  By John Ackerly | March 21, 2011           Authors: John
Ackerly President, Alliance for Green Heat and Board Member,
BTEC (202) 596-3974   3 Responses    1. Roger        John, I
agree with most of what you say but there are other variables
that should be considered before jumping on the wood-burning
stove bandwagon. First, the GPH label on all EPA certified stove
is obtained after testing in an EPA certified lab under ideal
conditions. Meaning, the burn cycle is controlled, wood is dried
to an optimum level, and only one species of wood is used.
Obviously manufacturers' can design their stoves to pass the
test, but once the stove is installed in a home the variables
used to obtain certification are not realistically reproducible.
Hence, the GPH label means nothing and neighbors in proximity to
the wood-burner pay the price. Also, even if engineers can
design stoves to theoretically equal the emissions from fossil
fuels' extraction, refining, and transportation that means
nothing to the neighbor of a wood-b