Wood Heat for the Home: Environmental Concerns

Wood Heat for the Home & the Environment: Part 1 – The Environmental Concerns

Burning Wood

When you heat your home – whether you burn wood, rely on natural gas, or use electricity derived from the most common sources like coal and other fossil fuels – there will likely be some environmental tradeoffs for keeping you warm. This article is intended as an overview of those tradeoffs, with particular emphasis on wood fuel. When you burn wood, there are many actions you can take to reduce environmental impacts. The first step, and the purpose of this article, is understanding those impacts. FYI: this is the first article in a series titled: “Wood Heat for the Home & the Environment”. Future articles in this series will detail steps you can take to burn wood in a more environmentally friendly way.

Greenhouse Gas Emission

Greenhouse gasses such as water vapor, Carbon Dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone absorb and emit radiation and are the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The increase in greenhouse gasses by human activities is the primary cause of global warming. When wood is burned, CO2 is released into the atmosphere. Burning wood produces the same exact amount of CO2 as if the wood rots and biodegrades naturally. The difference is the speed of the process. If harvested and burned optimally and no greenhouse gasses are emitted in production and transportation, wood fuel would be considered carbon neutral. For comparison, natural gas produces comparable Co2 when burned (which it would not produce if not burned) and significant amounts of methane. If you heat your house on electricity generated from oil or coal, the greenhouse gas emission is even worse than natural gas.

Other Emissions

Polluted SkyAir pollution results whenever fuel is burned, and wood is no exception. Whenever something is burned – be it wood, gas, or any fuel – particulate matter is released into the air. Particulate matter results in the soot you see after something is burned, and these fine particles – known as particulate pollution when they become airborne – cause many respiratory issues and health problems. Thus, it’s important to limit your exposure to smoke.

Another group of air pollutants that are the byproduct of home heating are polluting gasses. One such gas is carbon monoxide, which forms from incomplete combustion. Other pollutants of concern that result from improperly burned wood are nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. Some of these pollutants can be carcinogenic. The risk from cancer-causing agents becomes much greater if additional undesirable chemicals – often found when trash, heavily inked paper, or pesticide-saturated plant matter is burned – are burned as well.

Deforestation and Renewable Resources

LumberWood, in contrast to fossil fuels, is a renewable resource. However, not all wood is replenished. The wood you burn in your fireplace may or may not be derived from deforested wood – wood from forests that are cut down without the trees being replaced. Other sources of firewood include in sustainable logging, sustainable plantations, agroforestry, and waste wood such as deadfall, debris, and recycled pellets. Fortunately, deforested wood is not typically used for firewood in Maryland and surrounding areas, for it is certainly the least eco-friendly sourced wood. Deforestation and the soil erosion that often accompanies it results in habitat destruction for countless species of plants and animals. Deforestation also contributes to global warming since trees absorb greenhouse gasses such as CO2.

It is easy to see the importance of practicing sustainability when using wood for fuel. Wood fuel, when procured responsibly, is indeed a renewable resource.

Some Takeaways

  1. Wood sourced responsibly and burned near its source will have a lower carbon footprint and less ecological impacts.
  2. The more smoke you see, the more pollution there will be.
  3. The more efficient you burn, the less fuel (wood) you will use, and the less pollution there will be.
  4. The actions you can take to burn smarter can be grouped into several  categories:
    • Using the right fuel. Not all wood makes good firewood.
    • Running a smart operation. How you light and maintain a fire can really matter.
    • Ensuring your burning appliances – chimneys, fireplace, fireplace insert, or woodstove – are as efficient as possible through upgrades and maintenance.
    • Ensuring your home is energy efficient to reduce heat loss so you need to consume less fuel for heat.

When you burn wood in your fireplace or wood stove, you really have a lot of control on how it impacts the environment. Join us next time for more tips on what you can do.

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Swept with Admiration for DC Area Log Homes

We decided to finish our spree of articles admiring the various houses we encounter during our chimney service calls in the Washington DC area with some words of affection regarding log homes.

Log HomeWhen the words Washington DC are spoken; images of the White House, Capital Building, and the U.S. Supreme Court building come to mind. Yes, at the mere mention of this historic city, many envision all of the monuments and bastions of U.S. freedom. While tourists line the streets of the American capital, they hardly see any log cabins though. If the perimeter, however, is widened just a bit to encompass Maryland and Northern Virginia, you’re certain to see a log home or two on the horizon. The log homes which dot the regional landscape are the modern day descendants of cabins American pioneers dwelt in centuries ago in the colonies of Maryland and Virginia.

You may have never considered this, but log homes are not merely a thing of the past. There are modern custom built homes with floor plans, which would delight any house hunter with a sense of individuality and panache. These distinctive homes are an opportunity to let the imagination soar. Do you envision a one-room cabin with a huge stone fireplace? Well that’s great, but let your imagination climb further. Today these log homes can be as elaborate as your mind’s eye can visualize, including four or five bedrooms, several bathrooms, lofts, dens, and even family rooms. We’ve seen traditional whole-log exteriors encasing elegant master bathrooms complete with double sinks, a fully functional shower, and a Jacuzzi made for two. Amenities abound throughout these upscale descendants of the early log cabin. As long as you can conceive of it, it’s possible.

Log Home with Red RoofFireplaces highlight the backdrop of these homes, creating warmth and an elegant atmosphere. Several homes feature central chimneys that service heating and fireplaces. In the original log homes of the colonists and frontiersman, fireplaces and chimneys were essential components to survival. Today, a log home’s chimney is essential to maintaining the integrity of the log home tradition and is an integral component of the log home style and charm. A log home without a traditional fireplace is hardly a log home at all.

Essential to chimney of course, is regular maintenance. A great chimney service will clean and maintain the chimney, while enacting repairs whenever needed. Since these homes are equipped with fireplaces, good service is simply vital. Keeping the chimney and fireplaces in optimum condition is imperative, and that is why a skilled professional chimney service is a must.

We’ve found that those residing in log homes in the greater Washington DC area are as much innovators and they are traditionalists. You don’t have to think condo, townhouse, or even conventional house. There is another option, a custom-built log home. All that is needed is the land, floor plan, builder, and your imagination to create your dream log home.

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Chimneys and Colonial Revival

Colonial RevivalIf you’re a homeowner in the Washington D.C. area, there is a good chance you’re already steeped in Colonial Revival sensibilities. After all, the original proponents of this style scoured Virginia and Maryland for colonial prototypes. Your home, whether in Bethesda, McClean, Potomac, or anywhere, is your ultimate stylistic expression of personal values. The well-proportioned, stately, and classically-inspired colonial revival homes speak to the self-reliance and dignity of their occupants.

Revival Style and the Chimney

As the name implies, popularity of Colonial Revival style homes was the result of a great deal of reflection on the part of American architects and homeowners. This look into the past yielded a wealth of construction and decorative elements upon which new technologies add to forge an updated stylistic approach. You’ll find dentil moulding on the narrow eaves as well as non-functional shutters by the windows, but most of the exterior ornamentation typically draws focus to the entrance. Appropriately, then, you will find the same Georgian, Federal and Classical accents on the fireplace mantle of your new Colonial Revival house.

Tending the Hearth

Few things symbolize self-reliance better than the hearth. The chimney atop your Colonial Revival home in Rockville means you have a created a warm, safe place for your family. Traditionally, family life revolved around the hearth and chimney. When not laundering the family’s garments, the fireplace also cooked their soups, puddings and sustenance as the children played and parents gazed into the embers. Their clothes, food, body – life itself – depended on a properly functioning chimney. To this timeless scene, the whole way of life, proper maintenance of the chimney was as essential then as it is today.

The early colonists’ lives depended on their chimneys and fireplaces. Revivalists take great care in making the fireplace the focal point of the room, with a decorative motif that echoes the entrance. Classical proportions and mouldings favored by the original American patriots pay a stately respect to this vital organ of family life.

Between annual visits by an accredited chimney sweep, homeowners can take a number of measures to ensure the safety of their families. Capping your chimney, for example, will prevent water damage, reduce down-drafts and ward off nesting animals.

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Ranch-Style Houses

We see a lot of different types of homes as we perform chimney service through the DC metro area. One of the home styles we see the most often is the Ranch home. We see this home style so often, and have become so fond of it, that we’ve decided to write a little ode to the Ranch Home…Ranch style home in Washington DC

Home on the Ranch

A cowboy’s work is never done. Like a good chimney that sticks it out for us no matter what, they’ll stick it out until you pay them to leave. They have no time to climb stairs, especially they’re in love with the moonshine (wink, wink) and it’s time to rustle up some grub. A cowboy could give a rusty horseshoe about setting the dining room table, if he had a dining room. He and the other hands take their meals in the seating area attached to the kitchen, though sitting around the fireplace is mighty nice. Guests are more than welcome to eat in the patio, but, for the most part, the ranch style home, is a paragon of American efficiency.

A cowboy shuns ostentatious displays. Appropriately, a ranch house dispenses with the exterior frills of say a Victorian home, one of the styles of residential architecture that waned as the American ranch house rose in popularity. The inside, as well, offered little in the way of finery. This was no home for the swells, partner. Low roofs and wide eaves helped abate the scorching heat in the Southwest’s ranches where it was a common sight.

Its simple, single-story floor plan made it spread like wild-fire in the housing tracts in the post-war baby boom. An L or U shape to the plan allowed ample space for a courtyard where middle-class families could entertain each other. Yep, on sunny afternoon in Washington D.C., it was tough to imagine anything better than spending a summer day in your ranch style home.

An Old Horse Changes Its Spots

By the end of the Second World War, enterprising architects had learned how to assimilate a wide variety of building materials and architectural influences into the basic concept of the ranch home. This may have contributed, in part, to the reaction against the ranch style home, but it also added to its overall durability. A ranch house is like a day on the range: it’s what you make of it.

Your ranch style house in the Washington D.C. area can easily absorb the various stylistic elements seen in the American Foursquare such as exposed rafter tails on its wide eaves, gabled dormers or entryways, tapered posts and, of course, a range of window treatments. Rustle up some native stones for a little exposed detail work around your centrally-located chimney, then see who calls you a lily-livered prairie dog. Yet the Colonial and Craftsman influences are only two style pallets available for you to outfit your new home. A few trips around the world have lent the ranch style home enough Mediterranean, Asian and Pacific flavor to last about as long as the human imagination can endure.

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Washington D.C., Chimneys and the American Foursquare

American foursqareCompared to the severe and austere architecture of Washington D.C.’s famous Greco-Roman Capitol buildings, the American Foursquare is a warm smile in fuzzy pajamas. Two evenly spaced one-over-one windows over a brick knee-capped porch echoes the tranquil face of its middle-class occupants. The chimney on its low-pitched hipped roof, the humble feather in its cap. This aesthetic, along with its efficiency and affordability, make the American Foursquare the template of an American classic.

As the crowning achievement of middle-class stability, one must take the necessary precautions to ensure the longevity of the family home, from top to bottom. This, of course, includes the chimney, the feather in the cap. If your chimney resembles most on American Foursquares in the Washington D.C. area, it’s made of brick. Find a quality masonry sealant that is colorless. Anything less than the bare brick detracts from the original character of the American Foursquare homes typical of early 20th century Maryland and Virginia.

Even new and newly repaired masonry chimneys will suffer weather damage if left unprotected. Fortunately, options abound the homeowner hoping to protect their home’s chimney. To prevent water damage to your roof around the base of your chimney, consider flashing it with stainless sheet metal. Never fear, this worry-saving precaution is easily concealed.

A chimney (or flue cap), on the other hand, is a weatherproofing precaution that allows for a bit more self-expression from the homeowner. A variety of circular, pyramidal, hipped, multi-flue and decorative solutions are available to protect your family as well as troubleshoot pesky down-drafts. The shape of the flue cap itself can echo the pyramidal or hipped roof of your American Foursquare, or add a bit of whimsical flare. This, in addition to an adequate chimney crown will also deter nesting animals, who enjoy the warmth and comfort of your home as much as you do.

The crowning feature on one of your most treasured possessions should fill you with a sense of pride and security, not worry. So consider the credentials of the contractor flashing and crowning your chimney, not just the price. After all, a cheap job is worth less than nothing if it isn’t done right the first time. The wise homeowner will choose comprehensive chimney service that shall ensure many warm evenings of happiness around the family hearth.

Do you need masonry chimney service in the Washington D.C. area? If so, go with the chimney experts – High’s Chimney Service.

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