Stoves For Heating – Epa Wood Burning Stoves

By Author: Thomas Smith
Total Articles: 8
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When a tree is growing it absorbs the suns heat and stores it as chemical energy, when wood is ignited it’s essentially releasing a small portion of the sun, it releases primarily Carbon Dioxide (CO2), if the burn is not done as effective as it should there will also be carbon monoxide and wood particles. Smoke is basically the woods mass being released in hot gases (yes gas has weight) and unburned wood particles.

The goal is to primarily have CO2 in the exhaust; to this there you must burn off extra unburned wood and carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide wont combust until temperatures of 1100 or above have been succesfully been reached. CO2 is necessary for plants to grow and thrive, however it is a green house gas, one that has been growing in our atmosphere in larger and larger amounts every year for the past few centuries. Luckily burning wood is the lowest source of this CO2; the largest releases of CO2 per hour come from fuels we actually use in larger quantities on a daily basis such as gasoline and electricity.

The problem with burning wood, as noted by the Environmental Protection Agency, are unburned ...
... wood particles carried away with the hot gases as smoke, these particles can potentially cause cancer and are over all un appreciated, especially in an urban area where hundreds of people might be burning wood at the same time. To couple this, the EPA put regulations on more controlled burners that release large amounts of particulate matter such as wood burning stoves. They lowered the previous 40-60 grams of particle emission per hour down to the current 7 for catalytic wood burning stoves and 4 for non-catalytic stoves.

A modern wood burning stove will also incorporate other features such as natural or fan assisted convection currents to better throw the heat of the stove, instead of simply relying on radiant energy. The design for convection vents that pull in cold air and push out hot air naturally was first brought to the public eye by Benjamin Franklin’s “Franklin Stove”. Since heat agitates the air particles, causing them to spread out, the molecule orbits spread out, causing the air in a given area to have fewer particles and be lighter. Modern wood burning stoves take advantage of Franklin’s design, one that has gone unnoticed for so long with the use of fireplaces and wood burning stoves. S

As EPA approved wood burning stoves burn off the unclean emissions using either a catalyst or a baffle with secondary air, it’s burning off carbon monoxide and wood particles, creating more heat. Temperatures inside a modern wood burning stove will reach above 1000 degrees where as older models will hold perhaps just above 500. The EPA is even offering a tax rebate program for the purchase of an EPA approved wood burning stove.