Massachusetts, State-funded program allows wood stove owners to save money while making home safer

State-funded program allows wood stove owners to save money while making home safer | News | westernmassnews.com

WHATELY, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - A new state program could help people with wood stoves save some money and potentially reduce fires.

It's called the wood stove change out program, hoping to improve public health and cut down on the number of wood stove fires.

Officials say this fire last month in Orange was caused by a wood burning stove.
A couple was displaced after the fire broke out, because of the amount of damage.

Over in Belchertown, fire officials say a house was destroyed after a wood stove fire as well.

"You certainly want to make sure that," Steve Pike, executive director of the Clean Energy Center, tells us. "Your home is set up to receive a wood stove or a pellet stove primarily to vent properly."

Officials with the Clean Energy Center in Massachusetts launched its 2019 program Thursday at the 'Fire Place' in Whately.

It will help more than 2,300 residents swap out dirty, inefficient stoves for newer, cleaner models.

"These newer stoves," continued Pike. "Burn far more efficiently, so it reduces pollution, particularly with what's called particulate emissions, and those are emissions that affect folks with heart disease and asthma."

Pike says nearly fifty percent of the money will be going towards low income residents.

"Reading costs, as you can imagine," stated Pike. "A more efficient stove requires less fuel, which requires the homeowner to pay less for their home. A homeowner would come to a wood stove place, like 'The Fire Place' and talk to the staff and owners."

Standard rebates can range from anywhere between $500 and $1,800, depending on the emission levels and type of stove purchased.

"There's a lot of options," says Fire Place manager Vicki Labbee. "All different ranges of prices, and you can go from wood to pellet too, so, if you're thinking of moving to a different fuel, you can do that with the program."

If you're interested in this program, rebate applications will be accepted until August 5 of this year.

To qualify for a rebate, a resident must have an operational, non-EPA-certified wood stove.

 

What is the approx amount of the rebate?
Enough for a super efficient top of the line Blaze King Ultra (88% efficient) $3,300 with 30 foot Triple Wall Stainless Steel class A chimney another $3k plus install??
https://www.blazeking.com/products/wood-stoves/king-ultra/

 

Not quite but as Grandpa used to say...."It's better than a kick in the crotch"

 

Oh, thanks but $1800 does not Even cover the class A. :-(
Unless the install is a little Hookie Pokie. :-(

 

around here they like to use the tax credit scheme and of course the amount available is based not on the cost of the stove but on your income level.

 

I really don't see how this will solve the problem. My opinion, if I am wrong let me know, is most fires from stoves, occurs because of the buildup of creosote. I do not see how a newer efficient stove is going to change the problem. The problem is people burning wet wood. In fact the newer efficient stoves burn it (wet wood) less well than the old ones.

 

Some what true, although most of the time it is the installation that is marginal at best that is the culprit. As in we will just pipe it into the old terracotta flue assembly that isn't used any more due to our HF furnace and water heaters that exit out the side wall, or just plain too cheap to do a proper flue. what is generally called a slammer install.

 

Thanks chris.. Here local fire department reviews installs for code and safety. Or at least I had to when I put in the new Hearth / chimney.

 

It's a program to replace non-epa stoves with newer more efficient and less harmful to the environment stoves.

Anyone making less than the state median income with an old POS falling apart, leaking fire-probe wood stove really should take advantage of the rebate to help get them into a new less polluting and possibly safer wood heating appliance.

Whereas in Massachusetts all wood burning appliance installs are supposed to be permitted and inspected a new stove and the subsequent permitting and inspection process SHOULD help decrease the number of life endangering fires. At least those incidents relevant to improper or failing appliances, installs and use.
A new install would mandate the install a CO alarm in a house that may not have one as it either may not have been required at the time or a DIY install may have bypassed the need for one.
Just the CO alarm alone could save a life , creosote in the chimney or not.