Burnt Offerings: Get a Tax Credit and Cleaner Lungs with a Phase 2 Wood-Burning Heater

While some residents of rural New England and other northern climes feel as if they are “burning money” just to make their homes warm during the winter, many are converting to hydronic heaters that meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Phase 2 Burn Wise program specifications—meaning that they carry a white hangtag certifying that they burn 90 percent more cleanly than old-fashioned models.

Launched in 2007, Burn Wise is a partnership between the EPA and manufacturers that have voluntarily chosen to comply with guidelines that emphasize the importance of burning the right wood, the right way, in the right wood-burning appliance to protect our homes, our health, and the air we all breathe.

Many outdoor wood heaters create significantly more pollution than other home-heating devices. They can produce heavy smoke, which is a nuisance, in addition to posing risks to public health. In fact, old-fashioned heaters disgorge about two pounds of fine particle pollution per million BTUs of heat input (that is, wood burned)—or about 0.83 tons per year. Heaters that are qualified under the EPA’s voluntary hydronic heaters program do not spew the same volume of emissions. In order to qualify under Phase 2 guidelines, they must emit no more than 0.32 pounds of fine particles per million BTUs of heat output.

Hydronic heaters, or outdoor wood-burning heaters (sometimes also called wood boilers or outdoor wood furnaces) heat water in a small shed with a short smokestack—and then pipe it to a nearby building (usually a home), providing both heat and hot water to the structure. Most hydronic heaters are sold for use in rural, cold areas where wood is readily available; however, they also may use biomass as fuel, such as corn or wood pellets.

A properly installed wood-pellet burning stove can have an efficiency of up to 80 percent, according the Pellet Fuels Institute. With residual wood smoke reburned in the stove, particulate matter is not released into the atmosphere, increasing the environmental friendliness of heating with wood pellets.

Wisconsin-based Indeck Ladysmith, LLC, the owner and operator of the Indeck Ladysmith BioFuel Center, produces about 90,000 tons of premium grade wood pellets each year. Creating those wood pellets, which are a natural and renewable source for both residential and commercial energy, takes about 200,000 tons of raw hardwood, along with a quality blend of sawmill and forest residuals.

“As the producer of a premium grade wood pellet, we consume a large amount of raw material each year,” said Mike Curci, plant superintendent of the Indeck Ladysmith BioFuel Center. “Our commitment to the environment goes beyond simply producing renewable biofuel. We believe it is our responsibility to create our product in an ecofriendly way.”

Although Wisconsin is home to approximately 16 million acres of forest land, Indeck Ladysmith relies on the expertise of its partner, Midwest Forest Products Company, to ensure that all of its feedstock is carefully selected and harvested to meet, at a minimum, the strict guidelines set by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Wood pellets also are cost-effective. “With all of the benefits of wood-pellet heating, the federal government is offering a tax incentive for a stove's purchase,” said Mike Curci, retail sales consultant and business development manager, Indeck Energy.

A tax credit of $300 is available for a qualifying stove purchase through the 2011 Federal Consumer Energy Efficiency Tax Credit. The credit is available through the end of 2011.