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Federal Support for Better Wood Burning in Canadian Homes
TORONTO, November 9, 1999 — Canadians will have access to safer, cleaner and more efficient wood-burning stoves and fireplaces thanks to a new federal government and industry program. Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and Environment Canada today unveiled Operation Burn Clean, and with it, a public awareness campaign called Renewing an Old Flame.
Aimed at reducing the cost of using wood for home heating, improving residential safety and increasing the awareness among consumers of clean-burning systems, the program is funded by the federal government along with support from the Hearth Products Association of Canada (HPAC), Wood Energy Technology Transfer (WETT) and the Association des Professionnels du Chauffage (APC). Renewing an Old Flame encourages consumers to use wood stoves and fireplaces that are certified as clean-burning, to improve air quality, safety and wood-burning efficiency. Certification is the responsibility of the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) or the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Stoves and fireplaces using advanced technology produce a more stable fire and cut the pollution rate by up to 90 percent when compared with older models. When smoke is burned inside the firebox of these high-performance units, it is not condensed in the chimney as creosote, virtually eliminating the risk of a chimney fire. Additionally, stoves and fireplaces that produce fewer emissions will contribute to meeting Canada’s international climate change challenge.
The Renewing an Old Flame information materials are available in retail stores across the country. Alfred Von Mirbach, Manager of HPAC, believes that if a CSA/EPA stove or fireplace is operated properly with well seasoned wood, no visible smoke will come from the chimney.
Using advanced stoves or fireplaces will save consumers money because they use 33 percent less wood than the conventional wood-burning stoves. An investment in this new technology could be repaid in as little as two to three years in fuel savings.
In 1995, Environment Canada and a federal-provincial task force found that improperly burned wood increases air pollution. Advanced, clean-burning appliances have dual combustion systems that burn the wood smoke before it is released through the chimney.
For more information on the Operation Burn Clean program or the Renewing an Old Flame campaign, please visit the industry’s Wood Heat Web site.
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