This commentary is by Emma Hanson, wood energy coordinator at the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. She has been heating her fossil-fuel-free home with advanced wood heat in the form of an EPA-certified, super-efficient wood stove for five years.
While those of us in the wood heating community greatly enjoyed the excellent case for cordwood stoves that April Weeks laid out in her recent commentary, we wanted to put her mind at ease regarding one rather significant point. Advanced wood heat does include clean-burning, EPA-certified wood stoves.
Advanced wood heat encompasses clean-burning, highly efficient wood-burning appliances of all different sizes and applications. At the small end of the scale are EPA-certified wood and pellet stoves. EPA-certified wood stoves are advanced in their combustion technology, but otherwise are as simple and tech-free as ever.
At the large end of the scale are wood-chip boilers, such as those found in many of Vermont’s schools. What makes some wood burners advanced and others not so much is how cleanly and efficiently they combust the wood fuel, something that manufacturers have improved dramatically since the 1980s.
The EPA began certifying stoves around 1990 and the standards have become increasingly strict over the years, with the most recent update in 2020. An EPA certified model releases 70% less particulate matter pollution than a noncertified model.
Ms. Weeks may have been under the impression that the Clean Heat Standard includes only automated wood heat, which refers to advanced wood heat appliances that can be programmed with a thermostat, such as a pellet boiler or furnace. These are exciting options for homeowners because they can completely replace their fossil-fuel-fired central heating system with no need for additional backup.
With $6,000 in rebates as well as a federal tax credit available, they are also on par with the cost of installing a new fossil fuel system. However, while all automated wood heat is advanced, not all advanced wood heat is automated.
The whitepaper behind the Clean Heat Standard states, “Vermont has a long history of relying on wood for heat, and, more recently, significant experience in more efficient, lower-emitting advanced wood heat systems. Options today include efficient pellet stoves, automated pellet or chip boilers or furnaces, and efficient cordwood stoves.”
Ms. Weeks is absolutely correct that wood stoves are an important part of our renewable thermal energy portfolio in Vermont, both historically and looking to the future. In fact, 40% of Vermont households use cordwood to heat their homes to some degree. Currently, 23% of our thermal energy needs are met with wood heat and the state has a goal of increasing that share to 35% by 2030 by increased adoption of advanced wood heat.
Wood and pellet stoves offer an affordable way to offset fossil fuel use in homes whose central heating systems still have many years of life left in them. And for the many homes that aren’t insulated well enough to stay sufficiently warm with a cold-climate heat pump alone, a stove is an excellent complement to allow more homeowners to move away from fossil fuels.
As I write this, I am sitting next to my very clean-burning wood stove and looking out the window at the cord of wood I still have remaining stacked in the yard. I’m always glad we have our stove, but I agree with Ms. Weeks that I am particularly glad when the power goes out.
We have a Tesla Powerwall to keep the lights on during an outage, but that single cord of wood contains 333 times as much energy as the Powerwall. Advanced indeed!
Regardless of where the Clean Heat Standard ends up at the end of this legislative session, Vermonters should know that clean-burning wood stoves are part of the advanced wood heat movement. Homeowners interested in investing in a new wood heating appliance of any size may be eligible for a 26% federal tax credit, as well as numerous state and local rebates.
A complete list of all current opportunities can be found on the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation’s website.
