Home heating and air quality
Home fires are a major source of air pollution in some areas of the Waikato region. During winter the air can become so dirty that when we breathe it in it becomes a risk to our health and wellbeing.
What's burning?
Contaminants from home heating are generally more of a problem in winter when wood burners and open fires tend to be used. This happens especially in inland towns, such as Tokoroa and Te Kūiti where frequent calm conditions and inversion layers mean the smoke stays around.
Wood is a popular fuel for home heating. But the use of old wood burners and wet wood, is the main cause for PM10 pollution. They can produce large amounts of contaminants that affect our air quality, and the fine particles are small enough to get into your lungs and can cause serious health problems - especially for young children, elderly, and asthmatics.
What are the Regulations?
Permitted Activity Rule 6.1.12.1 of the Waikato Regional Plan provides for the discharge of contaminants into air from burning fuels for the purpose of generating useful heat, steam, power or electricity.
The generation of useful heat that is for domestic home heating and does not exceed 40 kW is not covered by this Rule and does not require consent under the presumptions of section 15 of the RMA. The generation of useful heat for sources not exceeding 40kW per building is excluded from any need to comply with conditions a) – e) of this permitted activity rule.
The National Environmental Standards for Air Quality (NESAQ) that applies across all of New Zealand (including the Waikato Region) contains regulations 22, 23 and 24 that apply to woodburners. These regulations are paraphrased below (please refer to NESAQ for specific wording):
- Any woodburners installed after 1 September 2005 on a property of less than 2 hectares must meet the emission standard of no more than 1.5 gram of particles per kilogram of dry wood burnt and a thermal efficiency of not less than 65%.
- Any woodburners that were installed prior to this date and do not meet these standards can continue to be used.
- These standards do not apply to multi-fuel burners (burners that use coal and wood), coal burners, pellet fires and wood/coal stoves designed for the primary purpose of cooking. Open fires are also excluded from these requirements (unless they are installed and operated in a polluted airshed).
The Airsheds within the Waikato Region which have previously been identified as polluted and where there are open fire place bans that were triggered under Regulation 24A of the NESAQ are identified below.
Under Regulation 24A of the Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Air Quality) Regulations 2004, the following open fire place bans are in place in the Waikato region.
- The discharge of particles from domestic solid-fuel burning open fires installed in the Putāruru airshed on or after 9 April 2015 is prohibited.
- The discharge of particles from domestic solid-fuel burning open fires installed in the Taupō airshed on or after 27 June 2014 is prohibited.
- The discharge of particles from domestic solid-fuel burning open fires installed in the Te Kūiti airshed on or after 3 July 2013 is prohibited.
- The discharge of particles from domestic solid-fuel burning open fires installed in the Tokoroa airshed on or after 21 May 2013 is prohibited.
Advisory notes
A domestic solid-fuel burning open fire –
(a) means an appliance or a structure inside a domestic building that can burn solid-fuel but cannot effectively control the rate of air supply to the combustion zone; and
(b) to avoid doubt, includes a fireplace to which paragraph (a) applies that has a cover or doors that cannot effectively control the rate of air supply to the combustion zone i.e. any fire where the combustion chamber is not totally enclosed e.g. brick or masonary fireplaces, visors, open hearths, Jetmaster fireplaces.
Contaminants from burning
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Smoke consists of very small particles (PM10 and PM2.5) that are less than 10 microns across – less than a fifth of the size of a human hair. These particles can get into our lungs causing health problems, especially for people with asthma, small children and the elderly.
Smoke can also reduce visibility and make it unpleasant to be outside at certain times of the day.
The particles in smoke are unburnt and partially burnt fuel so the key to reducing smoke is to burn the fuel more completely.
Smoke (small particles)
Carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide
Nitrogen dioxide
Materials that are dangerous to burn
Besides wet wood, there are other materials that are dangerous to burn in your home fire.
When the materials listed below are burnt, they can give off toxic substances that can harm the health of people, animals and the environment.
Warm homes, clean air
So, how can you make sure your home is warm and the air is clean?
- Choose alternative heating options. Read more in the PDF, below.
- Get the most heat from your firewood. Read more in the PDF, below.
