Support Armidale Council's proposal for pollution-free new homes - have your say by 31 Mar 2024

Council's suggested Clean Air Strategies, p71:
C1.1 Mitigate the impacts of wood heaters in Armidale during the  winter months

• Seek funding for and undertake a community awareness program on the impacts of wood heaters on air quality

• Undertake studies as required into the biodiversity and environmental impacts of wood collection within the LGA

• Amend the DCP to prohibit new dwellings from installing wood heaters where they are located on lots of 4000m2 or less

• Undertake a trial program to install filtration devices to understand their effectiveness in reducing woodsmoke pollution generated by existing fireplaces

• Offer an incentive package to retrofit existing wood heaters with air conditioning units within Armidale

• Advocate for the inclusion of a PM2.5 limit in the Australian Standard for fuel combustion heaters (AS/NZS 4013:2014)

• Advocate the State Government to establish a financial assistance program to support and incentivise the installation of filtration devices or replacement of wood heaters with alternative heating devices that do not burn solid fuels

• Undertake investigation into potential options to phase-out wood heaters within Armidale

Don't let opposition by the profit-driven wood heating industry harm our health

Initiatives to develop a test for wood heaters that reflects real-life emissions were opposed by the wood heating industry, presumably because of added costs. Despite having no safe standard for wood heaters, for decades, the industry tried to maximize profits by convincing people that new wood heaters are clean and environmentally friendly. Yet when all emissions from the average wood heater are counted, the average wood heater causes a lot more global warming that heating several similar homes with reverse cycle systems.

Health problems from breathing woodsmoke (see Q1 below) include adverse pregnancy outcomes, changes in cognitive abilities, poorer learning outcomes in children, increased risk of asthma attacks, heart and lung diseases, strokes and dementia.    

Council's current proposals aim to stop the problem from getting worse.  New homes have affordable, clean heating options thanks to current insulation and energy-efficiency standards. The last thing they (or their neighbours) need is a polluting wood heater for which the current standard is insufficient to protect our health. The wood heating industry's claim "The Armidale council wants to remove your wood heater"  is just as untrue as the claim that "wood is one of the cleanest domestic heating options available”.  No heaters will ever need to be removed if the proposed trial of filtration devices successfully reduces emissions by at least 95% over the life of the heater. But instead of applauding this initiative, the wood heating industry is trying to stir up opposition and spreading fear and misinformation.  Perhaps they don't even want filtration devices to clean up the harmful, polluting monstrosities they have sold, simply continue to sell more of them!

Fightback with the truth

Residents need to fight back with the truth - that new wood heaters are 8 times worse than the manufacturers' claims and are almost as polluting as those installed 20-30 years ago, that wood heating causes an estimated 14 premature deaths in Armidale every year, corresponding to 210 years of life lost, with estimated cost exceeding $30,000 per wood heater per year.   Wood smoke extracts were found to cause 12 to 30 times as many tumours in mice and mutations in bacteria as the same amount of cigarette smoke.  We don't need any more wood heaters to add to Armidale's pollution!

Only informed communities can make informed decisions, so the proposed community awareness program is an important first step. When people understand the true health impacts of wood heater pollution, very few will want wood heating. Houses that comply with current insulation and energy-efficiency standards already have clean, convenient, cosy pollution-free alternatives, such as energy-efficient reverse cycle systems that cause a lot less global warming and have lower running costs than a wood heater.  This testimonial from a former wood heater user shows that many Armidale residents will save money and enjoying improved quality of life from switching to solar and reverse cycle. 

Q1: Would you buy a new product:

·         without a safe standard to protect our health,

·         that pollutes an area 350 x 350 x 10 metres to the World Health Organisation annual limit in less than an hour

·         emits toxic particles able to penetrate the deepest recesses of our lungs, where they enter the bloodstream and cause harm throughout the body, including increased risk of some cancers

·         increases the risk of heart and lung diseases, strokes, dementia, asthma attacks

·         increases the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, causes changes in cognitive abilities and poorer learning outcomes in children

·         if installed in only one home per hectare, adds 7% to the risk that a child under 3 will need hospital emergency treatment for all causes except accidental injury

·         in toxicity testing, the particles were found to cause 12 to 30 times as many tumours in mice and mutations in bacteria as the same amount of cigarette smoke 

and install it in your home if there are safe, affordable, environmentally-friendly alternatives? 

Some relevant information for an education program to promote widespread understanding of the facts about wood smoke 

Legislation against smoking at work was initially controversial, but now has almost universal support.  People who are likely to want similar protection against wood smoke once they understand that burning 15 kg of wood in an enclosed wood heater – an evening’s heat – produces as many toxic PAH as in the smoke from a quarter of a million cigarettes, that real-life emissions of new heaters are little different from older models (see above), that health experts recommend not using wood heaters when alternatives are available, that wood smoke increases the risk of dementia, that in Tasmania hospital admissions for heart failure started to increase as soon as PM2.5 exceeded 4 µg/m3, a tiny fraction of the current Australian PM2.5 standard of 25 µg/m3, and that modern efficient heater-air-conditioners are more environmentally friendly than wood heating and have lower running costs than buying firewood).