You can get a cleaner heating appliance by applying for a BC wood smoke rebate.
The Wood Smoke Community Program is a province-wide program designed to support better air quality and lowering emissions by giving rebates to those looking to replace their wood-burning appliance with a cleaner option.
These cleaner options include heat pumps, pellet stoves, and cleaner burning wood stoves, with rebates ranging between $300 and $3,000.
The qathet Regional District has been part of the program for years and this year, they say they’re opening applications for residents who have a non-EPA or non-CSA certified wood stove at home.
Community wood smoke reduction program coordinator Ingalisa Burns says most wood stoves bought before 2015 are considered non-EPA.
“What this means is that they have too high of emissions in terms of fine particulate matter, and now there’s more stringent particulate emissions that are allowed,” said Burns.
“If you go back to the 80’s, wood stoves would often emit up to 40 grams of emissions per hour, but standards are greatly reduced. As of 2015, the EPA set allowable emissions of 4.5 grams per hour. Then in 2020, they reduced it even more to 2.5 grams per hour.”
She says while the EPA is the US Environmental Protection Agency, Canada has a similar certification system called Canadian Standards Association (CSA), which has an allowable limit to 4.5 grams of emissions an hour.
Burns says in most municipalities when you’re installing new wood stoves, those stoves must meet current certification standards.
Along with non-EPA and non-CSA stoves, other appliances you can replace include homemade, barrel, free-standing, and wood-burning cook-stoves.
For you to be eligible for rebates, you need to ensure the program coordinator that your old appliance is non-certified and the main source for heat at home, that this is your only rebate application this year, and that the new appliance is new, not used.
For how to apply, click here.
