Are Wood Stoves Going the Way of the Horse and Buggy?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
The important thing is we still can burn wood, if we choose to. Hopefully that never goes away. I burn wood now as a supplement, being in my later 60's, it is nice knowing I don't have to burn to heat our house, but having that choice is the nicety. Wood stove cost and installation cost are a growing concern for most younger folks, I can understand that too. Everybody stay warm with your stoves, the important thing is we can should we want to.
 
I liken wood burning to driving a stick shift. Though I love the idea of owning an electric vehicle, and I've driven some really great ones that were wonderful, I have no desire to buy one because my family will literally have to pry my cold dead hands off of my stick shift. Even though, from a practical point of view, it makes no sense anymore. Even ICE engines have transmissions now that are more efficient than any human can create manually. But I love the sense of engagement that a stick brings.

Were I to buy a new car, good luck even finding one. Here's a list of the 28 cars that can still be found with manual transmissions. It used to be cheaper to buy a stick but now it costs more. How weird is that? It's cheaper to include this super complex automatic transmission than to leave it out and replace it with a clutch, a stick and a few linkages.


I'm glad there are still cars that can be purchased with sticks and I'm glad that there are still wood stoves one can purchase.
 
> Are we wood stove aficionados a kind of dinosaur?

You would be in Scotland, of all places. They have basically outlawed wood burning anything.
Not true. They were banned in new builds in April of 2024. And that was reversed in November of 2024 because of to much pushback.
 
I wonder how many under 10,000# GVWR trucks can be had with a manual transmission?
I have a fond memory, driving a big truck with a super slushy gear box. I was 17, working in a warehouse during summer break from college. This truck was so poorly maintained, other experienced drivers, guys in their 30s, 40s and 50s, couldn't handle it. I was the youngest guy there, the summer kid, still a teen, but was able to get it started and move between the gears. So whenever that thing needed to be driven, someone would throw me the keys.
 
> Not true.

WAS true 🙃


"The new regulations have no impact on homes that already have a wood burning stove installed however the government is developing proposals for existing buildings."

Don't worry "they'll be back".

By banning stoves in new construction, they basically kill the industry. What will most likely happen now is emissions standards for new stoves so strict that even a human breathing would violate them.
 
> Not true.

WAS true 🙃


"The new regulations have no impact on homes that already have a wood burning stove installed however the government is developing proposals for existing buildings."

Don't worry "they'll be back".

By banning stoves in new construction, they basically kill the industry. What will most likely happen now is emissions standards for new stoves so strict that even a human breathing would violate them.
Yes it was true in new construction. Its not any more. And regardless we are talking about the usa here and there is absolutely no motivation to ban woodstoves here. The only noise about it comes from one relatively small group that is loud but has no backing. And people who claim there is a new law coming every couple years that will do it. There has never been a law proposed here. And the best thing we can do to make sure there never is one is to burn good fuel properly
 
Yes it was true in new construction. Its not any more. And regardless we are talking about the usa here and there is absolutely no motivation to ban woodstoves here. The only noise about it comes from one relatively small group that is loud but has no backing. And people who claim there is a new law coming every couple years that will do it. There has never been a law proposed here. And the best thing we can do to make sure there never is one is to burn good fuel properly
Where I live, the regulations get tighter from year to year. The stove that I bought in 2013 wouldn't come close to meeting the standard today. The stove I bought last year of course does. I looked at used stove options but couldn't find one that would qualify and, since I felt the need to pull a permit for the stove swap, this was important.

Perhaps others would have just substituted one stove for another, but I didn't want to give my an insurance company an out if there was ever a fire that gave rise to a claim. They were initially insane, making demands that no one could meet. Most likely because they were applying the wrong rule, one meant for commercial properties. A few photos and calls from my agent got it straightened out. They saw how professional the installation was. But that, for me, is yet more evidence that they don't deal with a lot of homes with wood stoves anymore. I had no similar issue in 2013.
 
Where I live, the regulations get tighter from year to year. The stove that I bought in 2013 wouldn't come close to meeting the standard today. The stove I bought last year of course does. I looked at used stove options but couldn't find one that would qualify and, since I felt the need to pull a permit for the stove swap, this was important.

Perhaps others would have just substituted one stove for another, but I didn't want to give my an insurance company an out if there was ever a fire that gave rise to a claim. They were initially insane, making demands that no one could meet. Most likely because they were applying the wrong rule, one meant for commercial properties. A few photos and calls from my agent got it straightened out. They saw how professional the installation was. But that, for me, is yet more evidence that they don't deal with a lot of homes with wood stoves anymore. I had no similar issue in 2013.
Yes, I agree. I am dealing with a big insurance company CAA. They would rather not insure anyone burning wood (or pellets), but they "accommodate" us for now. Now, if you don't want insurance, that could simplify the matter. Even then if you see what's happening in Vancouver, they don't care about your insurance, they are going after the stoves themselves.
 
Where I live, the regulations get tighter from year to year. The stove that I bought in 2013 wouldn't come close to meeting the standard today. The stove I bought last year of course does. I looked at used stove options but couldn't find one that would qualify and, since I felt the need to pull a permit for the stove swap, this was important.

Perhaps others would have just substituted one stove for another, but I didn't want to give my an insurance company an out if there was ever a fire that gave rise to a claim. They were initially insane, making demands that no one could meet. Most likely because they were applying the wrong rule, one meant for commercial properties. A few photos and calls from my agent got it straightened out. They saw how professional the installation was. But that, for me, is yet more evidence that they don't deal with a lot of homes with wood stoves anymore. I had no similar issue in 2013.
The regulations got tighter once since 2013. And that was scheduled to happen since the 90s.
 
NY banned ng installs in new homes with that starting soon.

They are trying to push everybody to electricity.

All we need is 1 big ice storm to drop trees and lines and it’s going to be chaos.

Pendulums swing both ways. If you turn your voters into icicles, they can’t vote.