As the New Year begins, Massachusetts resolves to help you save energy. On the first of the year, the state introduced a new incentive program for a winter necessity in your home: your fireplace.
By trading in your current stove for a higher efficiency model, you can save money on your new purchase. If you are using an older wood, wood pellet, or pellet coal burning stove, then you are wasting energy every time you heat your home. While insulation holds in all of the heat that any stove will produce, energy efficient stoves save energy before the heat even reaches the insulation.
When you heat with an energy efficient stove, your savings increase with each use. Under the new Massachusetts incentive, you can save on your new stove before you even install it. Older stoves burn wood inefficiently, pollute the air, and create dust inside your home. The newer, certified energy efficient stoves reduce both smoke and dust, and are an average of 50% more efficient.
New stoves save one third of the wood that older models use, while producing the same amount of heat. There are about twelve million wood stoves in the country, and only three million are energy efficient. Help increase this number by upgrading your own stove, and decrease wasting valuable materials.
When you replace your old stove, both the energy and environmental benefits make the switch a no-brainer. Not only will you cut your energy use in half, you will use less fuel by reducing the amount of wood burned. This also eliminates creosote build-up in your chimney to reduce the risk of unwanted fire. Energy efficient stoves also reduce pollution by 70% in comparison to older stoves.
Now for the incentive: what’s in it for you financially?
Residents who meet the qualifications for this program could receive a voucher of $1,000 or $2,000 for newer model stoves. The highest $2,000 rebate is open to low income residents who are enrolled in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance program, MassHealth, or the Women, Infants, and Children program. Other state residents are eligible for the $1,000 rebate on a new energy efficient stove.
The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, along with the state, will run this $100,000 pilot program to improve energy efficiency in a location where it has not yet been heavily promoted. State Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Mark Sylvia said that he hopes this program inspires residents of Massachusetts to upgrade their wood heating systems.
With this program in place, you can save money on the purchase of a stove that will continue to help you save. By deceasing the amount of energy required to heat your home, a new stove saves you money and is an earth-friendly option. When you heat with your new stove, be sure to have your insulation properly installed in order to hold in all of the heat. To find out more about this incentive and its ties to insulation, contact Dolphin.
