 Outdoor Wood Furnace Chimney Emissions Standards and the Environment
Americans have burned wood as a primary source of heat for generations. Responsible manufactures, like Central Boiler, work to ensure their furnaces (also referred to boilers) are properly installed and used to produce clean, safe and efficient heat.
EPA Emissions Testing
To understand the environmental impact of a Central Boiler outdoor wood burning furnace, it is best to rely on the testing and reports generated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). After testing a Central Boiler outdoor wood burning furnace, EPA reported that these furnaces produce similar particulate matter (PM) as wood stoves.
EPA said: “Compared to a wide range of residential heating options, these furnaces’ emissions were of the same order as other stick wood burning appliances.” (EPA report: EPA/600/SR-98/017, February 1998)
Furthermore, when comparing data from this report and data from a report on EPA certified phase 2 indoor wood stoves (EPA report: EPA/600/SR-00/100 December 2000), the comparison shows emissions from the Central Boiler wood furnace and EPA certified phase 2 indoor wood stoves both average 10 grams of particulate matter per kilogram (g/kg) of wood consumed. (Emissions Comparison from Two EPA Reports)
When heating a home, outdoor wood furnaces also produce less particulate matter than fireplaces.
EPA Phase 1 Emissions Guidelines
Central Boiler has worked closely with EPA on new testing standards and works with state and local governments on appropriate regulations to encourage cleaner burning outdoor wood furnaces and to implement Best Burn Practices.
On January 29, 2007, EPA announced new emissions test guidelines under Phase 1 of EPA's Outdoor Wood-fired Hydronic Heater Program to promote the manufacture and sale of cleaner outdoor wood furnaces.
In addition, Central Boiler has developed the new E-Classic, next-generation outdoor wood furnace that will meet EPA test guidelines. The EPA OWHH Phase 1 Program for outdoor wood furnaces has a very stringent emissions standard of 0.6 lbs/million Btu. When the E-Classic was tested by an EPA accredited laboratory, the weighted emissions were less than 0.6 lbs/million Btu. According to EPA, “most current EPA-certified woodstoves emit 0.8-1.5 lbs/million Btu heat input.”
Other Emissions Studies
Some emissions studies report that heating homes with outdoor wood furnaces produce more emissions than heating homes with indoor wood stoves. These reports are misleading. In order to heat a typical 3,000-square-foot home, the number of wood stoves required to heat the home would have comparable emissions to those from a single outdoor wood furnace heating that same home.
In fact, outdoor wood furnaces are more efficient than fireplaces. There are more than 16 million fireplaces used in homes in the United States. A Central Boiler outdoor wood furnace will heat a home with less wood burned and far fewer PM emissions than heating the same home with fireplaces.
Reportedly, there are about 200,000 outdoor wood furnaces and 10 million indoor wood stoves in the United States.
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