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Emissions - "If We All Do A Little..."
"Tomorrow's consumer will be concerned not only with how much energy his house consumes, but also how much environmental impact his particular form of energy has." (Ref. Masonry Heater Association News, Vol. 5, #2, reporting on articles in "Environmental Building News")
Incomplete combustion of wood creates biologically harmful "particulate" emissions, visible as smoke. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency and individual states enforce the most stringent regulations on wood smoke emissions in the world. In many states, wood stoves and open fireplaces are being restricted or completely banned due to their inherent poor combustion and excessive emissions.
Not many would argue that we cannot continue to pollute the oceans and rivers and the air we breathe and hope to live long and healthy lives. Ultimately, improving air quality and other essential elements of our environment will be a "grass roots" movement by people around the world doing a little to create a large impact.
Temp-Cast 2000 fireplaces use the latest burn technology which incorporates an over-fired combustion air delivery and top-down burning technique. The air comes through the door frame, feeding the fire from above the fuel load. This permits more complete combustion during the early stages of a fire, as the wood gases burn above the fuel as soon as they are released. The top down burn assists this, with the kindling placed on top of the main fuel load igniting quickly and promoting rapid gas combustion.
These innovations ensure that the vast majority of environmentally harmful gases, compounds and tars are burned in the firebox, creating heat, not pollution. The Temp-Cast 2000 fireplace, and other masonry stoves, have been tested for emissions, demonstrating that they are the cleanest burning wood stoves in existence.
| "A new, super low emissions category is now being implemented to cover appliances with emissions in the 1 to 2 gram per hour range. The masonry heaters tested fall into this category, which makes them belong to that rare class of wood heating systems that are acceptable for use even in the most polluted areas." (Ref. Paul E. Tiegs, Omni Environmental Services, reported by Masonry Heater News, Vol. 5, #2, 1992) |
Heating your home with a Temp-Cast masonry heater is a responsible environmental decision that you can feel good about - for not adding to the air pollution problem, and for using a renewable fuel that is intimately part of the natural ecology. In addition, Temp-Cast fireplaces are manufactured from 95% recycled and natural materials and therefore add very little to the environmental burden.
Masonry heaters as a group have been shown in field tests to emit an average of 2.8 gm/kg of emissions. (Ref. Barnett, S.G., "Summary Report of the In-Home Emissions and Efficiency Performance of Five Commercially Available Masonry Heaters", the Masonry Heater Association, May 1992.)
| "Environmentally, masonry heaters evidently outshine all other wood burners and, perhaps every other heating system, save solar." (Ref. Dirk Thomas, The Harrowsmith Country Life Guide to Wood Heat, 1992) |
Wood - A Clean, Renewable Fuel
Wood, if properly burned, is a very "clean" fuel, comprised of 99% combustible solids and gases. The other 1% is non-combustible ash, which can be recycled into the garden. In addition, efficient wood-burning does not add to global warming or acid rain, since burning releases about the same amount of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and methane as the natural decomposition of wood on the forest floor.
Although wood is one of few truly "renewable" fuels, it is vastly under utilized in North America.
Many countries encourage wood use for home heating and have comprehensive forest management plans which take into account the value of wood as a heating fuel. It is comparatively inexpensive to grow, manage, harvest and handle.
Properly managed, an industry surrounding wood use as a house heating fuel would create thousands of local jobs, reduce our dependence on other fuels, and be beneficial to our planet.
Health, Comfort & Quality of Life
"Finnish fireplaces produce gentle, long term radiant heat that directly affects the indoor environment in a profound way." (Ref. Albert Barden & Heikki Hyytiainen, Finnish Fireplaces - Heart of the Home)
Homes heated with a radiant masonry heater are relatively quiet and have a cozy warmth which you may only notice when you step outside. Because the air is not being directly heated by the fireplace, as it is in a forced air system, it is cooler and seems fresher, a welcome change to allergy sufferers.
By contrast, metal stoves and forced-air furnaces tend to "fry" the dust in household air, due to their higher surface and burner temperatures, causing an unpleasant smell and dry air. European authorities are now studying the adverse biological effects of "fried" household dust.
"It should also be noted that the whole concept of airtight house construction and its accompanying problems of indoor pollution is healthily challenged by masonry wood heating. With masonry heaters we are not trying to heat the room air by forced convection from some remote, dusty, central heating system. We are instead heating solid materials and people by direct radiation. Such a system creates warm, solid surfaces and fresh, clean air." (Ref. Albert Barden & Heikki Hyytiainen, Finnish Fireplaces - Heart of the Home)
Since a masonry heater does not superheat the air, currents and drafts caused by the hot air/cool air cycle are reduced, and with them, the "indoor weather". In addition, there is no powerful fan pushing the air around, contributing to this moving air and "wind-chill". Another subtle benefit of this type of heating is the stimulating effect of slight variations in heating from room to room. (Slight is the important word - large differences in heating from room to room are a little too stimulating for most people.)
| "The user of a fireplace comes to understand that fire, like the sun, is a life-sustaining and renewing force, that the real purpose of a fireplace is to renew the energy of those who gather around it." (Ref. Albert Barden & Heikki Hyytiainen, Finnish Fireplaces - Heart of the Home) |
A little known wood-heating phenomenon concerns the balance of positive and negative ions in a room and how it affects our bodies. Ions are naturally occurring charged particles in the air, and are usually not a concern unless the natural balance is upset. A room with insufficient negative ions can cause adverse biological effects on its occupants such as sleepiness, headaches and lethargy. Metal stoves give off positive ions to a room, which upsets this proper balance. Masonry stoves, because of their large radiating surfaces and low external temperatures, do not cause this problem.
Safety
There is no safer wood-burning heater than a properly constructed masonry stove. It is only fired for a few hours a day while you can watch it, and never at night when you sleep.
After the fire is out, there is no part of the heater's exterior that is unsafe to touch, with surface temperatures in the 155 to 175 degree F. (68 to 79 deg. C) range. In fact, it is quite safe and comfortable to sit with your back to the masonry facade to soak up warmth. Many old European stoves had a sleeping platform built onto the top of the heater and some people today incorporate a heated sitting nook or bench into their designs.
Chimney fires are a major concern in North America, causing house fires which result in needless deaths and destroyed homes. They are a serious problem with metal stoves and wood furnaces, due to typically low operating temperatures and resulting low combustion efficiency. This allows unburned gases to form tars and compounds in the smoke, which then condense in the chimney system, forming creosote, the fuel for a chimney fire.
This hazard is virtually eliminated with a masonry stove, mainly due to the heat storage ability inherent in their designs. The masonry mass and large heat storage allows them to be operated comfortably at high temperatures, which creates consistently high combustion efficiency. These two features, which are unique to masonry stoves, ensure that all combustible gases are burned in the heater, producing heat, not creosote.
Section Summary
| • Wood smoke emissions contribute to poor air quality & will face ever-increasing regulation. |
| • A Temp-Cast wood heater is one of the cleanest burning products available. |
| • Temp-Cast heaters are acceptable in areas that have restricted or banned other stoves or fireplaces. |
| • Wood as a fuel in a masonry heater is clean-burning& a renewable resource. |
| • Masonry Heaters are unsurpassed in terms of safety & indoor air quality. |
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