Data from the 2010 US Census shows that wood heat grew faster than any other heating source in the last decade. The use of wood fuel grew 34% compared to the 26% increase for electricity.

Wood heat grew fastest in the Northeast and the Great Lakes regions with Michigan and Connecticut seeing the largest increases at over 120% each.  Other states which saw significant increases in wood heat penetration over the decade, include high-density states New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio with increases exceeding 65 percent.

The rise of wood and wood pellets in home heating is often driven by a need for homeowners to reduce their heating bill with lower cost fuels like wood that are used in wood stoves, wood boilers and fireplace inserts. Over the last ten years, wood heat has been driven by the climbing cost of oil, the economic downturn and the movement to use renewable energy.

According to the EIA, residential wood heat accounts for 80% of residential renewable energy, solar 15% and geothermal 5%. By contrast, the only part of the country where wood fell in use were the warm weather states of the South, with Florida seeing the highest decline at 21 percent.

John Ackerly, with the Alliance for Green Heat, stated it most clearly, “Heating with wood may not be hip like solar, but it’s proving to be the workhorse of residential renewable energy production.”

For more information on heating fuel, visit here.

Incoming search terms:

• new yorker wood boiler (15)
• northern leader wood furnace (13)
• new yorker wood boilers (5)
• wood boilers for hydronic heaters (4)
• outdoor wood furnace ratings (4)
• used outdoor wood boiler for sale (4)
• new yorker wood boiler furnace (4)
• greenwood gasification boiler alaska (3)
• greenwood boilers for sale (3)
• new yorker wood boiler efficiency (3)

According to Boston Globe, this past summer, Massachusetts households experienced the highest summer fuel-oil prices of the last three years. In fact, prices averaged $3.73 a gallon last month, over a $1 more than the same time last year.

If these prices remain, it would increase the average Massachusetts home heating bill by $225, effectively pulling an additional $200 million out of their pockets.

No one knows where oil prices are going — some say over $100 barrel (currently the mid-$80′s) and others see it easing a bit. The bottom line is simple — if you are on a tight budget or fixed income, you don’t like the uncertainty.

In addition, there has also been serious talk about cutting the LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) by as much as 50 percent, adding to an already difficult situation. Even at the current cap of $1000, this provides participants a tank of oil — enough fuel for up to half a heating season. Any cuts and this benefit is reduced.

This never-ending spiral is what leads many homeowners through the doors of our dealers. They are tired of the vicious cycle and the strain it place on their lives. They want to take control of home expense that can be as high as $3500 a year or more.

Operating a wood boiler is not for everyone, it requires some tending every day. The good thing is that today’s advanced wood gasification boilers take away much of the hassle of traditional wood boilers — little or no smoke, less maintenance — and in the case of Greenwood Frontier less work since you don’t need to split the wood. In all cases, these appliances are convenient and are run from the home’s thermostat.

The one thing that all wood heating appliances have in common is that they decrease the operator’s heating costs and reduce the exposure to increasing fuel oil prices. With the ability to lower a heating bill by over 70 percent, year-in and year out, the question I continue to struggle with is a simple one:

With today’s clean, high-efficiency systems why aren’t we using wood-fired central heating and why isn’t our public policy moving those best suited to use wood heat to wood as fuel for heating their homes?

Incoming search terms:

• new yorker wood boiler prices (4)
• used wood gasification boiler for sale (3)
• green wood gasification (2)
• woodboiler (2)
• greenwood gasification boiler fore sale (2)
• greenwood wood gasification boiler (2)
• new yorker wood boiler price (2)
• new yorker wood furnace prices (2)
• new yorker wood boiler gasifier (2)
• new yorker wood boiler for sale (2)

Are you looking to purchase an outdoor wood boiler, but don’t know which one to buy? There are a number of things to be considered in addition to the initial cost of the appliance. These involve installation costs and “operating costs” in terms of dollars spent and time spent.

Whatever your reason for heating with wood, the system must be convenient, easy to use, efficient and safe. And it should automatically maintain a comfortable indoor temperature.

However, consider these factors:

• How will you feel loading the outdoor wood boiler in the middle of February during a rain, sleet or snow storm? Are you comfortable? Safe? Or would you be much happier out of the weather?

• What about emissions? Do your family and neighbors really appreciate the wood smoke and all that it contains – aromatic hydrocarbons, very fine particles (polycyclic organic matter), carbon monoxide, creosote mist, etc. – most of which are known to cause cancer. And all of which are unburned fuel. Are they safe?

• What about wood consumption? Simple logic suggests that if you burn less wood, you generate fewer pollutants, decrease your wood handling labor, cut your wood fuel expenses, etc. An efficient appliance reduces all of this.

For instance, suppose an inefficient outdoor wood furnace consumes 11 cords of wood per year, whereas an efficient wood boiler would consume only 5 cords of wood per year while providing the same comfort level.

What are the real savings of a high-efficiency indoor model?

• 6 fewer cords of wood at $150 per cord = $900 savings per year.

• 6 fewer cords of wood to — cut, split, stack, and load into a firebox. In addition, there is ash removal and disposal.

• 6 fewer cords consumed to create wood smoke emissions. (Note: A more efficient wood boiler also reduces emissions by approximately 90% by burning the unburned fuel that normally goes up the chimney as smoke.)

• Additional parts (e.g. insulated stove pipe and underground pex) and the time to install these parts.

Assuming a 3 to 5 year simple payback (through lower heating bills), one could afford to spend $3,000 to $5,000 more for a good wood heating system and devote your “6 cords of money and personal time” to: your  family, fishing, hunting, boating, traveling, reading a good book, volunteering, etc. And at the same time increase the convenience of operating the unit and help protect the health of your family and neighbors by reducing wood smoke.

So, is that less expensive outdoor wood boiler really a lower cost unit?

This post is from our friends at GARN, home of the GARN WHS.

Incoming search terms:

• greenwood outdoor wood furnace (17)
• garn boiler for sale (11)
• kachelofen for sale (7)
• garn boiler (6)
• garn wood boiler for sale (5)
• garn wood boiler (3)
• alter kachel ofen (2)
• garn boiler cost (2)
• how much do garn cord wood boilers cost (2)
• garn boilers for sale (2)

According to the latest United Nations report, nearly 80% of the global energy supply could be met by renewable energy by 2050 if backed by the correct public policies. The six renewable energy technologies reviewed include bioenergy, solar, power, geothermal power, hydropower, ocean energy, and wind energy, with more than 160 existing scientific use cases evaluated.

There is more information in the report than we could share here, but there are some interesting and relevant insights that for those interested in biomass energy:

• Most current bioenergy systems, including advanced liquid biofuels, result in GHG emission reductions.
• The sustainability of bioenergy, in particular in terms of life cycle GHG emissions, is influenced by land and biomass resource management practices.
• Modern biomass, wind and direct solar currently make up the largest contributions of renewable energy technologies to the energy system and biomass will continue to play a central role through 2050.

The report’s findings are summarized in the “Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation.” The report summarizes a thousand-page comprehensive assessment compiled by more than 120 leading experts from all over the world for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change (IPCC).

Incoming search terms:

• Solar power contribution to renewable energy portfolio (7)
• global energy biomass (4)
• treefree biomass solutions news (2)
• program renewable energy 2050 (2)
• ipcc % energy use (2)
• hydropower heat (2)
• green energy portfolio (2)
• renewable ocean energy resources (2)
• Search AT HTTP WWW ALPHABOILERS COM (1)
• tree free biomass (1)

With the EPA’s Residential Wood Heater New Source Performance Standard (NSPS) now on the horizon, the State of Indiana has joined with many states in regulating outdoor hydronic heaters (also referred to as outdoor wood boiler or outdoor wood furnace). On May 18th, Indiana’s first rules regulating the sale, installation and operation of outdoor wood furnaces became law. The rules affect an estimated 8,000 Indiana residents who currently use an outdoor wood furnace to heat their home.

So, if you are an Indiana resident and either own or plan to purchase an outdoor wood boiler, here is a summary of some of the major elements of the adopted regulation 326 IAC 4-3.

• emission limits for new units must meet EPA Phase 2 standards,
• existing non-EPA qualified units must limit their operation to the heating season (October 1 – April 30),
• increasing the stack height for certain existing units, and
• notice requirements for sellers of outdoor hydronic heaters.

For additional information on this regulation, please visit the Indiana Department of Environmental Regulation website for outdoor hydronic heater regulations. A copy of the entire rule is available here or IDEM provides a fact sheet for more concise reading about the outdoor wood furnace rule.

Incoming search terms:

• wood boiler (15)
• indiana wood boiler regulations (7)
• Green Horizon Outdoor Wood Stove (5)
• boiler wood (4)
• clean wood heat (4)
• where to buy forced air wood furnace in indiana (3)
• indiana laws outdoor boilers (3)
• indiana outdoor wood boiler (3)
• indiana wood stove laws (3)
• indiana outdoor wood stove laws (2)

In a surprise move, two months after putting the regulation on hold, the NY DEC approved stricter regulations for new outdoor wood boilers effective April 15th, 2011.

Like many other northeastern states, New York follows the format of much of the EPA voluntary OWHH standard — this includes: emission performance, wood boiler stack height, approved fuels, and setbacks (from adjacent buildings). In addition there are labeling, consumer education, and reporting requirements for manufacturers and wood furnace dealers.

A unique twist introduced in the regulation is the designation of a residential wood boiler and a commercial wood boiler — with a wood furnace that is rated below 250,000 BTU/hr classified as a residential system. The regulations for commercial systems (> 250,000 BTU/hr) may not be installed for residential use and include greater installation requirements.

It is unclear at this point in time how this commercial aspect of this regulation relates to other existing commercial biomass boiler regulations. However one thing is clear, with the many interested parties on this topic, there will be additional news on New York’s new outdoor wood boiler regulations.

Details of the regulation are available on the DEC website.

Incoming search terms:

• nys outdoor wood boiler regulations (12)
• wood outside furanace in new york state (3)
• ny outdoor wood furnace regulations (3)
• OWHH (3)
• outdoorwoodboilerregulations (2)
• nys regs on outdoor wood boilers (2)
• standards for outdoor wood boiler installation for new york state (2)
• outdoor wood boilers strict by-laws (2)
• heat commercial nyc regulations (2)
• outdoor wood furnace nys (2)

This past Friday the Tax Cut Compromise Package was signed into law by President Obama, and continues to draw fire from both political parties. Of significance to families who are looking to purchase a biomass or wood heater, the incentives will be severely cut beginning January 1, 2011.

The law reduces the biomass heater tax credit to 10% with a $300 cap and only allows the credit towards the purchase price and not for installation of the appliance. In addition, wood and pellet heating appliances were classified as an energy efficiency device instead of a renewable energy system. This classification limits the lifetime tax credit to $500.

By contrast, solar, wind and geothermal systems still enjoy the 30% tax credit of the past two years, with no maximum amount are now set to expire in 2016. This certainly does not appear consistent — it is time to let your voice be heard with your lawmakers.

For those interested in detail on all tax cuts, take a look here.

Incoming search terms:

• biomass heater (4)
• bio-mass appliance (1)
• biomass appliances tax credit (1)
• Biomass Heater Tax Credit (1)
• biomass heating appliance tax credit (1)
• tax credit for biomass heating appliances (1)

According to the New York Times, the U.S. EPA is modifying their ruling on industrial boilers.

Having taken comment on controversial new regulations for industrial boilers and citing opposition from business leaders and lawmakers, the U.S. EPA now believes that some pollution limits in the draft rules “were simply too tight to be able to be achievable,” said the agency’s air chief Gina McCarthy.

This signals that the agency is planning to scale back proposed boiler regulations now that the pubic comment period has ended. The proposed rules were seen as prohibitively expensive and thus unlikely to be achieved and so the U.S. EPA is readying regulations that won’t be as tough on businesses.

Incoming search terms:

• industrial boilers chief (1)
• what is draught air in boilers (1)

According to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, the NY DEC has put a hold on a DEC proposal that would have mandated statewide regulations on outdoor wood boilers (OWBs). The proposed regulations were tabled at a board meeting on Monday. This was less than a week after the NY DEC announced it would be submitting the proposed regulations to the board.

The operation of outdoor wood boilers is a hotly contested topic in New York State. The regulations would have ensured that new OWBs burn at least 90 percent cleaner than older models and require users to use seasoned and clean wood as opposed to garbage or other material. In addition, new OWBs would have been required to be installed a minimum of 100 feet from neighboring properties and have smokestacks at least 18 feet high. Finally, the regulation would have banned the operation of the outdoor wood furnace between June 1 and August 31 in northern New York.

This hold certainly delays the adoption of a statewide standard, while the DEC enters another public comment period.

New York State residents should view this development as a brief reprieve only. The US EPA is well under way on the development of a national standard (an NSPS) that could well trump state standards. This delay will likely result in some municipalities continuing in their efforts to regulate devices at a local level. This may turn into a rather nasty affair, so we encourage those that do push forward with their own local regulation to follow the path already laid by regulatory agencies which have spent considerable time and energy exploring viable options — Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts or Maryland.

Incoming search terms:

• greenwood hydronic furnace (3)
• greenwood hydronic heating (1)

Wood heat is a political topic?

No, this is not the 19th century, but in today’s political climate, energy and energy security are core issues in the political debate.

Who would have imagined that wood boilers might have played a role in shaping the landscape? Over the past six months, we have had the pleasure of speaking with many state and national government representatives regarding the use of clean wood-fired central heating as an essential part of the nation’s energy portfolio — clearly the message is getting through.

As we get closer to November 2nd and the political race heats up — we encourage you to stay engaged with your local races and ensure that your elected officials understand the benefits of clean, renewable wood heat!

Incoming search terms:

• wood heat in washington state (1)