The Alliance for Green Heat - Outdoor Boilers

September 22,2024

Outdoor wood boilers, also known as hydronic heaters, are a controversial technology that has spawned thousands of complaints and lawsuits across the country due to excessive smoke. Outdoor wood boilers gained popularity in colder, rural areas where fuel is abundant, particularly in the Great Lake states where most of them are built. They began as a very basic, unregulated technology that was advertised as being an affordable and efficient way to heat your home. Their attraction is that operators do not have to bring the wood into their homes, and can use large, unsplit pieces of wood. Many homeowners also use these boilers to heat their domestic hot water, which means they operate year round at levels far below what they are designed for, adding to smoke problems.