If you can't stand the heat, get away from the woodstove

EPA Approved? Canadian Tire's woodstove ads confuse our columnist

By: Pat Daley

  We're always happy to see corporations adopt policies that are good for the health and well-being of the nation, but making sure they stick to their own good intentions is something else.
  My significant other was leafing through the new Canadian Tire catalogue that arrived in our mailbox recently. All was well until he came to the page with woodstoves.
  Big fans of wood heat, we've had a fire going in our stove since early December - except for a few spring-like days last week. Not only does it help with the oil bills - a big plus this winter - it provides a heat that improves our sleep and gives a nice feel to the house. We're not alone. About 1.3 million Canadian households burn wood, according to Natural Resources Canada.
 

Besides reducing the amount of outdoor pollution, low-emission woodstoves are less likely to spill smoke into the house

  "Why," asked the SO, "does Canadian Tire include 'EPA approved' in its specifications table when three of the five stoves it shows don't meet that test? They should get those buggies off the lot."
  EPA is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In 1988, it issued standards that reduce woodstove emissions by about 90 per cent. That's important because woodstoves can contribute significantly to air pollution in communities where their use is widespread. In Nova Scotia, for instance, the provincial government introduced a program a couple of years ago that gave people financial incentives for replacing their old stoves with newer, certified units to try to deal with the problem.
  John Gulland is a consultant and a director of the organization called woodheat. He says the EPA standards are the best there are. Besides reducing the amount of outdoor pollution, low-emission woodstoves are less likely to spill smoke into the house and usually give you more heat from less wood.
  The funny thing about Canadian Tire, then, is that there is an extensive environmental policy posted on the corporation's website. It covers the company's own operations, the products its sells, packaging, community initiatives, and its own environmental awards program. Enough to warm the heart of any environmentalist.
  So why are most of their woodstoves not certified? My first guess was that most low-emissions stoves don't fit into the Canadian Tire price range - after all, my own EPA-approved stove was purchased secondhand for more than anything in their catalogue. But the two low-emissions stoves they do have are not the most expensive ones on the list.
  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to speak to anyone at the company before my deadline. When I do hear from them, I'll pass on what they have to say.
  By the way, the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) also has an emissions standard that mirrors the EPA rule, says John Gulland. If you're shopping around, don't confuse that with the certification your insurance company will be looking for. That only deals with safety, not emissions.

Pat Daley is a freelance writer and editor in Athlone in Simcoe County, Ontario.

Get More/Do More
See Canadian Tire's environment, health and safety policy at www.canadiantire.ca.

Find out more about the joys of heating with wood at www.woodheat.org.

Natural Resources Canada's Guide to Residential Wood Heat can be viewed at www.nrcan.gc.ca/es/erb/reed/wood.

Other articles from the Daley Dispatches

[ Front Page ]