They can increase the technology on stoves all they want, but the end result won't be any cleaner if people burn green wood. I toured the Travis factory in Mukilteo and they had a big stack of Douglas fir cordwood for all their burning. Same wood anybody else around here can get.
This is exactly what I had in mind. Thank you blacktail you definitely bring this up in my exact thoughts. Im thinking We have reached the threshold limit of particulate matter in terms of burning. We cant bring this down to 0. As I read more into the epa readings I had to wonder, there is a minimum we can reach. Its like subzero, just getting there has been very very close but its not perfect. Sustaining a good stove is taking care of it. The wear and tear is what worsens the emissions and then those who decide to not take care of their stove are the ones that really hurt in terms of regulated particulate matter. The term I hear being the worst is considered "egregious", something that I would strive to never do in terms of smoke. With no wind, my pit fires appear so clean its like hot air at the tip. Naturally its clean burning as long as I keep my fuel dry, Im good.
Wear and tear isn't what hurts emissions. Throwing green wood in stoves is the problem. If the government replaced every wood stove with the cleanest model available, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency would still have burn bans because a few people near the monitoring stations would throw green wood in their stoves.
Well let me explain what I mean about wear and tear, suppose for the sake of the moment I said I didn't take care of my stove. That would be burning some green wood and then burning irregularly. Having those hot fires that run away on me and creating warping or dampening the stove too far. And then just neglecting the stove altogether. Not replacing brick when I should, the gasket, etc. I would say basically everything someone would do if they really weren't well informed about stoves or even fires in the first place. Not that these things completely write off a stove but wouldn't there be issues if the stove isn't maintained as good shape as possible? Wet wood is always to blame in terms of emissions but even if someone has good dry wood and burns in a stove that doesn't work properly as their maintenence skills are below par, your wood it seems is only as good as the tool you burn it in. My reasoning behind this is if That person can't maintain an efficient fire, its just going to go out on them a lot and smolder. On the other hand maybe that dunce just never really figured out how to work the flue. If you look on craigslist or offerup, you'll catch a few of these stoves that look just like nobody really gave a damm. Others are in great shape. I would just have to come to a conclusion that stoves are designed and built to do what they are supposed to do. Even if some errors occur, the owner knowing it happened and did something to stop it would probably have slim to no issues than someone who didn't! Maybe not have a house anymore? I don't ever mean to question the intents of those who have ran fires in their houses for years, if they know how to maintain everything their advice is sound. Its really the "other" person Im worried about. The person who doesn't give a damm.
I wonder if cast iron handles heat better over time than steel would. I know my Ideal Steel has had some slight warpage only in the catalyst area, and I've never had a cast iron stove with a cat to compare it to.
Properly designed, thick enough, steel will handle heat just as well as properly designed cast iron. Neither will fail if they are properly designed. Manufacturers go thin on steel for more reasons than you would think. Certainly saving money on steel and shipping is important but thinner steel heats up faster and hot stoves burn cleaner. To FatBoy85 , the Puget sound smoke reduction zone is not Pierce County. It is just a small section of pierce county near the water that has failed to meet pollution standards for a long time. This area was carved out for additional scrutiny such as no pre EPA stoves are allowed, just fireplaces! WA state has rules that apply to all counties that require a low particulate emissions rating for all new stoves. For decades, WA requirements were more stringent than the EPA requirements so manufacturers had to decide if they wanted to make a stove clean enough to be sold in the whole nation or everywhere except WA. The required rating is the rating that the manufacturer earned during EPA testing and is a permanent rating for the appliance. You can use that appliance to burn cleaner or dirtier but it won't change the rating.
Couldn't you say the same thing about anything? Cars, homes, business...there are lots of incompetent people out there that somehow get through life fine. Currently laws are being written to help these folks. It seems to me anyway. There is only one stove that you can ultimately control that is the one you run.
