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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Wood stoves are popular as heating oil rises, and the air seems smoky, but it isn’t the new stoves that are causing the problem.
They have to be certified as clean-burning. It’s the older ones, grandfathered in under clean-air rules, that air regulators say are pumping out the pollution.
But as of last Saturday the state began awarding tax credits for buyers of cleaner stoves and the wood pellets that fuel them.
Buyers may qualify for up to $300 in tax credits under the state push to promote renewable energy. Oregon links wood along with wind and solar energy as renewable energy because it avoids using oil, coal or natural gas, said Ann Grim of the Oregon Department of Energy.
Fuel tax credits for a qualified stove are $10 for a cord of wood or a ton of pellets.
About a quarter of Oregon homes burn wood or pellets, but the state estimates that more than half of those use older models that put out twice the pollution of newer models.
“People now have an incentive to choose cleaner stoves,” said Mark Kendall of the Energy Department.
State environmental officials during the last legislative session tried to require homeowners to replace uncertified stoves with new ones when a home is sold but failed. Cities such as Bend, Sisters, Medford and Ashland have such a requirement.
Officials plan to try again in the next session.
Wood smoke contains soot particles that cause health problems, especially for asthma sufferers.
With heating oil $1 a gallon higher this year than last year, there are signs that more Oregonians are turning to wood stoves.
Firewood demands are so high that the front desk at the Deschutes National Forest in Central Oregon ran short of firewood permits.
Demand for new wood stoves is strong, said Fred Kirkpatrick, founder and general manager of Classic Heat Source, a local wood stove dealer. His service department has been busier than usual tuning up and mending idle wood stoves.
The price of wood pellets is up 20 percent to 30 percent, he said, driven by higher demand and reduced supply. Many sawmills have closed because of low lumber prices, meaning less mill waste to make pellets.
Though the dirty older stoves deserve the bad rap, Kirkpatrick said the newer models are nearly smoke-free and more than twice as efficient.
Since 1986, Oregon has required any new wood or pellet stoves sold in the state to be certified as clean-burning. Stoves must meet even higher standards for the tax credits.
Sales of wood stoves have dropped in recent years but sales of pellet stoves -- which are generally cleaner and feed themselves with fuel -- are rising rapidly, according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association.
They have to be certified as clean-burning. It’s the older ones, grandfathered in under clean-air rules, that air regulators say are pumping out the pollution.
But as of last Saturday the state began awarding tax credits for buyers of cleaner stoves and the wood pellets that fuel them.
Buyers may qualify for up to $300 in tax credits under the state push to promote renewable energy. Oregon links wood along with wind and solar energy as renewable energy because it avoids using oil, coal or natural gas, said Ann Grim of the Oregon Department of Energy.
Fuel tax credits for a qualified stove are $10 for a cord of wood or a ton of pellets.
About a quarter of Oregon homes burn wood or pellets, but the state estimates that more than half of those use older models that put out twice the pollution of newer models.
“People now have an incentive to choose cleaner stoves,” said Mark Kendall of the Energy Department.
State environmental officials during the last legislative session tried to require homeowners to replace uncertified stoves with new ones when a home is sold but failed. Cities such as Bend, Sisters, Medford and Ashland have such a requirement.
Officials plan to try again in the next session.
Wood smoke contains soot particles that cause health problems, especially for asthma sufferers.
With heating oil $1 a gallon higher this year than last year, there are signs that more Oregonians are turning to wood stoves.
Firewood demands are so high that the front desk at the Deschutes National Forest in Central Oregon ran short of firewood permits.
Demand for new wood stoves is strong, said Fred Kirkpatrick, founder and general manager of Classic Heat Source, a local wood stove dealer. His service department has been busier than usual tuning up and mending idle wood stoves.
The price of wood pellets is up 20 percent to 30 percent, he said, driven by higher demand and reduced supply. Many sawmills have closed because of low lumber prices, meaning less mill waste to make pellets.
Though the dirty older stoves deserve the bad rap, Kirkpatrick said the newer models are nearly smoke-free and more than twice as efficient.
Since 1986, Oregon has required any new wood or pellet stoves sold in the state to be certified as clean-burning. Stoves must meet even higher standards for the tax credits.
Sales of wood stoves have dropped in recent years but sales of pellet stoves -- which are generally cleaner and feed themselves with fuel -- are rising rapidly, according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association.
