Frequency profiles of residential wood burning for the northwestern United States.

摘要

Surveys report that as high as 62% of the homes in the Pacific Northwest region have wood-burning equipment (the capability to heat with wood). Most of these homes apparently make use of this heating source. For example, the Oregon Department of Energy's Residential Energy Conservation Survey estimated that 50% to 60% of Oregon's households burn at least some wood. However, the number of homes that burn wood as their primary heating source is only about 21%. While it may be unclear whether wood heating will continue to enjoy popularity in light of recent energy price declines, certainly the hardware for wood heating remains widespread throughout the Northwest. For regulation purposes it is important to understand the impact this large capacity for wood heating can have on air quality. There is very little open literature describing wood usage patterns, apparently because of the difficulty and capital cost in monitoring residences for frequency and duration of burning. Analyses have typically used homeowner surveys of wood use to determine wood heating behavior. The weakness here is that survey responses are often unreliable. For example, respondent estimated wood usage may represent more of an indicator of the propensity to burn wood than the quantity actually burned. Characterizing wood usage patterns is important in assessing its contribution to air pollution. It may even be possible to use this information to predict when wood stove emissions will have their greatest impact on air quality. In this paper we present an examination of patterns of wood use for residential space heating in the Northwest. It is taken from a study of electrical energy consumption that is concerned with wood heating behavior from a standpoint of electrical displacement rather than one of air quality. 8 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab. (ERA citation 15:048442)