By this time of year, the fuss and mess that comes with heating your home with a wood-burning stove start to get tiresome. First, you have to cut, split, and stack your firewood. Then you have to haul it in from outside during the cold, wet winter months – checking first to make sure there are no burn bans that could prevent the use of your woodstove. Once inside, that firewood leaves behind a lot of debris that has to be cleaned up: bits of dried bark, dust, and – perhaps worst of all – crawly-critters like spiders and beetles. These crawlers had burrowed into the woodpile to escape the ravages of winter, but now – warmed up inside – freely roam your home. Even after the fires are out, you still need to haul out the ashes, clean the chimney, and then start the whole tiresome process over again.
Fortunately, the fix for that fuss and mess is easy: Ditch the woodstove and take advantage of a generous grant when upgrading to a natural gas stove, or ductless heat pump.
ORCAA, in partnership with the Washington Department of Ecology, offers grants for residents who want to replace an old, smokey wood stove or fireplace insert with a new, clean Ductless Heat Pump or natural gas stove (or furnace).
ORCAA’s woodsmoke reduction grant program details include:
- Wood stove replacement funds are available for residents of Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater, Yelm and the Urban Growth Areas (UGAs) associated with those cities.
- Residents of those cities and UGAs must remove and destroy one or more of the following:
- pre-1995 certified wood stoves
- pre-1995 certified fireplace inserts
- uncertified wood stoves
- uncertified fireplace inserts
- free-standing metal fireplaces
Residents who qualify for the above may receive rebates in the following amounts:
- $1,200 for installation of any natural gas, propane or electric heating system
- $1,800 for installation of high-efficiency heat pumps, including Ductless Heat Pumps (DHP).
Residents who simply want to remove and destroy an old, uncertified wood appliance without installing a new gas or electric appliance may qualify for a $500 BOUNTY.
This program targets one of the biggest sources of air pollution in Thurston County. Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) is the primary air pollutant in our region, and the main source of that pollutant is burning. With the removal of just 60 solid-fuel home heating devices from the community, residents will reduce emissions by 10 tons of PM2.5 per year.
Contact ORCAA – (360) 539-7610 – or your local Thurston County Hearth Products or HVAC Retailer for details.
