Your right to use a wood heater might be at risk, but banning them isn’t the answer.
Australians can achieve cleaner air without removing choice, says the Australian Home Heating Association (AHHA), which is calling for a more practical, evidence-based approach to reducing wood smoke emissions.
Recent debate has framed home heating as a choice between public health and consumer choice, but the AHHA says this is a false dichotomy.
AHHA General Manager Tim Cannon said, “The real issue isn’t whether emissions should be reduced, it’s how we do it.”
“History shows the best outcomes come from better technology, tighter standards, and smarter policy, not blanket bans.”
The AHHA says the fastest and most effective way to reduce wood smoke emissions is to replace older, high-emission wood heaters with modern certified units. Many heaters currently in use pre-date current standards and technological improvements. Replacing them would deliver immediate benefits, including lower emissions, improved efficiency, reduced wood consumption, and better heating performance.
“A targeted replacement program can deliver real environmental gains quickly, while still preserving choice for households,” Tim Cannon said.
This was recently demonstrated in a town in Denmark where Danish EPA carried out a three year study into the effects of replacing old wood heaters with Ecodesign models which cut emissions by 40% on average. The study projected that a national roll out replacing all open fires and pre-2008 stoves with Ecodesign technology would reduce Danish residential PM2.5 emissions by an estimated 65%.
Today’s certified wood heaters are significantly cleaner and more efficient than older models, reflecting years of industry investment in design and combustion efficiency, emissions performance, installation standards and consumer education.
Australian Standards are also continuing to tighten, with emission limits reducing from 1.5 grams to 1.0 gram per kilogram of fuel in four years, ensuring future units are cleaner still.
The discussion around wood smoke often treats all wood heaters as though they are the same, confusing decades-old units with modern certified units that meet today's stringent Australian standards. The reality is that emissions vary enormously depending on the age, design and efficiency of the heater in question. A pre-2015 model operating below current standards is completely different to a certified wood heater compliant to today’s Australian Standards. Beyond that, wood heaters are just one part of a much broader emissions picture. Bushfires, planned fuel-reduction burns, agricultural burn-offs, forestry and land management all contribute significantly to smoke in the Australian environment, yet these sources rarely feature with the same urgency in policy conversations.
"The single biggest opportunity to reduce wood smoke emissions is replacing old heaters with modern certified units, not banning the technology altogether. Replacing outdated appliances has the potential to reduce wood smoke by up to 65 percent, and that is the outcome we should be focused on." Cannon said.
Wood heating also plays an important role in energy resilience, particularly in regional communities. During power outages, or extreme weather events, wood heaters continue to provide reliable heat without relying on electricity infrastructure.
“For many Australians, especially in regional areas, wood heating remains one of the most practical and affordable ways to stay warm in winter,” Cannon went on to say.
RMIT and Deakin University, in partnership with the AHHA, are currently working on a government-funded research project to develop real-world emissions testing for wood heaters under Australian conditions.
The initiative aims to provide policymakers with more accurate data and support further improvements in standards and technology.
“This work demonstrates the industry’s commitment to continuous improvement,” Tim Cannon announced.
“We’re not resisting change, we’re leading it.”
The AHHA is calling for a policy approach that prioritises:
- Wood heater replacement over bans
- Investment in research and innovation
- Improved consumer education
"Banning wood heaters doesn't just remove a heating option, it shuts the door on further innovation altogether. To this date the industry has made extraordinary progress in combustion technology, Australia doesn’t need to remove choice to improve air quality. Smart policy would see old non-compliant wood heaters phased out while still allowing the technology to keep improving." - Tim Cannon, AHHA General Manager
Contact details:
Harry Pepperell / BossMan Media / [email protected] / 0400 600 296
