This is the last month outdoor wood boilers will be sold in New Hampshire without a special color-coded tag. The tags, orange or white, will signify the environmental friendliness of each boiler.
Beginning next month, outdoor boilers marked with an orange tag will signify a boiler is 70 percent cleaner for the environment than some models that are currently being sold.
In 2010, the regulations will be kicked up a notch, and only white-tag models, which will reduce particle pollution by 90 percent, will be sold.
New Hampshire is the third state in the nation to team up with the Environmental Protection Agency to adopt rules which regulate the home heating devices. Outdoor wood boilers, or furnaces, are freestanding units about the size of a shed.
Wood or wood pellets are used to fuel the devices; smoke is released from a smokestack. The boilers can heat a home or pool. Depending on the size of the boiler, prices can range from $5,000 to $10,000.
There's estimated to be around 2,000 outdoor wood boilers operating in the state right now, according to Pamela Monroe, compliance bureau administrator for the state Department of Environmental Services Air Resource Division.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-Exeter, was a sponsor of the new law. She said it wasn't just about being environmentally friendly, but about respecting the health of neighbors as well. Some of the state's 2,000 outdoor wood boilers are located in her district.
"I had constituents who were adversely affected by a neighbor's boiler," she said. "(The smoke) among other things, such as being sited poorly, affected neighbors."
Hassan said lawmakers tried to find a good balance between the needs of owners and the desires of neighbors. Since smoke is proven to be linked to lung and heart problems, Breathe New Hampshire joined the cause.
The result was an additional requirement for wood boiler owners. Since August, if the boiler doesn't get the EPA stamp of approval, it must be placed at least 200 feet from the nearest abutter and its smokestack must be 300 feet above the nearest peak.
And, like most legislation, there's a price to pay for those who don't comply. First-time offenders of either part of the new law will be fined up to $250. Each additional offense may result in a fine of up to $500, according to Monroe.
She said those who already own an outdoor wood boiler won't be penalized, but anyone who installs one from now can be. Since the change went into effect in August, Monroe said the number of complaints her office fields hasn't increased, but calls with questions about the law change have.
That's something employees at Central Boilers, one of the larger manufacturers of outdoor wood boilers, have been dealing with as well, according to Rodney Tollefson, company vice president.
"Quite a few questions have come in from our local dealers that the consumers speak with," he said. "There is some confusion about it, and other (questions) come in through our Web site."
But Tollefson said regulations that demand a more environmentally friendly product have been a long time coming. He said the company has spent the last several years testing new boilers and trying to make them more environmentally friendly.
Outdoor wood boilers that meet both the 2009 and 2010 change, being manufactured by Central Boiler, are already being sold in New Hampshire. While sales aren't booming yet, Tollefson expects the law to help, not hurt sales.
"I think it will have a positive effect on sales because people can buy a product knowing it's approved by the EPA," he said. "They can make their purchase knowing they've bought a clean and efficient furnace."
Tollefson said other manufacturers might not fare as well if they haven't met the EPA's standards yet.
"But we've had a furnace that has qualified for this for over a year," he said. "We have literally thousands of these qualified models in the fields and we do have a real good jump start that a lot of the other manufacturers don't have. I suspect they'll be playing catchup."
