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You are here: Health Home > Environmental Health > Air Quality> Outdoor Air > Wood Burning

Wood Burning Restrictions & Home Heating Alternatives

The State of Colorado is required by the Clean Air Act to develop a plan to reduce pollution. This plan, known as the "State Implementation Plan" (SIP), includes the reduction of wood smoke pollution and the reduction of residential wood burning.

Wood burning is a major contributor to the "brown cloud." The State's wood-burning regulation, "Colorado Air Quality Control Commission Regulation No. 4," was adopted in 1992 and regulates the sale and installation of new and used wood-burning devices and the use of wood-burning stoves on high or RED pollution days in the Denver-Metro Area, which includes Boulder County.

Only EPA Phase II or Colorado Phase III certified wood-burning devices can be sold, re-sold, or installed in Colorado. Colorado Phase III stoves must pass both particulate matter and carbon monoxide emission standards, while EPA Phase II certified stoves must only pass standards for particulate emissions. Any fireplace installed in a residence must be gas, electric, a certified wood-burning stove/insert, or an approved pellet stove/insert.

The use of wood-burning stoves and fireplaces on a high-pollution (RED) day (call 303-758-4848) is prohibited unless:

1. The wood-burning stove is the primary source of heat (greater than 50% of annual heating of a residence).**
2. The stove is EPA Phase II/Colorado Phase III certified.
3. The stove is an approved pellet stove.
4. The area is above 7,000 feet in elevation.
5. There is a local (city) ordinance which allows burning on RED days in certain situations.

Contact Boulder County Public Health or your local government or municipality for further information. To determine if your wood stove is certified, call Boulder County Public Health at (303) 441-1180 or go to the CDPHE website.

**To apply for an exemption for the primary source of heat, call the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment at (303) 692-3165.

Boulder County Public Health has a brochure on "Home Heating Alternatives & Air Quality" that compares efficiencies and costs of cleaner burning alternatives. For more information or to obtain a copy of the brochure, call (303) 441-1180.