I am interested to know if you went with Mark Bush.  He has a house off the grid in Pennsylania and he is still probably your best local option for a boiler system in NEO. 

I wish I could get some solar panels to offset my electric needs.  I had a milli-volt system (static electricity drove the themostat) coal-converted boiler, before I got taken by an unscrupulous furnance company.  My old asbestos coated boiler kept the house toasty warm and was not dependent on the electric grid.   I miss it.  I wish I had the old Franklin stove option, in case of the inevitable blackout....

my opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my employer, my spouse, my cat, my neighbors, my extended family or anyone I happen to acknowledge on the street, bus, etc.

 Wood burners really aggravate the asthma of people living near them (I am one). Is there a way to filter the smoke?  Is this worse for children with asthma? The asthma rate of inner city kids is really high. Is there any info on the impact of wood burning and ways to prevent harm to already impacted lungs?

How timely. Yesterday the NYTimes has a little video about fireplace inserts. They note: http://epa.gov/burnwise/

There's a link called where you live - click on Ohio - the disclaimer says you might have to look under "air toxics" in some states. But if it is there, I cannot find it. Oh, oh... search burn, burn wise, fireplace - nope - nada.

There's a link for resources for states. It links to a federal highway site - here: "It All Adds Up Initiative - A public education and partnership-building initiative developed by several federal agencies for the purpose of informing the public about the impact of their choices on air quality."

OK - then click on Ohio or select Ohio in the drop down box and click enter - Nope "The page cannot be found"

So, EPA has suggestions and even says there's a tax credit. I guess the Ohio EPA just hasn't noticed that people in Ohio still burn wood. I guess mostly the EPA's are focusing on rural areas. Dear Ohio EPA - newsflash - due to the foreclosure crisis and unemployment - Cleveland is fast becoming a "rural area".

 When I looked at the FAQ at this EPA website, it reminded me of the cash for clunkers program. Same principal but to qualify, the participant has to use a certified technician. When we worked on the crematory issue this past winter, we found that the US EPA defers air quality concerns and regulation of "small polluters" to the Ohio EPA. The Ohio EPA defers to local governments on this, and the local governments are reactionary rather than proactive for a number of reasons. This means that we can not use the US EPA or the Ohio EPA to find answers to questions about these local concerns.

This hokey video from Canada's EPA offers tips for heating your home with wood: Wood Stove Operation (click through for the video).

Also, despite not being able to discover much about the burnwise program in Ohio via th EPA site, Lehman's Low Voltage Hardware does have info about the $1,500 tax credit on wood-burning stoves.

NOACA's 2007 report on air quality and recommendations to improve it suggest that the region secure funding for a voluntary changeout program for wood burning units such as the one that changed out 83 units in Dayton several years back. With the burnwise program in place, does NOACA have to seek funding or do they just need to provide instruction on how the program works in NEO?

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful... and since there's no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow." Soon we will smell and see smoke rising from chimneys. Chestnuts will be roasting on open fires. Jack Frost is already nipping at my nose and toes.

I sent an email to the site with the broken link asking that they fix it, if possible, so that Ohioans can get information about wood-burning for home heat. In the meantime, the video linked above may offer some helpful tips to those of us who are burning wood - some as simple as top-down fire starting and not adding wood regularly, but instead allowing the wood to burn down to coals before reigniting, what sort of wood to burn for what efficiency of warmth.

I don't have a wood burning stove, nor do I heat my home with wood, but some in NEO do. I'll post an update when and/or if I hear back from the Ohio EPA.

Are there enough people involved in residential wood-burning for heat to warrant a call to action? Here's a summary of the changeout program nationally: EPA Wood Stove Changeout Summary (2009) (PDF).

If you're considering heating with wood, here's another positive point about wood stoves - there is no apparently monopoly among that sector's manufacturers - You'll have your hands full shopping for a stove.