Have an old wood stove? Agency pushes to destroy or replace them

Olympic Region Clean Air Agency offers financial incentives to those willing to ditch or replace wood stoves

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Residents who want to upgrade or get rid of their wood stoves may qualify for a cash incentive. 

The Olympic Region Clean Air Agency (ORCAA) announced on Tuesday, Sept. 17, that it has received funding to subsidize replacing and recycling old wood stoves. 

ORCAA states that while wood stoves are popular sources of home heating, they require plenty of firewood which needs to be stored in a dry location. The older they get, the more wood they need and, therefore, the more smoke they create. 

The funding is available for those who burn at least one cord of wood per year and must be willing to replace or destroy a wood stove or fireplace insert that is not compliant with the US Environmental Protection Agency’s 2020 New Source Performance Standards. 

According to ORCAA, qualified applicants may receive $1,000 to upgrade their stoves to natural gas, propane, electric, or pellet, while those looking to upgrade to a heat pump may qualify for $2,000. 

The agency recommends that interested applicants go to their local hearth products or HVAC dealer for more details, as professional installation of new devices is required. Local dealers will also take care of paperwork and billing. 

Those who only want to remove wood stoves may have them recycled for a $500 incentive.  

Application forms for the recycling grant are available on ORCAA’s website. The agency advises applicants to follow the instructions printed on the form. If approved for the grant, nearby metal recycling centers are available: Sutter Metals in Lacey and Centralia, as well as Pay More Recycle & Salvage in Shelton. 

The Washington Department of Ecology is funding the grant to help ORCAA reduce particulate matter pollution in the counties it has jurisdiction over. These counties include Thurston, Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Mason, and Pacific. 

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  • Boatyarddog

    This would mean that more people would be reliant on energy delivering business.

    Propane moves by truck, pellets by truck, heat pumps require electricity, the only possible somewhat "clean source" is gas.

    Now under considerations to limit.

    Saturday, September 21 Report this

  • HappyOlympian

    In Olympia, most nights a cloud of smoke forming from homeless camps burning at will. Also, a year ago local cities lifted the ban on outdoor burning. But an effort being made to eliminate a less significant source of pollution form folks heating homes. Is PSE behind all these pushes to funnel energy use to electricity while still allowing other sources of pollution to continue?

    Saturday, September 21 Report this

  • Southsoundguy

    Of course liberalism wants you to destroy your means of producing heat. Liberalism does not deliver ordered liberty, only centralization before inevitable entropy.

    Sunday, September 22 Report this

  • HotTractor

    These are great programs. Most people that burn wood are burning wood to save money. These new stoves burn less wood. So if you buy wood, it cost you less. I burn wood to save money, but also because i live in an area that loses power regularly. I cut my own trees that grow on my property. A secondary benefit is less smoke is produced. Anybody against this is a communist fascist anti American. Gain independence by producing your own energy/wood to burn.

    Sunday, September 22 Report this

  • wolfmanner

    No way.

    Monday, September 23 Report this