Take THAT, Pine Beetle!
Burning the Beetle Kill at Home
By Wolf Bennett, Mountain Home Stove & Fireplace and
John Redmond, BioHeat USA
President Obama recently signed into law a thirty percent (30%) tax credit on biomass appliances as part of the 2009 economic stimulus legislation. This means that EPA rated wood or pellet burning units with at least a seventy-five percent efficiency rating qualify for a maximum $1500 credit. While the jury is still out as to which specific units qualify, inexpensive or second-hand stoves do not.
Using carbon neutral fuels—and we have a lot of beetle kill available—is good for the environment. Each home, duplex and most townhomes are allowed one EPA rated wood stove. Yes, you can burn wood in city limits without purchasing fireplace rights because an EPA rated unit will burn vastly cleaner than an old fireplace. The added bonus of higher efficiency also creates far more heat with far less fuel and for longer burn times than ever before. Some stoves have burn times easily exceeding forty hours. An installation permit is still required from the building department, but your local fireplace dealers can help you with that detail.
Some stunning EPA fireplaces, many wood stoves, virtually all pellet stoves and most biomass boilers will meet the regulations to qualify for the tax credit. In our area, biomass typically means wood—most often beetle kill—though some other fuels will qualify.
Stoves and Fireplaces
In general, you will get what you pay for in efficiency, durability, ease of use and looks. Catalytic or non-cat woodstoves are your choices in heat. Catalytic is still the most efficient due to the combustor's efficiency.
Pellet appliances come in a wide variety of styles from antique looking stoves and outdoor units to ultra modern, contemporary designs in a multitude of colors. Typically, a pellet stove is easy to operate and generally has high efficiencies. Regular maintenance involves feeding the stove and cleaning out ash; though with a little guidance and practice you will soon be a pro in the care of a pellet stove. They are often self-igniting and most can be run with a thermostat. We used a programmable thermostat with ours to very good effect and even greater fuel savings. Using a pellet appliance should not be your only source of heat, for even though dependable, they are machines and prone to fail some day. The turnaround time for repair and parts acquisition may take more than several days. Invariably this will happen during that really cold snap over the longest of holidays.
Locally manufactured beetle kill pellets are readily available. A ton of pellets (typically one pallet of 50 bags) costs about $250. Depending on your heating needs, the typical pellet stove will use an average of about a bag a day. Our 1100 sq ft house in Oak Creek used about 125 bags for the entire year as its sole source of heat. The back bedrooms were a bit cool, but in our main living space we were very comfortable. In comparison when we used propane gas, our bill was an average of about $400 per month during the heating season.
Biomass Boilers
Wood gasification boilers are one of the cleanest burning types of wood combustion and are widely used in northern European countries. In these boilers a load of wood is placed in the firebox and lit with a small amount of kindling. The wood gases produced from the burning of the fuel-load pass down into a secondary combustion chamber where additional air is injected and a high-temperature secondary combustion takes place in a refractory chamber isolated from the water jacket. The gases generated from this secondary combustion then pass through a heat exchanger at the rear of the boiler, heating water in the boiler. Down-draft gasification boilers burn wood exceptionally cleanly since the combustion gas in the firebox passes down through the coals of the fire causing many of the particulates and volatiles in the smoke to be broken down and consumed in the secondary combustion.
Once the fire in the wood gasification boiler is started, it is most efficient and cleanest if the fire continues to burn until all wood is consumed. The heat output from the boiler may not match the heat needs of the home, so the boiler must cycle on and off, or the boiler can operate continuously with the extra heat stored for later use. Therefore, to enhance efficiency and maintain clean emissions, it is recommended that a heat storage system be considered for a wood boiler.
The typical heat storage system used with a wood boiler is a tank of water connected to the boiler system where the extra heat is stored and used after the boiler has stopped producing heat. These heat storage systems are very similar, larger, versions of the heat storage systems used with solar thermal systems. In fact, many green buildings integrate a wood boiler with a thermal solar system to provide heat and domestic hot water during winter months when solar potential is at a minimum.
An automated wood pellet boiler is another option for heating with biomass. The latest pellet boilers incorporate many features that allow its operation to approach what consumers have become accustomed to with fossil fueled boilers. Some features that these boilers can incorporate are automatic feed systems, automatic heat exchanger cleaning, and automatic ash removal systems where ash is containerized and needs to be removed from the boiler several times a year.
Double the Heat
Wood, either in pellets or logs, is a carbon neutral fuel. Trees left to decompose in the forest will release as much carbon as if they are burned, so you may as well burn them and get some low cost heat. As they say, “chopping wood heats you twice;” plus you get the fun of being outdoors and getting some exercise. And if swinging an axe is too much for you to consider, many local wood suppliers will gladly deliver, split and stack cords for you. 
Features
The Beetle Kill Issue
10 Years Strong
Building Green With Beetle Kill Wood
A Cut Above - Harvesting and Milling
Securing Safer Forests by Salvaging Snags
Stimulus Funding Hits the Ground
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The Green Scene
Builder Perspectives
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