This Is Me Maria

With winter hitting us hard here in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve noticed an increase in fireplace burning in my neighborhood. One of the reasons I see fireplace burning more than some others is that I live in an old neighborhood where nearly every home has a “working” fireplace.

Admittedly we use a wood burning fireplace to heat our old inefficient home to save money with our natural gas heater set to kick on at 68 F. With many old single pane windows sadly both the fireplace and the heater don’t rest for long.

While I certainly sympathize with those who also burn wood to heat their homes, there are a few guidelines we should all follow to make sure that our burning has the lowest impact possible on our environment and air.

1) Check your Air Quality reports. In the Pacific Northwest you can go HERE.

2) Don’t burn in just a plain fireplace or old stove. Please seriously consider upgrading to an EPA certified insert, especially if you a frequent burner.

3) Be sure to build your fires properly to limit the amount of smoke output.

While wood burning is not necessarily an ideal way to regularly heat your home, responsible burning can reduce impact to the environment, heat more efficiently and lessen aggravation to your neighbors.

-maria