Wood stove technology and air program rule update

Residential wood heating has gone through many changes over the centuries. Fireplaces in Europe were replaced with more efficient masonry heaters when wood became scarce. The Franklin stove, invented in 1742 in the United States, heated colonial homes more efficiently and with less smoke in the home than standard fireplaces and stoves in use at that time. Today, wood stove innovation continues, driven by the need to improve air quality and provide economical heat at the residential scale.

In the 1980s, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adopted its first rules establishing wood stove emission standards and testing methods. These standards and testing methods were meant to be updated over time to reflect growing knowledge and experience.

In 2015, the EPA updated the national standards for wood stove emission rates and emission rate testing methods. However, most manufacturers and government agencies recognized that the 2015 testing methods still retained serious flaws and a rigorous study on how to improve the wood heater testing methods was needed. Several wood heater manufacturers, states and the EPA are currently in a multi-year process to develop these new testing methods.

This brings us to Seeley Lake. Since winter wood stove smoke causes high particulate levels in Seeley Lake, installing clean, efficient wood stoves in Seeley Lake for heating is crucial for cleaner air. In the proposed Missoula City-County Air Quality Program Rule updates (which have been on hold since 2020 but work will start on the rules again this year), only clean burning and efficient wood heaters or pellet stoves may be installed in Seeley Lake. The first draft of the updated Air Rules required pellet stoves or automated stoves for new installations in Seeley Lake. However, there were questions and concerns that the automated stove technology was not ready and that the testing methods needed improvement. Because of these concerns, the proposed rules will simply require EPA-certified devices that are at least 70% efficient for new installations.

The United States Department of Energy has been funding the development of innovative clean burning wood heater designs for the past few years. Most of the new designs focus on improved combustion techniques, automation and sensor technologies found in other combustion technologies such as automobiles and power plants. As these designs are perfected, tested and meet the needs of Seeley Lake residents, the Missoula City-County Health Department will look for ways to encourage the installation of these improved devices. The newer devices should burn cleaner and put more heat into the home instead of out the chimney. This reduces the amount of time and money people need for gathering and splitting wood and improves air quality inside and outside the home, which benefits everyone’s health.