Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Log burner!

Just another name the environmentalists can call me. I am all too happy to add that monicker to my list. I am the poster boy for the anti-liberals anyway, why not add another.

White Male
Christian
Heterosexual
Conservative
Meat Eater
Pick up driver
NRA life member
Rancher
Hunter
Off road enthusiast
and now for the piece de resistance, owner of a non-EPA approved fireplace.

In the better-ventilated and less-industrial Sacramento area, the soot proposal likely would bring wood-burning stoves and fireplaces under regulation for the first time, said Larry Greene, executive officer of the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District.

"They'll be regulated at some level," Greene said.

Future measures could range from requiring EPA-certified, low-polluting fireplace inserts and wood stoves to prohibiting fires altogether when the air is cold and stagnant.

San Joaquin Valley communities already have such bans, with first-time violators issued $50 tickets. The bans went into effect earlier this month as temperatures dropped and fog moved in.


Is this where we are heading as a society?

This is a friendly notice from the air quality management district. This week is a 'spare the soot week', houses with an address ending with an even number can have a fire tonight, odd addresses tomorrow. Please make sure you are burning in an EPA approved insert and using approved synthetic logs. Natural wood logs will be phased out starting next year so please try to use up your natural wood logs by burning them on warm days. Please also note that we will be coming by to install the wireless soot monitor in all chimneys next week to ensure everyone is staying within their allotted soot output levels. Chimney license plates will be required soon and we have still have personalized plates available for a small extra fee. These license plates will be required to face the street to ensure the yearly tags are kept current. Thank you very much for your cooperation.

Good grief!

3 comments:

Ralph said...

The world gone mad.

SactoDan said...

I have been burning wood to heat my all electric house for over 15 years.

In my all electric neighborhood outside on cold nights, there truly is wood smoke smog and it is pretty bad. But inside we are warm in a way no electric heat pump can duplicate, and no natural gas is available.

My stove does happen to be EPA certified, as that is pretty much all you can buy anymore. Open fireplaces are very inefficient, as they heat in the proximity of the fireplace, but draw in too much air from outside and end up wasting an enormous amount of heat energy up the chimney.

An insert uses very few logs per hour comparitavely, and puts out less soot as a result, by controlling airflow, but it is the efficiency of slowing the burn of $200.00 + per cord wood, and heating the whole house vs. the immediate area around the fireplace driving that, simple economics vs. some cone headed bureaucrat.

Now the natural gas burners are joining in as natural gas prices go out of sight. Wood prices are now reaching rediculous levels do to the rapid number of johnny come lately wood burners. It is also what is speeding up the interest of those who know better how we should live than we do.

It is good to know that if I only burn my wood on warm nights the smog will be reduced.

We actually pay these people.

Walt Lucas said...

Don't get me wrong, I love efficient inserts. They can reduce the amount of wood you use by almost half. The trick is to get the fire burning very hot by opening the damper for airflow, then close is down to a point where the flames look like they are in slow motion. It seems likes you bake the wood rather than burn it. Very cozy.

I will have to cut wood for next winter soon. I think if you were forced to cut your own firewood, you might change your fireplace to an insert. I better shut up, I may have given the air quality gang a new idea.