessarily mean spewing pollution into the air.    

If you're shopping around, you need to do your research.  Here is some general starting information on residential wood burning.  Happy heating.  Respect fire.