Wood Heater Manufacturers & Requirements - Wood Stoves & Fireplaces
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Wood Heater Manufacturers Push Back Against Tighter EPA Requirements

 Platteville WI wood burning stove installThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates pollution, including the level of efficiency wood heaters are required to have. One wood heater company formally protesting the increased tightening on pollution rules has recently been in the spotlight. This company met the upgraded pollution guidelines enacted in 2015, but now two-thirds of the remaining pollutants of wood smoke are required to be removed by 2020. This company and other manufacturers of hearth products won the ear of Washington DC on the matter. It was recently voted in the House to push back the date of these impending EPA requirements. Instead of a 2020 deadline, manufacturers hope to have three additional years to upgrade their products. The legislation has not passed the Senate, however.

The Purpose and Effects of the Strict EPA Standards

According to the EPA, the upcoming new pollution standard will eliminate 360 to 810 premature deaths every year. They also believe lost work days and hospital admissions related to respiratory illness will be reduced. Their figures show that the billions of dollars saved as a result of stricter wood heater requirements far outweigh the compliance costs to manufacturers, estimated to be approximately $46 million annually.

Once new guidelines are put into effect, it is projected that the additional cost to consumers for a single-family resident wood heater will be $1,500. The cost is already between $5,000 and $10,000. Consumers can definitely expect to pay considerably more for wood heaters in the near future.

There has been an ongoing process of upgrading the efficiency of wood heating appliances, beginning in 1988. When the first two phases of emissions standards went into effect from 1988 to 1990, the number of U.S. wood stove manufacturers dropped from 500 to 100. Four hundred manufacturers had no choice but to shut down because their products did not meet the new EPA standards.

The Ultimate EPA-Approved Wood-Burning Appliance

Although manufacturers of other types of wood-burning appliances still have tightening EPA rules to adhere to, pellet stove manufacturers have nothing to worry about. Pellet stoves are remarkably efficient. In fact, the EPA doesn’t regulate pellet appliances because they are considered smokeless. The innovation behind pellet stoves began in 1973, not long after there was a huge increase in the popularity of wood stoves, resulting from an oil embargo.

Instead of burning logs, pellet appliances burn highly compressed biomass wood pellets made from wood waste. The EPA and anyone who is environmentally conscious appreciates that the fuel for these appliances is made with materials that would otherwise have been thrown away.

beautiful fireplace and stove showroom in Elizabeth ILWhere to Buy Wood Heating Appliances

Chimney Specialists Inc. is the place to go in Highland, Wisconsin, and the surrounding area for top quality hearth appliances and chimney sweep services. There is a showroom where you can see pellet stoves in a wide range of styles, and you can also get a look at pellet fuel. If you are interested in having a new wood heating appliance installed, contact Chimney Specialists at 800-395-6660. You may save a lot of money by buying now, considering the tightening EPA regulations.

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