Home fires burning but air quality suffering

Taupo’s air quality has suffered this winter, due to smoke from home fires – but there are simple steps people can take to improve the situation, Environment Waikato says.

Regional council monitoring shows Taupo air pollution exceeded the National Environmental Standard (NES) for air quality on four occasions in June.

Air quality is assessed by measuring the amount of fine particles (PM10) in the air. These tiny particles are not visible to the human eye and are small enough to get into human lungs and cause serious health problems.

The NES for PM10 was exceeded in Taupo during cold snaps, on June 3 and 4, and later in the month on June 23-24.

In winter in Taupo, most PM10 comes from smoke from wood burned in homes, not from industry or vehicles.

But people need to stay warm this winter, and there are simple steps people can take to reduce the amount of PM10 their wood fires give off, says Environment Waikato air quality scientist Dr Nick Kim.

These include:

• · Only burn dry wood. One study has shown that the simple act of drying wood before it is burned can reduce PM10 emissions by 3-5 times. Dry wood also gives off more heat than wet wood.
• · Give your fire plenty of air so it burns hotter and cleaner. If you can see smoke from your chimney your fire needs more air.
• · Don’t overload the fire with wood (or coal).
• · Don’t damp down your burner overnight – it makes more smoke and PM10.

Meanwhile, Environment Waikato, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) and a number of Taupo agencies have been working to address the town’s winter air quality problems.

In 2008/09, Environment Waikato and EECA provided funding to replace more than 40 smoky wood burners in local homes with clean heating appliances, under a project managed by Energy Options.

Environment Waikato also has a representative on a local Healthy Homes steering group that is elping to get more insulation and clean heating appliances into Taupo homes.