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The Cariboo wood stove exchange program is back

Cariboo residents can take advantage of incentive programs to upgrade their old wood stove throughout the month of September.

Cariboo residents can take advantage of incentive programs to upgrade their old wood stove throughout the month of September.

The Williams Lake Air Quality Roundtable offers a $300 cash rebate for stoves exchanged within the airshed boundaries, and the provincial government offers an additional $250 rebate. Funding is limited, so those who are interested need to act fast.

The Wood Stove Exchange program enables Cariboo residents to play a role in improving air quality by replacing older, more polluting wood stoves with highly efficient CSA/EPA emissions-certified, clean-burning appliances.

Newer, clean-burning wood stoves reduce air pollution by 70 to 90 per cent and are safer to operate because they greatly reduce the risk of chimney fire.

Certified woodstoves will also reduce home heating costs by burning one-third less wood than older stoves.

Typically, stoves or inserts manufactured before 1994 are not efficiency certified (check the metal plate on the back of the unit). Most wood burning furnaces and outdoor wood burning boilers do not meet standards. An old unit can be exchanged for a new clean burning appliance that has passed new CSA/EPA tests — this includes woodstoves, inserts, pellet stoves, gas or electric furnaces, or certified wood burning furnaces.

Participating local retailers include Burgess Plumbing, Heating and Electrical, Western Wood Heat, Home Hardware Building Centre, and MarKey Mechanical.

These retailers can help residents select the best replacement system for their homes.

Those attending the Harvest Fair on Sunday Sept. 11 will be able to visit the roundtable’s burn trailer to learn more about burning efficiently and how to save money with a clean burning stove.   They will also be able to enter a draw for a chance to win a CSA/EPA certified Enviro Stove.

Visit www.breatheasywilliamslake.org for more information on the Cariboo Wood Stove Exchange program, how to save money on home heating bills, and how to help clean up the air in your neighborhood.

Tammy Keetch is the air quality educator with the Williams Lake Environmental Society/Air Quality Round Table.

She can be reached at 250-620-0598 or info@breatheasywilliamslake.org.