Wood heater owners warned to stockpile dry wood now for winter

7/3/98

The chill of winter may seem a long way off, but wood heater owners should be gathering dry wood and stockpiling it in a dry place now.

Environment Minister Cheryl Edwardes said wood heater owners had a responsibility to burn dry wood and operate their fires properly to reduce the impacts of haze pollution.

"The biggest source of haze in winter is from poorly operated wood heaters," Mrs Edwardes said.

Haze was an environmental problem and it was getting worse. The appeal of wood heaters on cold, wet winter days made them popular, but slow combustion wood heaters in Perth were directly attributing to this problem.

"The State Government has introduced a number of measures to help reduce haze for non-domestic sources, but when it comes to heaters in the home it is the people of Perth who will have to make the difference," Mrs Edwardes said.

The Minister said there were a few simple steps wood heater owners could take to help reduce haze. These were:

·      always make certain that you are burning dry untreated wood. Green, wet wood does not burn properly, it generates 50 per cent less heat and it produces a lot more smoke;

·      when buying wood, always choose dry, seasoned wood;

·      if you collect your own wood do so well in advance of burning. If you collect wood or green mill ends now it will be suitable to burn next winter; and -

·      once you get your wood home keep it out of the rain.

"If your heater does not have a label showing that it has been manufactured to Australian standards, you must keep the fire burning brightly at all times," the Minister said.

Heaters which comply with Australian Standard 4013 are more efficient and produce less smoke. They can be safely left to burn overnight with their air supply turned right down.

Mrs Edwardes encouraged people to look for the Australian Standard label when shopping for a wood heater and to ensure the heater was installed to Australian Standard 2918.

She said the Department of Environmental Protection had produced a free chimney check information card to help people check if they were operating their fires correctly.

For this and more information about haze contact the DEP on 9222 7000 or visit the DEP library on Level 8 Westralia Square, 141 St George's Tce Perth.

Media contact: Nicole Trigwell 9421 7777