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Show ' You can put a damper on air pollution I by following wood-burning suggestions submitted by the Utah Department of Health There are many things the owner of a wood-burning stove or fireplace can do to increase efficiency and minimize air pollution. The following follow-ing tips on wood burning are contained contain-ed in a new pamphlet from the Bureau of Air Quality, Utah Department Depart-ment of Health: Use small amounts of kindling wood, cardboard or loose paper to start a fire. When they are burned in large quantities, they vaporize too fast, leading to excessive emissions and possibly to stove overheating. Burn larger logs to reduce pollution. pollu-tion. After a bed of hot coals has been established, add pieces of wood that are at least four inches in diameter. Increasing the average wood size to at least four to six inches in diameter can reduce emissions by; 16 percent. ' J '' You should be sure adequate air is ' supplied to your fire to completely burn the gases and resins from the : wood. Some people will reduce, or damp down, the air supply to make the wood last longer. But o the temperature of an air-starved' fire -will not be hot enough to burn off the by-products of combustion, which in-1 crease air pollution and creosote ' build-up in the chimney. ; ' '' Creosote is a highly flammable substance that is associated with chimney fires. You should let your fire burn briskly. brisk-ly. The first half hour of wood burning burn-ing often produces the greatest pollution. Burn small hot fires when possible and refuel frequently. Stoke your fire with dry wood. , Most wood should be seasoned six to nine months, preferably over the : summer months. Air drying prior to ; burning will reduce pollution. Wet , wood is half water and will produce only one-fourth the heat energy that can be produced by the same amount of dry wood. Studies have shown that hardwoods, hard-woods, thoroughly dried for a year, . have the best combustion efficiency , and. produce fewer pollutants and gases than softwoods. Air-dried soft-; soft-; woods also make good fires, but they , , are slightly harder to burn cleanly due to their higher resin content. After adding new wood, open the damper to supply air directly to the fire. If prolonged burning is your object, you should allow charred wood to accumulate ac-cumulate in the stove over a period of several hours rather than firing many pieces of wood at once. Check the smoke coming from your chimney. It should be almost clear or, at most, less than 50 percent per-cent opaque. Opacity is a measure-, i ment of the degree smoke can block ' out light. Chimney smoke never should be black. Visible smoke leaving the chimney or long, lazy flames leaving the firebox are signs of incomplete, air-stai ved burning. If this happens, provide more air to the fire by opening open-ing the dampers. This and other information is available in the pamphlet, "Keep the Home Fires Burning ... Brighter and Cleaner." You can order it from the Bureau of Air Quality, Utah Department of Health, P. O. Box 45500, Salt Lake City, UT 84145-0500 or phone 533-6108. |