Print Version
Email this story
Comment
Wood stove viewpoints
 |
| H&N photo by Megan Doyle About five years ago Gabbie Sinclair took an old, cracked wood stove out of her home and replaced it with an EPA-certified wood stove. |
Air quality concerns, rising
heating costs at odds as winter nears
By MEGAN DOYLE
H&N Staff Writer
Klamath County law says that no home should have a wood stove as its only source of heat.
But as costs for natural gas and electricity climb, many people are considering wood-burning stoves to keep warm during the winter. Air quality officials say they won’t bend the rules because of the rising costs of other heat sources.
“We’re also battling the problem of poor air quality,” said Dustin Waugh, air quality inspector, noting air quality can become a health issue.
In most cases, when people are notified that they are violating the rules, they comply and no air quality inspectors return to the home. But recently, inspectors issued two warnings prior to an official citation, Waugh said.
Most of the time, people violating the rules either didn’t know they live in the air quality zone or didn’t call to verify that it’s OK to burn, Waugh said.
Restrictions are placed when clouds keep smoke pollution closer to the ground. Last winter, there were 32 days when no wood stoves or fireplaces were allowed to be used.
What may change this year is how strictly the rules will be enforced, he said, adding that stricter federal regulations will make it more difficult for Klamath County to meet air quality guidelines.
Regardless, many people rely on wood stoves for heat throughout Klamath and Lake counties. The Herald and News talked to four area residents who use wood as a regular source of heat.
Elsie Masterson
Elsie Masterson, 73, cleans her wood-burning stove insert each spring in preparation for needing it for heat again in the fall.
After wiping it down, she lays a new fire, with a log, and adds a few pieces of junk mail before it’s lit again. On cold days, she wakes up at about 5 a.m. and starts the fire so the house won’t be cold all day. She lets it die out before going to bed.
This year, she’s not sure if she’ll be able to use it because her 15-year-old wood stove is not EPA certified. She received a variance last year, but is not sure another will be issued.
“I thought it was certified,” she said. “I can’t afford a high electric bill.”
She uses about five cords of wood per year, but thanks to neighbors, has gotten deals on wood they chop. A cord of wood otherwise would cost $150 or more.
Her wood stove heats her whole house, she said. So much so that her late husband disconnected much of the home’s electric heating. Masterson doesn’t mind, though. She likes the wood stove.
“I think the wood heat makes it warmer than the electric heat,” she said.
The only difficult part of keeping wood in the stove is hauling it in from outside. Masterson’s wood is stored under tarps in her yard. She uses a wagon to bring it closer to her door. On cold snowy days, neighbors have helped bring her wood to her front door.
Because it works so well, she said she wouldn’t trade it for anything except a certified wood stove.
Bob Anderson, retired
Bob Anderson has two wood stoves in a cabin in north Klamath County. He’s been told both are uncertified and he shouldn’t use them.
The 100-year-old pieces help keep him warm when there’s five feet of snow outside and 20-below zero temperatures.
Anderson’s dad purchased the heating stove from Richardson’s Market brand new. It would cost between $3,000 and $5,000 to install a new heating unit.
“And it works fine,” he said. “It makes no sense to me to change to gas or electric. All of which would be costly and ridiculous.”
He only burns about six times a year while visiting the cabin. He’s upset about the regulations that prevent him from burning and from selling or transferring the property without having a certified wood stove.
“They work wonderfully and they don’t put out any smoke,” he said. “You burn dry, clean wood.”
He uses old lumber and old, fallen pieces of wood he finds in the area and keeps a pile within about 20 feet of the cabin.
At home, he changed his fireplace to a gas unit because he didn’t want to make a mess bringing wood in. He doesn’t use a second, upstairs fireplace.
Gabbie Sinclair, Sprague River
About five years ago Gabbie Sinclair took an old, cracked wood stove out of her home and replaced it with an EPA-certified wood stove.
“I wouldn’t have put it in if it wasn’t,” she said.
Though there are other heat sources in the home, she likes to burn wood. She starts in mid-August when temperatures begin to dip and continues through April. She loads four pieces of wood in the morning and loads the stove only one more time at night, maybe a third time when temperatures dip to 10-below.
“Anything else would be more expensive,” Sinclair said.
She has lived in the home for 12 years and has had the same person cut wood for her since. Because she is a long-time customer, she receives a deal, she said. She pays about $100 per cord of wood, when others pay $150 or more.
This year, she plans to purchase an additional four cords. She already has about three cut and ready to burn in a storage area near the back door of the home, where she doesn’t need to trample through two feet of snow during the winter to reach a larger pile of wood.
When she was looking to purchase a replacement wood stove, she looked for one that was big enough to only have to put in wood about twice per day and one that had a knob to control the heat.
The prior wood stove only had a damper to adjust the heat.
“It was a big hassle,” she said.
Bill and Janice Wohrman, Old Fort Road residents
There are a few reasons the Wohrmans have a wood stove.
It saves them about $200 per month on their electric bill during the winter. They don’t have the option of natural gas heat. “And it’s a good heat,” said Bill Wohrman.
But more importantly, there are 60,000 trees on the property and when they die, it’s unsafe to leave them standing because a pine beetle might infest the whole forest, he said. They also collect and burn the wood to help prevent forest fires.
“So a lot of this is for the health of the trees,” he said.
The couple have three EPA-certified wood stoves on their property, which includes outbuildings.
“We’ve always had wood stoves in the homes we’ve built in Klamath Falls,” Bill Wohrman said.
Where they live now is at the end of the power line. If the power goes out, which it does often during the winter, they lose access to water and lights and their pipes can freeze. The wood stove has been beneficial during those times, the couple said.
They cut and chop firewood from the trees on their own property. They have about a two-year supply in storage and a couple of racks of firewood outside their backdoor so it’s convenient to carry inside.
“It’s dirty, it’s time consuming. Still, it’s a better heat,” Bill Wohrman said.
His wife, Janice, said she keeps the broom and dustpan nearby. “I’m the one that usually cleans it,” she said.
Klamath Falls Air Quality Zone
Klamath Falls introduced an advisory schedule to let people know when it’s OK to burn in fireplaces and wood stoves. To find out if you’re in the zone, click here and click on “Air Quality Map.”
• To find out if it’s OK to burn, call 882-2876.
• Green: All fireplaces and wood stoves may be used within the county. Open burning is allowed outside the Air Quality Zone.
• Yellow: Only EPA certified wood stoves and fireplaces may be used within the Air Quality Zone. Open burning is prohibited countywide. Visit the Klamath County Environment Health Web site at www.co.klamath.or.us/EH/index.html to find out if you have an EPA-certified stove.
• Red: No wood stoves or fireplaces, whether certified or uncertified, can be used within the Air Quality Zone. Only EPA-certified pellet stoves may be used within the Air Quality Zone. Open burning is prohibited countywide.
• If a citation is issued, the wood stove burner can be fined $720.
Source: Klamath County Environmental Health
But as costs for natural gas and electricity climb, many people are considering wood-burning stoves to keep warm during the winter. Air quality officials say they won’t bend the rules because of the rising costs of other heat sources.
“We’re also battling the problem of poor air quality,” said Dustin Waugh, air quality inspector, noting air quality can become a health issue.
In most cases, when people are notified that they are violating the rules, they comply and no air quality inspectors return to the home. But recently, inspectors issued two warnings prior to an official citation, Waugh said.
Most of the time, people violating the rules either didn’t know they live in the air quality zone or didn’t call to verify that it’s OK to burn, Waugh said.
Restrictions are placed when clouds keep smoke pollution closer to the ground. Last winter, there were 32 days when no wood stoves or fireplaces were allowed to be used.
What may change this year is how strictly the rules will be enforced, he said, adding that stricter federal regulations will make it more difficult for Klamath County to meet air quality guidelines.
Regardless, many people rely on wood stoves for heat throughout Klamath and Lake counties. The Herald and News talked to four area residents who use wood as a regular source of heat.
Elsie Masterson
Elsie Masterson, 73, cleans her wood-burning stove insert each spring in preparation for needing it for heat again in the fall.
After wiping it down, she lays a new fire, with a log, and adds a few pieces of junk mail before it’s lit again. On cold days, she wakes up at about 5 a.m. and starts the fire so the house won’t be cold all day. She lets it die out before going to bed.
This year, she’s not sure if she’ll be able to use it because her 15-year-old wood stove is not EPA certified. She received a variance last year, but is not sure another will be issued.
“I thought it was certified,” she said. “I can’t afford a high electric bill.”
She uses about five cords of wood per year, but thanks to neighbors, has gotten deals on wood they chop. A cord of wood otherwise would cost $150 or more.
Her wood stove heats her whole house, she said. So much so that her late husband disconnected much of the home’s electric heating. Masterson doesn’t mind, though. She likes the wood stove.
“I think the wood heat makes it warmer than the electric heat,” she said.
The only difficult part of keeping wood in the stove is hauling it in from outside. Masterson’s wood is stored under tarps in her yard. She uses a wagon to bring it closer to her door. On cold snowy days, neighbors have helped bring her wood to her front door.
Because it works so well, she said she wouldn’t trade it for anything except a certified wood stove.
Bob Anderson, retired
Bob Anderson has two wood stoves in a cabin in north Klamath County. He’s been told both are uncertified and he shouldn’t use them.
The 100-year-old pieces help keep him warm when there’s five feet of snow outside and 20-below zero temperatures.
Anderson’s dad purchased the heating stove from Richardson’s Market brand new. It would cost between $3,000 and $5,000 to install a new heating unit.
“And it works fine,” he said. “It makes no sense to me to change to gas or electric. All of which would be costly and ridiculous.”
He only burns about six times a year while visiting the cabin. He’s upset about the regulations that prevent him from burning and from selling or transferring the property without having a certified wood stove.
“They work wonderfully and they don’t put out any smoke,” he said. “You burn dry, clean wood.”
He uses old lumber and old, fallen pieces of wood he finds in the area and keeps a pile within about 20 feet of the cabin.
At home, he changed his fireplace to a gas unit because he didn’t want to make a mess bringing wood in. He doesn’t use a second, upstairs fireplace.
Gabbie Sinclair, Sprague River
About five years ago Gabbie Sinclair took an old, cracked wood stove out of her home and replaced it with an EPA-certified wood stove.
“I wouldn’t have put it in if it wasn’t,” she said.
Though there are other heat sources in the home, she likes to burn wood. She starts in mid-August when temperatures begin to dip and continues through April. She loads four pieces of wood in the morning and loads the stove only one more time at night, maybe a third time when temperatures dip to 10-below.
“Anything else would be more expensive,” Sinclair said.
She has lived in the home for 12 years and has had the same person cut wood for her since. Because she is a long-time customer, she receives a deal, she said. She pays about $100 per cord of wood, when others pay $150 or more.
This year, she plans to purchase an additional four cords. She already has about three cut and ready to burn in a storage area near the back door of the home, where she doesn’t need to trample through two feet of snow during the winter to reach a larger pile of wood.
When she was looking to purchase a replacement wood stove, she looked for one that was big enough to only have to put in wood about twice per day and one that had a knob to control the heat.
The prior wood stove only had a damper to adjust the heat.
“It was a big hassle,” she said.
Bill and Janice Wohrman, Old Fort Road residents
There are a few reasons the Wohrmans have a wood stove.
It saves them about $200 per month on their electric bill during the winter. They don’t have the option of natural gas heat. “And it’s a good heat,” said Bill Wohrman.
But more importantly, there are 60,000 trees on the property and when they die, it’s unsafe to leave them standing because a pine beetle might infest the whole forest, he said. They also collect and burn the wood to help prevent forest fires.
“So a lot of this is for the health of the trees,” he said.
The couple have three EPA-certified wood stoves on their property, which includes outbuildings.
“We’ve always had wood stoves in the homes we’ve built in Klamath Falls,” Bill Wohrman said.
Where they live now is at the end of the power line. If the power goes out, which it does often during the winter, they lose access to water and lights and their pipes can freeze. The wood stove has been beneficial during those times, the couple said.
They cut and chop firewood from the trees on their own property. They have about a two-year supply in storage and a couple of racks of firewood outside their backdoor so it’s convenient to carry inside.
“It’s dirty, it’s time consuming. Still, it’s a better heat,” Bill Wohrman said.
His wife, Janice, said she keeps the broom and dustpan nearby. “I’m the one that usually cleans it,” she said.
Klamath Falls Air Quality Zone
Klamath Falls introduced an advisory schedule to let people know when it’s OK to burn in fireplaces and wood stoves. To find out if you’re in the zone, click here and click on “Air Quality Map.”
• To find out if it’s OK to burn, call 882-2876.
• Green: All fireplaces and wood stoves may be used within the county. Open burning is allowed outside the Air Quality Zone.
• Yellow: Only EPA certified wood stoves and fireplaces may be used within the Air Quality Zone. Open burning is prohibited countywide. Visit the Klamath County Environment Health Web site at www.co.klamath.or.us/EH/index.html to find out if you have an EPA-certified stove.
• Red: No wood stoves or fireplaces, whether certified or uncertified, can be used within the Air Quality Zone. Only EPA-certified pellet stoves may be used within the Air Quality Zone. Open burning is prohibited countywide.
• If a citation is issued, the wood stove burner can be fined $720.
Source: Klamath County Environmental Health
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of HeraldAndNews.com. Comment Disclaimer: The editors of heraldandnews.com reserve the right to refuse publication of any comment posted for consideration. We may refuse for any reason, including use of profanity, disparaging comments, libelous comments, etc. Any reader who notices a comment they believe is particularly offensive, should notify us at webmaster@heraldandnews.com.
I cannot afford anything else wrote on Oct 13, 2008 1:40 PM:
" I sell cars. Right now that is just a phrase and it not actually happening as well as it was 2-3 years ago. My income is 50-70% less than it was back then too. I have an older wood stove that is not certified due to the fact that when I bought my home 2 years ago it was "grandfathered". I CANNOT AFFORD to use my gas furnace. The bill is out of control each month. At least $100-175 per month.The wood I get for my stove is basically free and heats my home longer and for much cheaper. I could care less how many fines I get, I am using my wood stove all winter long...I cannot afford to have bills go to collections and ruin my credit over air quality from 10pm to 7Am "
Dan wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:59 AM:
" The business of government is...ever more government. It seems to me that this is another governmentally induced situation calling for regulation where no regulation existed before. Follow the flow of money...
Look at the article, the so called solutions revealed is to rely on proven unreliable sources for heat...natural gas (imported and regulated at its source) with its current 40% or more increase in delivery price to your doorstep, pellet stoves with no concerns for availability (seems there was one last year), electrical heat (oh, how about that grid).
Everytime there is a hue and cry to "regulate" "fine" or "control" something, look to whom benefits...certainly not the self-sufficient individuals cutting, splitting and burning a renewable, reliable and efficient heat source, and, removing forest debris (read, slash pile) helping to prevent or reduce destructive fires.
We began this "crisis du jour" back in the summer when California fires were filling the basin area with its "unfiltered" smoke and pollutants from the burning of pine/juniper, sage and manzanita. Conveniently, the DEQ and other environmental concerned entities started the propaganda in the news media regarding "particulants" and indicting evil wood stoves, which were not even being used at the time.
The ultimate beneficiaries of government's concern couldn't be: the government itself through regulatory (and confiscatory) taxes on utilities and fining "miscreants"; natural gas companies restricting supply and increasing prices; wood pellet manufacturers' sales and price manipulations; and virtually everyone in the supply line who delivers energy.
We can see the government's influence by its expansion of the air control area from the relatively small affected area consisting of Klamath Basin, to an all inclusive 400 square miles, east/west, north and south. As a famous spokesman once said of government's benevolence, the most fearful words ever uttered in the English language: "We are the government, and, we are here to help you." "
Look at the article, the so called solutions revealed is to rely on proven unreliable sources for heat...natural gas (imported and regulated at its source) with its current 40% or more increase in delivery price to your doorstep, pellet stoves with no concerns for availability (seems there was one last year), electrical heat (oh, how about that grid).
Everytime there is a hue and cry to "regulate" "fine" or "control" something, look to whom benefits...certainly not the self-sufficient individuals cutting, splitting and burning a renewable, reliable and efficient heat source, and, removing forest debris (read, slash pile) helping to prevent or reduce destructive fires.
We began this "crisis du jour" back in the summer when California fires were filling the basin area with its "unfiltered" smoke and pollutants from the burning of pine/juniper, sage and manzanita. Conveniently, the DEQ and other environmental concerned entities started the propaganda in the news media regarding "particulants" and indicting evil wood stoves, which were not even being used at the time.
The ultimate beneficiaries of government's concern couldn't be: the government itself through regulatory (and confiscatory) taxes on utilities and fining "miscreants"; natural gas companies restricting supply and increasing prices; wood pellet manufacturers' sales and price manipulations; and virtually everyone in the supply line who delivers energy.
We can see the government's influence by its expansion of the air control area from the relatively small affected area consisting of Klamath Basin, to an all inclusive 400 square miles, east/west, north and south. As a famous spokesman once said of government's benevolence, the most fearful words ever uttered in the English language: "We are the government, and, we are here to help you." "
Freedom wrote on Oct 12, 2008 2:30 PM:
" C'mon. The government is getting out of control. I think it is time for another Boston Tea Party. We are becoming a socialist society, time to change it back to a democracy.
If our forefathers were alive, they would be making sure things changed. Stop feeding the lazy, bailing out the rich and STOP KILLING THE MIDDLE CLASS. Let us use a heat from a woodstove, since we cannot afford to use anyting else.
Oh yeah, stop taxing the middle class to pay for the welfare families. We pay for them to breed, smoke and drink. Enough is enough. "
If our forefathers were alive, they would be making sure things changed. Stop feeding the lazy, bailing out the rich and STOP KILLING THE MIDDLE CLASS. Let us use a heat from a woodstove, since we cannot afford to use anyting else.
Oh yeah, stop taxing the middle class to pay for the welfare families. We pay for them to breed, smoke and drink. Enough is enough. "
Fireye wrote on Oct 12, 2008 1:08 PM:
" I am so sick of hearing about the EPA and their "air quality". This whole thing is about getting people off of wood because those that have stocks in electricity and gas don't like the idea of us heating our homes without paying them.
I am tired of the few who claim they can't breathe because of "air quality" in Kfalls. Why don't you just move away and spare the rest of us? Why do so many have to suffer for you few? So it is because of your complaining that I have to freeze on "non-burn days". I think it is just being used as an excuse to regulate our every move even further. What next? cameras on our wood stoves? More permits? Another fee? Every neighbor that I have talked to feels the same way I do. We are sick of you and your endless regulations that are choking the life out of us.
Maybe you will go broke because of the New World Order crashing our money and we will be rid of you forever. You only have a choice if you have the money to pay for an outrageously expensive heating unit.
Since when was the last time our air here was so poor it was a "hazard".
Woodsmoke is the least hazardous smoke you will ever breathe compared everything else. What about all those logging units they burn every year? One burned unit puts out more smoke than this entire city ever would. What about the chemtrails they spray on us so often that turn our skies white? Did you ever bother to investigate those? I doubt it. And don't try to tell me those are just "contrails" either as I know better.
Take your woodstove regulations and put them where the sun don't shine please and leave us ALONE!!! "
I am tired of the few who claim they can't breathe because of "air quality" in Kfalls. Why don't you just move away and spare the rest of us? Why do so many have to suffer for you few? So it is because of your complaining that I have to freeze on "non-burn days". I think it is just being used as an excuse to regulate our every move even further. What next? cameras on our wood stoves? More permits? Another fee? Every neighbor that I have talked to feels the same way I do. We are sick of you and your endless regulations that are choking the life out of us.
Maybe you will go broke because of the New World Order crashing our money and we will be rid of you forever. You only have a choice if you have the money to pay for an outrageously expensive heating unit.
Since when was the last time our air here was so poor it was a "hazard".
Woodsmoke is the least hazardous smoke you will ever breathe compared everything else. What about all those logging units they burn every year? One burned unit puts out more smoke than this entire city ever would. What about the chemtrails they spray on us so often that turn our skies white? Did you ever bother to investigate those? I doubt it. And don't try to tell me those are just "contrails" either as I know better.
Take your woodstove regulations and put them where the sun don't shine please and leave us ALONE!!! "
Louise wrote on Oct 12, 2008 9:41 AM:
" Certainly you don't REALLY think some of these people burning anything at any time in any type of fireplace really CARE if they are allowed to at the particular time or day? They do not care, & who actually catches them or tickets them or follows up? Very doubtful that it happens at all. I must agree that lots of us need CLEANER air to breathe, & we spent lots of days inside already this year due to the smoke from nearby fires. Lets look into other choices for heating our homes....sooner rather than later. Clean air to breathe is a matter of LIFE & DEATH. "
Patricia Jackson wrote on Oct 12, 2008 12:41 AM:
" How about presenting a balance view? I don't see you interviewing any of the people who now require more medicine to keep their asthma or COPD under control thanks to the poor air quality or any of the people who have to limit how much time they spend outdoors because the air is so poor that it is a hazzard to their health now. People have choices about how they heat their homes. Those choices should not include options that increase health risks for the rest of us. "
RSS
pril wrote on Oct 14, 2008 9:31 AM: