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Wednesday, January 08, 2014

EPA Proposes Restrictions For New Wood Stoves

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The federal Environmental Protection Agency has proposed new standards for wood stoves that would reduce the maximum amount of fine particulate emissions allowed for new stoves sold in 2015 and 2019.

Maximum emissions would be reduced by one-third next year and by 80 percent in five years, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.

Fine particulate pollution is made up of solid particles and liquid droplets that measure 2.5 micrometers in diameter or less. The EPA currently certifies non-catalytic wood stoves if they produce less than 7.5 grams of fine particulate per hour.

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll bet O'Malley will have a tax on firewood soon.

Anonymous said...

The article says it won't affect all ready installed ovens, but what if I want to sell my home that all ready has one installed? Will I be forced to put in a new one, I wonder?

Anonymous said...

11:44, a wood stove is not an oven, do you even know what a wood stove is? city slicker.

Anonymous said...

Here's what's coming,tax all alternative power or heat so your stuck with electric and when you use to much you get cut off.

Anonymous said...

This is a taste of The New World Order,look at all the Delmarva Power customers who got their power cut off for so called excessive useage,wake up people!

Anonymous said...

Legally, I question how DPL can arbitrarily turn off your power on the coldest day of the year.

If fact with the energy wise program, they did not need to cut power off, as per their website, they could have simply extended the cycle period on the heat pumps to reduce usage.

This was a test, and there will be more to come.

How was this peak usage any different than during the summer and our over 100 degree days?
Most schools and some businesses were closed, so that lowered demand to some degree.

This is the agenda being pushed on us with the smart meters. Give it time, you will no longer control your own usage. And on a 100 degree day will be sitting in the heat with no power.

The sick, elderly and young will all be impacted, and until someone dies, they will continue to test the waters, and even then, they will not be held liable.

There are other options for heat and we are pretty much off the grid in the winter. Need to work on alternative options for AC in the summer.

They are already mandating what type of light bulb, what type of smoke detector, and what type of toilet you can own. And these were also tests, that we failed, by rolling over the taking it.

Only a matter of time.

Daddio said...

3:44 said the following:

If fact with the energy wise program, they did not need to cut power off, as per their website, they could have simply extended the cycle period on the heat pumps to reduce usage.

This was a test, and there will be more to come.

How was this peak usage any different than during the summer and our over 100 degree days?


To answer your question about how was this peak usage different ---

It was QUITE different!!

Consider that during the summer A/C season, the main significant loads on the grid are the compressors of the HVAC systems.

In an extreme cold situation such as experienced this week, you have the compressors operating PLUS several thousand watts of "strip heat" as well.

In a typical 3 ton residential unit, the compressor could be using 3500-5000 watts of electric power. The supplemental strip heaters add to that an additional 15,000-20,000 watts.

That is 3-5 times MORE power needed.

I agree that DP&L stepped in it big time when they cycled those systems off for several hours.

They should have used 20-30 minute periods to minimize the effect to their customers.

They should also have mentioned that those thermostats could cut off the heating systems in winter for long periods of time instead of merely focusing on the summer scenarios. This was deceptive marketing on their part, IMO.

As a result of this fiasco, many customers will abandon the program ultimately causing DP&L to scramble when they need to shed loads during periods of peak demand.

It will also ultimately cause everyone's rates to increase as they will pass along the higher wholesale costs to their customers.