A Big Hitch in Outdoor Living

If you talk to any high-end landscape designer, they'll tell you that one essential in any garden these days is fire outdoors:  a firepit, a fireplace, a chimenea, almost anything that glows in the dark and heats the place up a bit on chilly nights.

BUT -- from Connecticut to the Chicago suburbs, to California and Canada, municipalities are either considering or imposing bans on wood burning outdoors.  And that includes a lot of fancy and expensive new garden amenities.

You may be able to get away with gas-fired modules like those shown here (by FireByDesign), but anything that burns wood is now taboo in large swathes of California and in many other municipalities across the country.

Earlier this month, California's South Coast Air Quality Management District approved strict new regulations on wood burning fireplaces that affect homeowners in Orange County, parts of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernadino counties.  The new rules are in line with others already in existence elsewhere in the state. The wood-burning ban is aimed at reducing fine particle pollution, including bits of soot, which can work their way into lungs and cause a variety of health problems, including asthma, heart attacks and lung diseases.  The regulations cover indoor and outdoor wood-burning fireplaces, as well as chimeneas, back yard firepits, and other devices that burn wood.  Beach bonfires are not included in the ban, nor are wood-burning cook stoves, such as pizza ovens.  Within a year, wood-burning fireplaces in all newly-constructed homes will be banned completely.

In the Chicago suburbs, a group called Breathe Healthy Air is pushing for a ban on second-hand smoke that comes from wood-burning stoves and fireplaces, and similar campaigns are taking place in communities across the country.

While an outdoor firepit or chimenea can be relatively inexpensive, a real outdoor fireplace could cost tens of thousands of dollars.  Designers and homeowners should be aware of the trend taking hold in many states before they shell out thousands of dollars on something they might never be able to use.

(image: FireByDesign)

Comments

[Ogen garnet]

It's stunning....

[Anne Robert]

thank you very much for liking my blog my urban garden deco guide!

[Tim Colman]

To get a picture of the huge impact wood burning has on the world's ari-- check out this story in NYT Science Section today
with map http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/soot-in-the-greenhouse-and-kitchen/

[Tim Colman]

Fresh air -- imagine!

We ought to demand as much from our cars --

People tolerate a ton of crap coming from exhaust. I am glad to see more organized efforts against wood stoves-- here in Seattle on inversion days in winter chimney smoke stops a friend from walking.

Beautiful pool.

This is random -- but I am starting a new poster design on rain gardens and wonder if you have some favorite species for the East. We are going to illustrate a beautiful rain garden and add some info about how to construct it on the back.

Favorite species?

Best fishes,

Timothy

[jodi]

Yet another reason why I'm glad I live in a very rural area, with other country oriented people who burn wood rather than make oil companies even wealthier. (slight rant about covenants in suburbs!) A lot of these places that ban outdoor burning like you describe are the same places that build mcMansions, have two SUVS in every paved driveway, and make covenants requiring homeowners to spray for 'weeds.' Drives me crazy--and this is a great post, so thanks for pointing these things out.

[Nancy Bond]

The fire and water features in that photo are stunning. I'm not sure what the bylaws are in my town regarding chimneas, etc., but now that you've prompted me, I'll find out. Thanks.