When our new house came with a wood-burning fireplace, I envisioned us cozying up in front of the fire reading books to our delightful young daughter.  Of course, in the back of my mind I knew that wood fires cause more air pollution than other types of fuel.  They also lower the air quality in the house, which can be a concern when you have a new baby or anyone in the family with asthma or other breathing troubles.
wood burning fire place

Another environmental downfall of wood fires is that they don’t heat your house; in fact, lighting a fire will result in a net heat loss in your home.  So does that mean we can never light a wood fire in good conscience?  Well, there are a few ways to enjoy an eco-friendlier fire:

  • Make sure to use dry, seasoned hardwoods. Other woods don’t burn as cleanly and release more pollutants into the air.
  • Try lighting a Java-Log. They’re made from coffee waste that would otherwise go in a landfill, and they burn cleaner than wood. They don’t, however, produce much heat, so they’re best on cool-not cold-nights.
  • Get glass doors for your fireplace. Keeping your damper open well after the embers have cooled helps everything air out-but all your household heat will blow up the chimney. Glass doors allow you to keep the damper open without sucking the hot air out of your house.

After lighting a few Java-Logs in our fireplace, we decided to look into alternatives to wood fires, which I will discuss next week.  Do any of you plan to light wood fires now that the weather is getting cooler?  Any more tips for making them a little better for the planet?