Why Wood Heating is Important

Consider the merits of one of Canada’s most important renewable energy resources

When home heating fuel prices rise, tens of thousands of Canadian householders turn to firewood to cut heating costs. Many will be new to wood heating and others will be returning to the use of wood as a home heating fuel.

While heating with wood appears deceptively simple, there are many myths and much outdated, incomplete and just plain inaccurate information circulating about the oldest heating fuel. Although rarely discussed in strategic terms, firewood is not a fringe fuel, but is solidly mainstream, used in 3.2 million homes or 26 percent of the Canadian total. Not surprisingly, wood heating is used mostly in households located outside large downtown areas.

At the Wood Heat Organization, our role is not to promote wood heating, but to speak up for the Canadian families that choose to heat with wood responsibly, and to define and encourage responsible wood heating. 

Responsible wood heating starts with a safe, code-compliant installation of an advanced combustion wood stove, fireplace or furnace. Responsible users burn only seasoned firewood and use burn practices that result in little or no visible smoke. 

Wood is the most accessible and affordable renewable energy resource for home heating in most of Canada. Its use can help Canada to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because its net carbon dioxide emissions are far below those of all other fuels. It provides heating security during electrical power failures. Its use strengthens the rural and small town economies where wood heating is most prevalent. Wood that is cut and used locally means money does not leave the community to pay for oil and gas.

Wood heating is as much a lifestyle choice as it is a heating fuel option, so wood heating is not for everyone. 

Wood is not a perfect fuel, but there really is no such thing. All fuel burning, indeed all energy use, causes environmental impacts. The most often cited impact, is from old-style wood heating, visible as smelly smoke curling from chimneys. The new advanced technology wood stoves, fireplaces and furnaces that are certified low emission by the US Environmental Protection Agency can burn with no visible smoke and ninety per cent less pollution than appliances of twenty years ago.

When various energy sources are assessed according to their environmental impacts, the entire fuel cycle must be considered. The serious environmental impacts of fuel oil and natural gas consumption are largely ignored, partly because most occur upstream during production, refining and transportation. The greenhouse gases released when houses are heated with oil and gas are easy to ignore because they are invisible.

Although wood is a good fuel with advantages for individual families and for Canada, it is not a good fuel for all families in all regions. For example, wood is not a good fuel for serious heating in multi-family dwellings or in the downtown core of our large cities. Wood is best used as a fuel outside cities, in small towns and rural areas, where the cost of firewood and population density are lower.

Wood heating is practiced on a small scale, the fuel is usually harvested from a local resource, and the users gain a more complete understanding of their impacts on the environment than users of other energy sources. As environmentalists have suggested, these are some of the very features needed for economic and environmental sustainability. Canadians who heat their homes with wood responsibly should be recognized for their contribution to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and a sustainable energy future.