A Guide to Residential Wood Heating
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A Guide to ResidentialResidential WWoodood HeatingHeating Natural Resources Ressources naturelles Canada Canada A Guide to Residential Wood Heating This guide is distributed for information purposes only and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of Canada or constitute an endorsement of any commercial product or person. Neither Canada nor its ministers, officers, employees or agents make any warranty with respect to this guide or assumes any liability arising from this guide. © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2002 Cat. No. M92-23/2002E ISBN 0-662-31793-9 Aussi disponible en français sous le titre : Le Guide du chauffage au bois résidentiel Table of Contents Introduction . 2 Chapter 1 Safety Tips – Burn It Smart! . 3 Chapter 2 Wood Burning in Canada . 5 Chapter 3 Wood Burning and the Environment . 6 Chapter 4 Advanced Wood-Heating Technologies . 7 Chapter 5 Heating Options . 9 Chapter 6 Wood-Heating Accessories . 18 Chapter 7 Installation Safety . 20 Chapter 8 Your Installation Checklist . 32 Chapter 9 The Chimney . 33 Chapter 10 Preventing Smoke, Smells and Cold Hearths . 38 Chapter 11 Maintaining Your Wood-Heating System . 41 Chapter 12 Burning Wood Efficiently . 43 Chapter 13 Purchasing and Preparing Your Fuel Supply . 49 Chapter 14 Comparing Annual Heating Costs . 54 Chapter 15 The Future of Residential Wood Heating . 58 For More Information . 59 1 Introduction If you are thinking about buying a If you are already enjoying the wood-heating appliance or already benefits of wood heat in your heat your home with wood, you home, use this guide to help may be one of 3 million Canadian you make informed decisions on households that appreciate the such matters as the following: ambience and warmth of wood • consulting wood-heating heat. Wood heating has a long professionals; history in Canada and, with new available technologies, more • how to maintain your system households are returning to for safety and peak efficiency; wood for renewable energy. • how to purchase and store Wood-heating technologies have your fuel wood; changed a lot in the past decade. • how to use fire management Today’s advanced combustion techniques for cleaner, systems burn more cleanly and virtually smokeless fires; and efficiently than ever. • many other useful tips. If you are shopping for a wood-heating appliance or are This guide is part of a series of planning to replace or upgrade buyer’s guides on renewable your current unit, consider only energy systems for residential use. a highly efficient combustion More documents on residential appliance. You can identify these wood heating include these titles: advanced systems by looking for • All About Wood Fireplaces proof of certification to the per- • An Introduction to Home formance standards set by both Heating With Wood CSA International, formerly the Canadian Standards Association, • Buying a High-Efficiency (“CSA B415.1 Performance Wood-Burning Appliance Testing of Solid-Fuel-Burning • Getting the Most Out of Your Heating Appliances”) and the Wood Stove U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA 1990). Certified For electronic versions of these systems will give you a cleaner, guides, visit the Web site at more efficient burn. http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/es/erb/ reed/public_e.htm. You can also order copies free of charge by calling 1 800 387-2000 toll-free. 2 1 Safety Tips – Burn It Smart! Enjoy the benefits of your wood Don’t let a small spark A hot new stove fire in comfort just by taking ignite a big blaze ✔ If you are using an open fire- a few simple precautions. ✔ The best way to start your place or your wood stove is Otherwise, in the blink of an fire is with newspaper and past its prime, you might eye, those warm friendly flames dry kindling. Never try to get consider buying a new model in your fireplace or wood stove a blaze roaring with gasoline, with improved safety and could turn into a devastating kerosene or charcoal starter – efficiency features. The best fire. You can easily prevent you will get more firepower choice is a high-efficiency dangerous situations such as than you bargained for. stove or fireplace approved chimney fires by taking the for safety by the Underwriters’ ✔ Remove ashes from your proper safety measures. Laboratories of Canada (ULC) stove or fireplace regularly or another testing body, and Here are some good tips on ways and store them in a covered certified as low-emission by to burn cleaner wood fires. metal container in a safe area the U.S. Environmental away from the side of your Protection Agency (EPA). house. The sparks in hot Safety ashes can easily start fires. Go to the professionals Keep creosote at bay ✔ Keep all household items – ✔ Any new stove or fireplace Creosote, a crusty deposit left drapes, furniture, newspaper should be professionally behind by the smoke that drifts and books – away from the installed. Make sure your up your chimney, can ignite into heat and the stray sparks of existing unit is inspected and a dangerous fire when it builds your woodstove or fireplace. cleaned at least once a year up. To reduce it: ✔ Protect floors from sparks by a technician certified ✔ Burn only clean, well- with a properly fitted screen under the Wood Energy seasoned wood that has been around your fireplace. A Technical Training (WETT) split and dried properly. Dry decorative screen does not program or, in Quebec, the wood lights faster, burns bet- provide protection. Association des profession- ter and produces less smoke nels du chauffage. than “green” wood – a major Detection devices culprit in creosote buildup. save lives ✔ Think twice before you chop ✔ Install carbon monoxide up that old coffee table and detectors and smoke alarms, toss it into your wood stove. as required by the National Burning garbage, plastic, parti- Fire Code of Canada, and keep cleboard, plywood, salted a fire extinguisher nearby. driftwood or any other You should never smell painted or treated wood smoke in your house. releases a toxic cloud of If you do, it usually means chemicals and can build your wood stove or fireplace up creosote. system isn’t venting properly – perhaps the chimney is blocked, a damper is faulty or the fireplace is competing with your range hood. Not only are these fire hazards, but they could also lead to deadly carbon monoxide poisoning. 3 Healthier Where there’s smoke… there’s pollution Wood Heat ✔ Burn dry, well-seasoned wood The hottest pollution that has been split properly. preventer Green wood produces ✔ The best way to reduce wood unhealthy smoke because smoke is by using a high- it is too wet. efficiency wood stove or ✔ Burning garbage, plastic, par- fireplace, certified low- ticleboard, plywood or any emission by the EPA. Used other painted or treated properly, these products cut wood releases a toxic cloud emissions by up to 90 percent, of chemicals – don’t toss and you will see virtually no these items into your fire. smoke coming from your chimney. Be energy efficient ✔ ✔ More efficient than Make sure your home is conventional models, high- energy efficient by insulating efficiency products use up walls, caulking windows and to one third less wood – repairing weatherstripping meaning less smoke, less around the doors. Don’t let work and hearty cost savings. your heat slip through the cracks! Burn small and burn smart Local Air Quality Advisory ✔ ✔ Keep the fire hot and small. Under certain weather condi- Feed it regularly with split tions, you will notice that wood and never let it smoul- the smoke is slow to thin der. A smouldering fire out and hangs in the air for creates more smoke. longer than usual. Sometimes Canadian municipalities will ✔ Don’t overload your stove issue local air quality advi- or fireplace. Air should sories in which people are move around inside for asked not to burn wood during a cleaner burn. this time. It’s important to respect these advisories. 4 2 Wood Burning in Canada • pellet stoves that use com- Our houses have also become Scientific research and the pressed wood and other more energy efficient, with more co-operative efforts of govern- biomass wastes, capable of insulation, more effective air ments and industry make wood providing at least 24 hours barriers, and sealed doors and burning safer, cleaner, more of unattended, automated windows. These changes make convenient and more efficient than ever. heating; houses easier to heat. But they also mean that wood-burning • standards that provide clear systems must be better designed guidelines for safe installa- Wood was Canada’s original and sized and their installation tion; and heating fuel. Wood burning carefully planned so that they continues to be an effective and • professional training programs function properly within a economical way to heat your for installers and inspectors to tightly sealed house. home – as a primary heating ensure that you get depend- source or as a secondary heating able advice and service. The Keys to Safe source to complement conven- As recently as the mid-1970s, tional oil or gas furnaces, or basement wood furnaces or sim- and Successful electric baseboards. ple box stoves burned most of Wood Burning the wood in homes. Then came The keys to safe and successful Advances in the evolution to airtight stoves, wood burning are good planning, Wood Burning which were more efficient but carefully selecting a high-efficiency created more air pollution. appliance, installing and properly Major advances in the 1990s Pressured by environmental operating the appliance and prac- have made wood burning cleaner observers over the issue of smoke tising clean-burning habits. This and more effective, efficient pollution, stove designers began guide is intended to help you and convenient than ever.