Informational ·Oct 10, 2017

The EPA Has Banned Outdoor Wood Boilers What Now?

A EPA has Received a "Stunning Blow to Unbridled Bureaucratic Power"! Read to the end for UPDATED information!

This article was first written in 2016 to outline the new EPA regulations then in force. However, the US Supreme Court has ruled (June 2022) that the EPA overstepped its constitutional authority with its regulations. This updated information is added at the end of this article. First, here is our message from 2016:

A Special Message From The CEO of OutdoorBoiler.com, Warren Walborn:

As of 2016, the EPA banned certain outdoor wood boilers. These new regulations allow homeowners to only install "high-efficiency" outdoor boilers for residential applications. Those "high-efficiency" units are VERY expensive and quite complicated to operate and maintain.

Brace yourself for more bad news...

Then as of January 2020, you are not permitted to install almost ANY outdoor wood furnace, according to the EPA. The technology does not currently exist to meet the EPA 2020 standards for wood burning. (It would appear that the EPA prefers that you burn oil from terrorist-sponsoring countries!)

What if I already have an outdoor boiler?

The government says "If you like your wood burning heater, you can keep your wood burning heater"...for now.

We don't know how long that will last.

How Does This Affect Me?

What we do know is that when your outdoor wood stove reaches its end of life, YOU CANNOT REPLACE IT! That is the law.

So our goal here at OutdoorBoiler.com is to help you keep your outdoor furnace healthy and in perfect running condition for decades! (So you can keep saving money!)

How Do I Do That?

We make it really simple for you! Just follow our easy maintenance tips, read our articles and laugh at our funny jokes, and most importantly, make sure you remove ash and that your water is properly treated with Certified Liquid Armor water treatment.

Should I have Spare Parts?

Yes! And this is a perfect time to get some. BECAUSE we have some overstocked items that we are selling at deeply discounted prices this week. Now is the time to take advantage of these prices and get spare parts of the electronics that will fail at some point during the life of your furnace - a blower fan, pump, solenoid, and high limit switch.

Click HERE for our Emergency Preparedness Kit Products!

Urgent Action Must Be Taken!

If you purchased your outdoor wood burner more than one year ago, the warranty on the electronic components likely has ended. This "Overstock Sale" is for a limited time so call OutdoorBoiler.com now to take advantage of this sale.

Call us at (231) 861-8200 or (888) Log-Burn. You can visit our website at this link HERE, but you must call to get Overstock Sale prices.

Here Are Our Top Selling Products!

For more Outdoor Wood Boiler Parts visit OutdoorBoiler.com!

Which Brand Furnaces Are Affected?

ALL brands of outdoor wood burning boilers are affected by the EPA ban. Regardless of which model outdoor boiler you have, you cannot replace it with another outdoor boiler once your boiler reaches its end of life.

Stick It To The EPA!

If you keep your Outdoor Wood Boiler in good working condition and follow all the maintenance requirements, the EPA will have no power over you, and will not be able to prevent you from burning wood to heat your home.

Well Done!

I want to congratulate you for being diligent in caring for your outdoor boiler. You can take control of your future and "Stick It To The EPA" by keeping your outdoor boiler healthy, so you can continue saving on your heating bills for decades!

New Information As of June 2022 - EPA Regulations on Outdoor Boilers

The US Supreme Court Strikes "Stunning Blow" to EPA.

In 2016, the EPA banned traditional outdoor wood boilers. Those new regulations allowed homeowners to only install "high-efficiency" outdoor boilers for residential use[1]. These "high-efficiency" units require additional maintenance and must only use well-seasoned wood, but their technology is improving and costs are coming down. So we felt the future of burning wood to save on heating costs was still bright.

But now, it looks like those regulations are going away! The Supreme Court has issued a ruling that clips the wings of the EPA in their abuse of their power. The Supreme Court agrees with us that EPA overstepped their bounds. The future of burning wood to save money on heating costs just got MUCH brighter! Here are the details:

UPDATE as of June 30, 2022: The US Supreme Court has now officially ruled[2] that the EPA overstepped its authority in creating Clean Air rules and that only a constitutionally-elected congress has the authority to create such far-reaching regulations. Disclaimer: we are not a law firm and are not making legal claims, blah, blah, blah. Everyone is entitled to their own interpretation, but many pundits are stating the obvious that the Supreme Court is taking a very strong position against the EPA and all other UNELECTED government regulatory agencies that attempts to create laws – that authority rests solely with congress.

Chief Justice John Roberts, who delivered the majority opinion, wrote that the Obama-era regulation was too broad of an interpretation of the agency’s authority under the Clean Air Act.

“Agencies have only those powers given to them by Congress,” Roberts wrote. “The agency … must point to ‘clear congressional authorization’ for the power it claims.”[3]

The EPA rules addressed by the Supreme Court are cited in the Clean Air act are from the “New Source Performance Standards” section. It is under that same section that the EPA created its rules for the outdoor boiler and other wood burning industry products.

Accordingly, this appears to put the responsibility for any needed regulations back at the local level, where it belongs. We remember very well the hearings that were held by congress back in 2015 when the good folks from the upper peninsula of Michigan stood in front of the microphone to address the EPA – they said: “Does the EPA have any idea what it is like to live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan? We live in the woods here! How can you pass federal regulations that affect those of us who have been burning wood since the beginning of recorded history?! You people in Washington DC are completely out of touch with the real world.”

We at OutdoorBoiler.com agree. Again, the future of burning wood to save on heating costs just got a lot brighter.

How Does This Affect Me?

Regardless of your interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling in June 2022, what we do know is that if your outdoor boiler reaches its end of life EARLY, your savings on your heating bills STOPS. So our goal here at Outdoor Boiler is to help you keep your furnace healthy and in perfect running condition for decades! (So you can keep saving money!)

[1] If the outdoor boiler is not going to be connected to a residence, there are many “traditional” outdoor boilers available that can be obtained and used for heating workshops, garages, commercial buildings and other non-residential structures. These traditional outdoor boilers are often chosen over the high efficiency outdoor furnaces because of lower cost, simpler design, and less required maintenance.

[2] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-1530_n758.pdf

[3] https://www.texastribune.org/2022/06/30/environment-epa-supreme-court/amp/