Earth Equity News

Outdoor Wood Boilers Stir the Pot.By Dan McDonald, Metro West (MA), October 12, 2008. "They dot the New England countryside as boxes of contradictions. Both a cost-saving heating measure and neighborhood nuisance, alternative energy source and environmental pollutant, outdoor wood boilers produce a type of non-traditional heat that the green community has yet to warm to. Seen more in rural communities, some towns... have outlawed the furnaces, citing environmental concerns. The furnaces typically have short smokestacks that emit plumes of particulates that are linked to health problems, to say nothing of community complaints... On the federal level, the Environmental Protection Agency is encouraging the industry to make the heaters more efficient. The agency tags units that meet an emissions standard that is 70 percent cleaner than traditional models... Michael Kuehner, vice president of Greenwood Technologies, a West Coast-based company that sells units in the Northeast, acknowledged the industry is moving toward a more efficient and greener production. 'Historically it's been the Wild West, people building these things out of their garage and whatnot,' he said. Traditional outdoor wood heaters worked at a 30 percent to 35 percent energy efficiency rate. Now, heaters are being produced with a 70 percent to 85 percent energy efficiency rate, resulting in less wood burned and less smoke, said Kuehner. The demand for the furnaces is there, said Kuehner. He mentioned his business has grown by 400 percent in the past year."