The Environmental Impact of Heating Systems

If you own a home or commercial property with an old, inefficient oil-based boiler or natural gas furnace more than 15 years old, your heating system is producing significant carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to the greenhouse gas effect which scientists say is causing an increase in global temperature. Even newer, more efficient heating systems produce some CO2. Soot emissions from wood burning stoves are another possible contributor to the warming effect.

Home Heating Emissions

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ranked the biggest contributors to greenhouse gasses as industrial, transportation, residential, commercial and agricultural. The EPA said 17 percent of the total U.S. carbon dioxide emissions (or about 9,000 pounds per person per year) comes from people's homes, with the three main sources coming from heating, electricity and waste.

Replace Older Heating Systems

Furnaces, boilers and other heating equipment that are more than 15 years old should be replaced, according to the EPA. Not only do older heating systems cost more to operate, but the heating cycle results in proportionally more CO2 being released through the exhaust system. Some gas furnaces can produce carbon monoxide--a toxic gas to humans--as a byproduct of the combustion process. The EPA recommends replacing older furnaces with Energy Star qualified oil and gas furnaces. More information can be found at energystar.gov. Older oil and gas furnaces can rate as low as 60 percent efficient, while newer ones can achieve as much as 95 percent efficiency.

Wood Burning Heat

So-called black carbon has emerged as the second highest contributing factor to global warming, behind only carbon dioxide, according to climate scientists. Black carbon is described as soot particulates from the burning of fossil fuels, especially in developing countries that depend on wood stoves for heating and cooking. When the black carbon matter settles into areas such as the Arctic, it can darken the snow and ice, and reduce the amount of sunlight reflected, increasing ice melting. The EPA estimates that there are about 10 million wood stoves in the U.S., and between 70 percent to 80 percent are older, inefficient stoves.

Electric Heat

Newer electrical heating units are considered more environmentally safe, because unlike oil or gas they produce no emissions. However, coal-fired power plants do produce greenhouse gases, as well as mercury emissions that can end up in streams, lakes or estuaries, where it can harm animals.

State Government Actions

Massachusetts state legislators in 2009 petitioned the U.S. Department of Energy to allow the state to enforce tougher efficiency standards on gas furnaces than federal laws provide. Maine lawmakers considered a bill that would provide low-interest loans to residents to install geothermal heat pumps.

References

• EPA report on US carbon emissions
• New York Times article on black carbon