Upgrade traditional fireplace for safety, better heating
Many people find the beauty of a natural wood fire hard to resist.
But traditional fireplaces are ineffective for home heating. Tests have shown that they draw a lot of warm air out of the house while delivering little heat. Conventional fireplaces also exhaust particulates and other toxic combustion products to the outside air.
If you have a conventional masonry fireplace that you want to upgrade, you have some options.
Installing a glass door assembly can help reduce air leakage when the fireplace is not in use, but will not improve heating performance. A better option is to install an advanced-technology fireplace insert or hearth-mount stove. These units can be effective heaters and also provide an excellent view of the fire.
By selecting an advanced-technology stove or fireplace that is certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), you can reduce smoke emissions by as much as 90% compared to conventional appliances while getting better heating performance. Remember that even EPA-certified appliances produce pollutants. If you live in a densely populated area, you should consider using other fuels for your main space heating, and keeping the wood appliance for occasional use or power outages.
Where there’s smoke While the spicy smell of wood smoke in the air on a cold winter evening can be pleasant for some, wood smoke odour inside your home is a sign that the wood-burning system is not functioning properly. This is a concern, since smoke contains harmful air pollutants that can be irritating or even dangerous in high concentrations. Properly designed, installed and operated, wood-burning systems should not spill smoke into the house.
When a wood fire is starved for air, it smoulders, producing a relatively cool, smoky fire that may not vent properly up the chimney. Avoid smouldering fires by learning to use proper burn techniques and burning only seasoned firewood that is split to the right size for your wood heater. As long as there is solid wood in the firebox, there should be active flames. Without flames, the smoke will escape unburned, both reducing efficiency and increasing pollution.
Burn techniques When building a fire, arrange your wood according to the type of fire you want. Check the operating instructions for your wood heating appliance for guidance. Generally, small pieces of firewood arranged loosely in a criss-cross pattern burn quickly because the heat and combustion air can reach all the pieces at once. Larger pieces placed compactly burn more slowly because there are fewer spaces where the air can penetrate the load.
To help you learn more about wood burning, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) has a booklet available called Guide to Residential Wood Heating. For your copy, visit us online at www.cmhc.ca or call our toll free number, 1-800-668-2642.
Mark Salerno is district manager for the Greater Toronto Area at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. You can reach him at 416-218-3479 or at msalerno@cmhc.ca.
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