By Severine Galus Photography Corbis There’s nothing like a fireplaces or wood stoves to make a room cosy. And clean combustion technology offers a variety of options for people intent on fanning their own eco-flames. New generation of wood-burning appliances Wood is a renewable resource as long as forestry harvesting does not exceed forestry growth. As a fuel, wood is eco-friendly only if used in conjunction with a high-efficiency appliance or stove certified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or CSA International. Certified units are designed to reduce emissions of particle pollutants to a minimum both inside and outside the home. According to Environment Canada, clean combustion technology reduces pollution to a level varying between two grams and five grams per hour (or 0.8 grams for the most effective units), compared to 25 grams to 50 grams for non-certified units. In other words, in a span of just nine hours on average the traditional wood stove will send the same amount of particles into the atmosphere as an eco-certified model does in 60 hours. Wood, however, does not contribute to global warming in the same way that a fossil fuel like gasoline does. According to Environment Canada, burning wood only emits the same amount of carbon dioxide – a greenhouse gas – as wood left to decompose in the forest does. As well, EPA-certified units offer an average wood-burning efficiency of 68 percent (up to 90 percent for the top models). compared to 54 percent for non-certified traditional models. Higher energy efficiency helps to reduce wood consumption by 25 percent to 33 percent, as well as heating costs, forestry harvest, greenhouse gases and pollution in general. Advanced combustion versus catalytic combustion There are two categories of high-efficiency wood stoves: those that use advanced combustion and those that use catalytic combustion. Advanced combustion appliances feature a second combustion chamber where pollutants are burned. With catalytic stoves, combustion gases are sent to a catalytic filter, where the pollutants are destroyed. While catalytic stoves are more effective and eco-friendly than advanced combustion models, they’re also more expensive, since the catalyzer needs to be replaced every two years at a cost of roughly $400 each time. Practical pellets Pellet stoves burn wood in the form of small round pellets measuring roughly 6 millimetres in diameter and 25 millimetres in length. The pellets are made of compressed wood residue. The principal selling point of a pellet wood stove is its convenience: Once the hopper is loaded with pellets, the fire can burn for up to 24 hours, requiring no care since the feed is automatic. Most appliances come with a thermostat as well, which makes it possible to reach the exact desired temperature. (Try stopping a traditional wood stove at 20°C!) Some models can even be programmed to start automatically, which is great for those cold mornings when you don’t want to crawl out from under the covers. Other than its convenience, the pellet stove offers vastly superior combustion efficiency, transforming 80 percent of the fuel into heat and consequently emitting a minimal amount of particle pollutants (less than one gram per hour). However, the motors that circulate the air and evacuate combustion gases run on electricity, although some models can run on a battery in the event of a power outage. But this doesn’t do much for the pellet stove’s image as an eco-friendly appliance. As well, it’s important to consider how much energy is used in manufacturing the pellets themselves. While pellet stoves are quite expensive, they don’t require a high-temperature chimney, as do wood stoves. With some models, the installation of an outdoor vent is all that’s needed. Is gas really that clean?
Energy-efficient (up to 90 percent), clean (they don’t pollute like wood stoves and don’t produce ash) and practical (they include programmable thermostats), gas appliances have the added advantage that they don’t call for a chimney: A simple outdoor vent or vent pipe (much like that of a dryer) will do. Gas fireplaces have everything the consumer can ask for. Better still, manufacturers have worked hard to produce an appliance with a flame almost as attractive as that of a real wood fire. However, these so-called “commercial” advantages belie the fact that gas heating systems present certain inconveniences when it comes to energy efficiency. While natural gas and propane produce less carbon monoxide and particle emissions than wood, each is still a non-renewable source of fossil energy. Extraction, refining, transportation and fossil energy combustion of this resource all definitely leave an environmental footprint. When burned, natural gas and propane produce mainly nitrogen oxides (which contribute to smog) and carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas). They also release a great deal of moisture into the air. As already mentioned, some gas appliances are up to 90-percent efficient. However, Natural Resources Canada cautions that this rate corresponds to the maximum efficiency reached in controlled laboratory settings, where the usual sources of heat loss are non-existent. The best way to determine the real efficiency of a gas appliance is to consult the EnerGuide for its efficiency rating. Testing in connection with this Canadian standard has shown that, among these appliances, the top models only operate at an efficiency rate somewhere between 30 percent and 70 percent, results far lower than those obtained in laboratory settings. Ethanol Ethanol is derived from the fermentation of sugars contained in certain vegetables, including beets and sugarcane, some grains, such as wheat and corn, and potatoes. Ethanol fuel, therefore, is a clean and renewable energy source. Instead of emitting smoke or particle pollutants, its combustion releases only water vapour. Consequently, ethanol is used for gas fireplaces, which don’t need a chimney flue. An ethanol fireplace can be placed anywhere in the household and used as a piece of furniture, in keeping with its primary use as a mood appliance. However, with a heating capacity of 9,000 BTUs to 13,000 BTUs (depending on the model), it will only heat a space of roughly 46 square metres, at a cost of three 890-millilitre containers of ethanol (at roughly $10 each), enough to last an average of three hours. Which raises the question: How can an appliance be deemed eco-friendly when its sole purpose is to give pleasure (the pleasure of gazing at a flame) and the fuel it uses is so expensive to produce? Eco-friendly logs Whether they’re made up of wood residue or spent coffee grounds, the so-called “eco-friendly” synthetic fireplace logs are said to produce fewer atmospheric pollutants than natural wood. Dry and dense, they burn more efficiently, producing less smoke and therefore generate few toxic by-products. They also boast other eco-friendly virtues: They recover industrial sawdust as well as spent coffee grounds from restaurants, waste products that would otherwise end up in municipal dumps and produce greenhouse gases as they decompose. The use of synthetic logs also reduces the number of trees that are cut down. On the other hand, synthetic fireplace logs manufacture greenhouse gases, just as natural logs do. But, in fact, the principal eco-friendly thing about synthetic logs is that they’re made of residue. What’s more, some logs are ignited while still inside their glossy packaging. Burning any packaging of this kind is highly ill-advised, as the glossy paper contains paraffin and various kinds of residue. Even worse, these reconstituted logs tend to break apart easily, increasing the flame’s surface area and overheating the heating appliances. Some manufacturers, therefore, prohibit the use of synthetic logs in their appliances out of a concern with overheating and the potential damages resulting from it. Paraffin-based firelogs in particular give off so much heat that they can only be used in traditional open fireplaces. If you are planning to get your own eco-friendly fireplace see the Designer Fireplaces site for information on fireplaces in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Article source: http://www.styleathome.com/decorating-and-design/green-living/get-cosy-with-eco-friendly-fireplaces/a/20386/3
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30/11/2020 03:07:24 pm
קמין חשמלי איכותי הופך כל בית ליפה יותר ונותן לו תחושה חמימה. תמצאו אצלנו קמינים מכל הסוגים.
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13/12/2020 08:55:32 am
Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.Thank you for such an informative post.
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