Perth board to weigh wood-boiler measure
By ZACH SUBAR, The Leader-HeraldArticle Photos
PERTH - Town officials will look to review a possible seasonal ban on wood-burning boilers before next month's meeting.
Supervisor Greg Fagan provided the Town Board with a packet of information regarding the controversial heaters.
The packet included information from the Environmental Protection Agency on the boilers, testing results that have been done on them and information from the state on what the boilers can do.
He said the board would discuss how far wood boilers should be set back from buildings.
Several town residents have called for a summer ban on the boilers, saying the smoke that comes from them has an awful smell and can trigger health problems.
Others have called for a total ban on them. But many who own wood boilers say they save them a lot of money on their heating bills.
The state has published material warning against the use of wood boilers. A 2008 report from the state Attorney General's Environmental Protection Bureau office said "outdoor wood boilers produce thick, acrid, foul smoke that permeates buildings and homes, causing not only a nuisance, but also environmental degradation and health problems."
That same report said wood boilers have four times the emissions of conventional wood stoves at 72 grams per hour, as opposed to 18 grams per hour.
After Town Board members review all the information regarding the boilers, Fagan said the board may be ready to make a judgment on what it should do with the boilers.
"If everyone can get through this in the next month, we can be entering into some real serious discussions about what we want to do here," Fagan said.
There is no statewide ban on wood boilers, but the state Department of Environmental Conservation's regulatory agenda, which lists laws that could be proposed for adoption during this calendar year, contains a regulation that would restrict outdoor wood-boiler use.
Several local municipalities, including the town of Mayfield and Dolgeville, already have enacted seasonal bans on the heaters. The Gloversville Common Council deadlocked on a vote last month to restrict their use, and Fort Johnson has enacted a six-month moratorium on the devices while its leaders decide what actions to take.
Fagan, who heats his own home with a wood boiler, has said the board likely would go along with a seasonal ban if the law were crafted in an agreeable fashion.
Zach Subar covers rural Fulton County news. He can be reached at ruralnews@leaderherald.com.
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AirFreedom
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08-11-09 2:57 AM
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Please visit the websites below to learn more about OWBs and the victims they have claimed throughout the U.S.: ****myspace****/freedomofair *******freedomofair.webs**** *******burningissues**** Check out the news sections on the second page and can you seriously say this isn't a problem?
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AirFreedom
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08-11-09 2:56 AM
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Also take into consideration the $2,000 -$5,000 in installation costs that are associated with this. You can easily spend $15,000 before the so-called savings even start. So don't believe the "I'm so poor I can't heat my home" argument because it is all bogus. The other thing to mention is that these things consume and use electricity about 3 times as much as a normal furnace. Electricity bills nearly triple when using these. So spend $150 a month on electric instead of that price on gas? So in closing would you want this across from your home? Probably not......
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AirFreedom
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08-11-09 2:55 AM
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The problem is this as quoted by the U.S. EPA: "Current outdoor wood-fired heaters are substantially less efficient and more polluting than other home-heating devices." That pretty much sums it up. An OWB creates on average 72 g/hr of pm 2.5 particulate matter as compared to other forms of heating (even with wood) of: OWB = 72 g/hr Conventional Wood Stove = 18 g/hr EPA Certified Stove = 6 g/hr Oil Furnace = 0.07 g/hr Gas Furnace = 0.04 g/hr Secondly, these DON'T I repeat DON'T save a person money. These cost around at minimum $10,000-$15,000 to purchase and operate before you even throw your first log on the fire. So when someone claims "I can't afford my bills" well they sure could afford $10,000 to buy one of these monstrosities. I know I don't have $10,000 to throw down on anything much less, something like this.
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Bronte415
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08-07-09 7:02 PM
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scarecrow57 don't you think fireplaces, wood stoves, etc. are next? the environmentalists will soon decide what you use to heat your home with whether you can afford it or not. if it turns out that electric is their power choice, (or whatever "clean" alternative)i am sure they will ration how much of that you can use. government is taking over our lives and it seems for now environmental groups have a lot of power (no pun intended!).
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Scarecrow57
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08-07-09 11:13 AM
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Good Idea, but to be fair, we should also outlaw fireplaces, wood stoves, and any wood burning. And to be fair, the town should pay for the oil heat of those who no longer can use this renewable resource.
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