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SALT LAKE CITY — A proposed wood-burning ban is supposed to combat the inversion. But the ban, as proposed now, would include more efficient wood-burning stoves, which some say isn't fair.
The technology works to reduce wood smoke emissions, but does it work well enough?
Of course gas fireplaces have fewer emissions than wood stoves, but there's something about the smell and the crackling of a real wood fireplace many people just love.
Fires haven't changed all that much over time, but fireplaces certainly have.
John Mortensen, who works with EPA-certified wood-burning stoves and is with the group Utahns for Responsible Burning, says that in the newer stoves smoke is kept in the burning box longer by going through tubes and channels.
Because it stays inside longer, the smoke is heated to the point where it burns; meaning less smoke emissions go out the chimney and less wood is needed to keep the heat.
"That's what helps make the difference between the old stuff and the new stuff," Mortensen said.
Mortensen also says the newer models are 90 percent more efficient, which is why, he feels, they should be taken off the state's proposed wood-burning ban.
Imagine what you would think if the tobacco industry said tomorrow we want people to smoke on airplanes as long as they're EPA-certified cigarettes.
–Dr. Brian Moench, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment president
But not everyone agrees efficient stoves are the answer to cleaner air, like Dr. Brian Moench, president of the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment.
"Imagine what you would think if the tobacco industry said tomorrow we want people to smoke on airplanes as long as they're EPA-certified cigarettes," Moench said.
Moench says newer stoves and fireplaces still emit what he calls dangerous toxins and feels they should be banned during winter months.
"It's distracting from what the real issue should be," he said.
To which the other side says they're addressing the real issue of air quality.
"By using better technology, we can help clean up the air," Mortensen said.
The Utahns for Responsible Burning group says it is all about cleaner air, and admits it is a problem in Utah.
But the group feels its product is the best solution between a flat-out ban and doing nothing.
Members of the group also say that when there is a red-air day, they will stop burning as well.
