Chronology of Wood Heat

This chronology was drawn from various sources and tends to focus on European dates and then switches to a chronology in the United States. It does not attempt to cover important dates in Russia, Japan and many other countries. If you think we have omitted important milestones, especially in the last 30 years, please send them to us at info@forgreenheat.org.

B.C.

• 1.4 million years ago: first evidence of a hearth – the controlled use of fire - found in Kenya.
• 500,000 years ago: oldest known hearths in Europe
• 2,000 B.C Kilns with chimneys used in Middle East

A.D.

• 2,000 years ago: chimneys used in China
• 2,000 years ago: Romans used chimneys to carry smoke from their hypocausts
• 220 A.D China produces the first cast-iron stoves
• 1200: England experiences major wood shortage due to use of wood by rising population.
• 1,500 – 1610: Price of wood rises 266% in London
• 1550 – 1850: Period of 300 years of extremely cold winters in Europe, known as the Little Ice Age
• 1550: All Europe heated on open fires or simple low-efficiency stoves, with average heating efficiency of 20 – 30%
• 1557: First patent issued for a wood conserving stove in Strasbourg
• 1564: Peter Schmidt, of Alsace, produces a small picture book of wood conserving stoves
• 1600s: Franz Kessler was reportedly the first one to use baffles to force smoke into a slower, more circuitous path within the stove, so that it released its heat before exiting the chimney
• 1646: The first foundry making wood stoves, started in Braintree, MA.

18th Century

• 1728: Cast iron stoves began to be made in quantity in the US. These first stoves of German design, are called Five-plate or Jamb stoves
• 1744: Benjamin Franklin developed his own cast iron stove design. His Pennsylvania fireplace surpassed the efficiency of other inventions, and is still a popular heating stove today
• 1763: Frederick the Great of Prussia staged a competition for a “room stove which would consume the least wood”

19th Century

• 1880: Wood provides 2/3 of industrial and residential fuel needs in the U.S.
• 1800: Benjamin Thompson invented the first metal wood-fired cook stove.
• 1830: Troy, NY becomes the center of wood stove manufacturing and at its height in the following decades had nearly 200 factories making stoves, far more than Boston, New York or Albany.1
• 1834: Philo Stewart designed a compact cast iron home kitchen version, which was so popular that 90,000 were purchased by 1864.
• 1835: The first successful central-heating system introduced in England using hot air.
• 1800s: Coal takes over as main heating source in many urban areas
• 1850: All Europe heated with well-designed, high efficiency stoves.

20th Century

• 1906: The National Fire Protection Association first develops standards for clearances between wood stoves and combustible walls, floors and ceilings.
• 1906: Sam Daniels begins marketing the first widely used hot air wood furnace in the US.
• 1927: The first air-circulating fireplace patented by Heatilator.
• 1929: During Great Depression, corn became a popular heating fuel, especially in the Midwest, when corn was nearly worthless.
• 1940: 22.7% of homes in the US used wood as a primary heat source
• 1973: When oil embargo began, sales of wood stoves soared. Only 0.9% of homes in the US used wood as a primary heat source right before the oil embargo.
• 1973: Pellet stove invented in Washington State but production didn’t begin until the early 1980s.
• 1974: Reawakening of wood burning in the US started by the oil crisis.
• 1979: Vermont Castings made the Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing private companies, doubling in size every year, and bringing in up to $29 million a year (in 1979 dollars).
• 1979: Three Mile Island nuclear accident sent wood stove sales sharply up again.
• 1980: 55% of all wood removals in the US were consumed for fuel purposes (both industrial and residential)2
• 1981: 8.2% of homes in the US used wood as a primary heat source. One fourth of all households nationwide burn wood, and one half of rural Americans burn wood, according to a study by the US Forest Service.
• 1982: Wood stove sales climbed to over 1.5 million per year and approximately 450 wood stove manufacturers sprouted up around the US.
• 1983: The first residential pellet stove introduced on the US market.
• 1983: Consumer Product Safety Commission requires stove manufacturers to provide a safety-related label.
• 1986: Oregon banned the sale of the most polluting stoves, and other states began to follow suit.
• 1986: NRDC and New York State threatened to sue the EPA for failing to keep the country’s air clean from wood smoke.
• 1988: EPA Phase I emission standards enforced, requiring stoves to be manufactured to emit less than 8.5 grams per hour. (316 models passed muster)
• 1990: EPA Phase II emission standards enforced, requiring stoves to be manufactured to emit less than 7.5 grams per hour. (134 models passed muster)
• 1990s: After the EPA standards, hundreds of wood stove manufacturers closed down. Of the approximately 500 manufacturers prior to the EPA regulation, only about 100 remained.3
• 1991: The Gulf War caused another oil shock and wood stoves became popular again.
• 1992: All new stoves sold must meet Phase II standards. From a high of about 450, only about 50 stove manufacturers were left making EPA certified stoves. (Today, there are perhaps 10 major manufacturers.)
• 1993: Catalytic stoves became very popular during initial period of EPA certified stoves, but customer dissatisfaction quickly put a damper on that and spurred cleaner designs of non-catalytic stoves.
• 1995: Washington State requires all stoves sold in the state emit no more than 4.5 grams per hour.
• 1998: Masonry heater Association establishes rigorous heater-mason certification program in the US.
• 1999: The Y2K scare spurred another brief rise in wood stove sales.

21st Century

• 2006: Wood was 6th largest supplier of energy in the US (behind oil, coal, natural gas, nuclear power and hydropower)4
• 2007: Vermont becomes the first state to regulate polluting outdoor wood boilers (other than Washington state that effectively banned them altogether.)
• 2009: Obama Administration enacts first substantial national tax credit for residential wood and pellet stoves (30% up to $1,500)
• 2009: Oregon is the first state in the US to require removal of an old, uncertified woodstove when selling a home.
• 2009: EPA officials formally recommends a review of the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) to reassess whether national emissions standards should be stricter and whether other types of appliances should be regulated, such as fireplaces, outdoor wood boilers, pellet stoves, coal stoves and high air-to-fuel ratio stoves.

Sources:

Sources for this chronology came from a number of sources, including:

1. Kyle, David. The Book of Masonry Stoves: Rediscovering an Old Way of Warming." Chelsea Green Publishing, 1984.
2. Office of Technology Assessment. Wood Use: U.S. Competetiveness and Technology. U.S. Congress, OTA-ITE-210, 1983.
3. Perlin, John. A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization." The Countryman Press, 2005.
4. Zerbe & Skog, "Sources and Uses of Wood for Energy," USDA, 2008. www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/tmu/.../sources-uses-of-wood-for-energy.pdf
5. Eighteenth Century American Stove Making, http://www.antiquestoves.com/history.html
6. A Brief History of Fire and its Uses, http://www.antiquestoves.com/history1.html