Hello all, I’m new to the site and wood burning also so take it easy on me. I have been pretty determined to have a wood burning stove insert installed this coming spring; however, I was just recently informed about Salt Lake’s wood burning restrictions due to the winter inversion in the valley. My question is how does this affect how often I’d be able to fire up the stove? Is it worth it to move forward with the install? My primary reason to do this was to have a secondary heating source and aid my gas bill but if there are constant burn restrictions I don’t know if it is worth the cost to install the stove. Anyway, I would really appreciate some opinions and advice from some Salt Lake locals or anyone who has experience with this. Thanks for any input!
Question for Utah (Salt Lake) Wood Burners
- Thread starter mattiek
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jetsam
Minister of Fire
Not me, but I can offer some general advice.
Knowing that you are subject to inversions, you should maximize your draft.
Plan a nice straight flue with, ideally, zero elbows in it (right up through the roof). Keep the flue indoors for as much of the run as is practical. Insulate the flue if it enters a chimney. Make sure the flue is capped. Provide outside air if the house is tight.
Knowing that you are subject to inversions, you should maximize your draft.
Plan a nice straight flue with, ideally, zero elbows in it (right up through the roof). Keep the flue indoors for as much of the run as is practical. Insulate the flue if it enters a chimney. Make sure the flue is capped. Provide outside air if the house is tight.
As of Nov 2018 Utah DEQ has stepped up its air quality program. There are two types of burn bans, voluntary and mandatory. Today is ok, but tomorrow will be a voluntary day. If it gets worse and a mandatory burn ban goes into effect then residents are prohibited from using wood and coal-burning stoves or fireplaces and asked to reduce vehicle use by consolidating trips.
Prohibited on No Burn Days
(broken link removed to https://www.whentoburn.com/utah-air-quality-monitoring-no-burn-days)
Prohibited on No Burn Days
- Wood Fireplaces
- Wood Stoves (both EPA certified and non-certified)
- Pellet Stoves
- Outdoor Fireplaces or Fire Pits
- Charcoal Grill
- Smokers
- Coal Burning Stoves
(broken link removed to https://www.whentoburn.com/utah-air-quality-monitoring-no-burn-days)
vwmike
Feeling the Heat
How do they ever enforce this? My pellet stove doesn't make smoke, and rarely does my summit make smoke. I'd be burning in the dark for sure!
generally they rely on visible smoke, but they will also rely on neighborhood reporting. I know in denver, code enforcement seems to drive by more often to places that might be offenders during bans...
Our pellet stove cycled once the house was warmed up. On startup it did smoke a little and at night you could see some embers coming out of the chimney. They are cleaner than wood stoves, but still sooty. That soot is trapped during a temperature inversion. This is what they are trying to control as a health hazard.
vwmike
Feeling the Heat
Fair enough. I'm just surprised that even modern EPA style stoves are included in the ban! There are a couple of towns up here that are in valley bottoms that have the same problem when the weather doesn't cooperate, though certified stoves are exempt from any bans.
Is there a SLC residents' web site, forum, or chat room that may have a lot more folks that could address your city-specific question?
Separately, my wife started working for a company based in SLC and she's been out twice in the last two months for three weeks total. She likes SLC a lot.
Separately, my wife started working for a company based in SLC and she's been out twice in the last two months for three weeks total. She likes SLC a lot.
Thanks for the replies everyone. I have been monitoring the burn days a little bit and it seems like its about 2/3's of the days you can burn vs. non burn days. I have a fireplace store representative coming to give me a quote on an insert tonight so I will pick his brain a little bit and let you know what he thinks. Hopefully he won't just be trying to make the sale. PaulO, I don't blame your wife! I came out here for an interview a few years ago and don't plan on leaving.
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