The Nuxalk Nation's Wood Stove Exchange Program encourages residents to exchange their old, inefficient, non-Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certified wood burning appliances for new EPA-certified wood burning stoves/inserts.
All Bella Coola Valley residents who exchange their old wood-burning appliance for one qualified under the program, are eligible to receive a $250 rebate, providing that the old stove be recycled at Thorsen Creek Waste and Recycling.
Other qualifying appliances include gas stoves, fireplaces and inserts, pellet stoves and inserts, and electric inserts only.
Older, less efficient stoves can release between 40 and 80 grams of smoke per hour., while new certified models produce only two to five grams per hour. This means as much as 90 percent reduction in creosote buildup, making the new stoves safer than conventional models.
When used as directed, new modern units burn so efficiently that they require up to one third less wood and produce virtually no smoke!
The Wood Stove Exchange Program has been funded by the Ministry of Environment. The Program is supported by the Nuxalk Community Energy Plan of March 2014.
Is your stove certified? Since 1994, only wood stoves or fireplace inserts that are emissions-certified can be sold in British Columbia. If your stove is certified it has a plate with a CSA B-415 or a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency label. Look for the CSA or EPA plate on the back of the stove.
To qualify you must have an existing wood burning appliance that does not conform to CSA standards (typically an appliance built and installed before 1994).
Visit Townsite Tru Hardware to purchase a new, cleaner-burning, EPA-certified wood, pellet, electric or gas burning stove (freestanding or fireplace insert). Upon purchase of your new appliance, you will be given a rebate voucher from the retailer. This voucher must be signed by the cashier at the time of sale. Purchases must be made between November 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014.
After purchasing your new stove, you must deliver your old one to Thorsen Creek Waste and Recycling Centre where a staff member must sign off on the voucher confirming that you have recycled your old wood stove.
Submit your completed voucher in person by January 16, 2015 to Evangeline Hanuse in the basement of the Band Office. Within four weeks a $250 rebate cheque will be mailed to you.
Rebates are limited and will be assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis. One rebate per customer. The value of the rebate cannot exceed the value of the appliance. For more information, see Evangeline Hanuse or call 250 799 0033 ext. 2.