Q: We have an old Fisher airtight wood stove that has heated our home for nearly 20 years. Our new neighbors
have complained about our smoke, and are threatening to call the EPA and get us busted. Isn't our stove
grandfathered in somehow? If not, how do the Feds determine that our fire is too smokey, and what can
they do to us if it is?
 A: Federal regs affect only wood-burning appliances that are manufactured or sold for new installations.
While it wouldn't be legal to manufacture, sell or install a smoke dragon like your Fisher today, your existing
installation would be "grandfathered in" so far as Federal EPA emissions regulations are concerned (as long as
you don't try to sell it or install it elsewhere).
But that doesn't necessarily mean you're off the hook with your neighbors. Many states have their own air quality
regulations for existing woodstove installations. If your neighbors ever decided to sic the smoke cops on you, it
would be your State EPA they would call in, not the Feds.
I'm not familiar with the regulations and policing policies of every state, but here's what would happen if you lived
in Washington State and someone complained about your woodstove emissions: the Air Quality Officer
responding to the complaint would observe your wood smoke emissions for 20 minutes ( in case you've just added
a fresh load of wood to your fire ), then measure the opacity of the smoke coming out of your chimney. Opacity
tests show how much light is obscured by smoke or other particulates in the air. A clear pane of glass would
register zero percent opacity, while a brick wall would score 100 percent. If the officer determines that the smoke
coming out of your chimney exceeds 20% opacity, he can issue a warning, or fine you. The complaint call would
put you on the officer's "drive by" list for spot-checks in the future, and subsequent opacity violations would be
met with escalating fines.
I know you probably love your old Fisher, which has heated your house for two decades and undoubtedly paid for itself many
times over in fuel savings, but you must prepare yourself for the likelihood that it won't pass the opacity test.
Woodstoves of that vintage are criminal air polluters by today's standards, belching out thick plumes of
lung-clogging particulate emissions often registering over 90% opacity. Your Fisher, all by itself, spews out more
airborne particulates than twenty EPA approved woodstoves.
Maybe you should consider doing a favor for your complaining neighbors (and your other neighbors on Planet
Earth), and spend some of the fuel money your Fisher has saved you over the years on a new, EPA approved
model. Your new stove would burn about half the wood, deposit about one tenth the creosote in your chimney, and
liven up your living room with a stay-clear view of the fire. And your neighbors would be hard-pressed to tell, by
looking at your chimney, whether you had a fire going or not!
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