P&Z seeks to protect air quality
By Leila Javitch

A temporary ban on erecting outdoor wood boilers is being seriously
considered by Norfolk’s Planning and Zoning Commission as a step
necessary to protect air quality and promote public health.
Free-standing outdoor furnaces, known as OWBs, have become
increasingly popular as the price of heating oil and natural gas has
skyrocketed. They have proved to be important money savers on farms
and in rural areas with easy access to firewood, and as many as a half-
dozen are believed to exist in Norfolk.
But the American Lung Association has called OWBs “devastating” to
health. Unregulated OWBs often release wood smoke that contains
dangerous sooty particulate matter and other serious pollutants, some of
which are carcinogenic.
“It is a shame we have to consider banning outdoor boilers,” says P&Z
Chairman West Lowe. “I am all for burning wood for heat, something our
ancestors have done for ages. But our mandate is to protect Norfolk’s
health, safety and welfare, and these devices are not healthy.”
Lowe will chair a public hearing on July 29 to air the pros and cons of the
proposed ban. Immediately after, the commission is likely to vote to impose
a ban until acceptable emission standards are set by the government.
This could be a long wait. Three years ago, several eastern states,
including Connecticut, asked the Federal Environmental Protection Agency
to regulate OWB smoke emissions, but the EPA has taken no action. The
irony is that indoors wood burning stoves have been regulated since 1988,
resulting in a high level of efficiency.

“The fact is that free standing outdoor heating appliances were not
considered by the EPA when drafting their regulations on solid fuel
combustion,” says P&Z member Star Childs, the commission’s authority on
the subject. “The EPA has been dragging its feet, and this has created a
loophole that manufacturers have exploited with inefficient and dirty
combustion technology.”
Tired of waiting for Washington to take the lead, a number of local
governments have decided to ban OWB installations until federal standards
are set.
Many outdoor furnace owners have built their own boilers, which usually
turn out to be less efficient and more polluting than commercial devices.
Some of Norfolk’s outdoor installations were erected without a town
building permit, which sets limits on proximity to nearby houses and
requires an engineering survey before chimneys can be built.
A well-designed OWB consists of a wood-burning firebox enclosed in a
water jacket vented through a chimney. It is usually located in a shed close
to the building it is meant to heat. The wood fire heats the water that is
then carried through underground pipes to the house. Commercial models
start at $3,000 and can cost as much as $10,000, making them
unaffordable for many.
One of the problems with even a well-designed OWB is that it is meant to
encourage a slow burning fire to maximize the amount of heat transferred
from the fire to the water. However, slower fires create more smoke and
creosote than higher temperature fires.
While an OWB burns efficiently in very cold weather according to many
owners, it does not do well in spring and fall when the damper closes and
the wood smolders so that the temperature will not rise too high. Much of

the smoke condenses as creosote. When the machine is “told” to re-ignite,
there is a huge burst of fire and smoke, which can last one half-hour.