Gathering around a warm fireplace is a lovely and cozy thought when you know frigid temperatures are on the way. But is wood burning as a heat source eco-friendly or a health hazard?

Every fuel source has a significant list of emissions. To its credit, wood is a renewable resource that we’ve been using to cook our food and heat our dwellings since, well, we discovered fire.

The benefit of wood burning is that there is no extraction process (like with fossil fuels such as natural gas or oil), you can easily determine  how much you need, and you can invest in wood that was harvested sustainably. Heating your home with wood can be more economical than electric heat or natural gas, particularly if you have easy access to wood supplies.

Unfortunately, burning wood also has a long list of health hazards and negative environmental impacts. Fireplaces and wood stoves can emit substantial quantities of pollutants to indoor and outdoor air, especially if an inefficient system is used. In fact,  Environment Canada reports that residential fires are responsible for 25% of the particulate matter in Canada’s air pollution, 15% of smog-inducing VOCs and 10% of carbon monoxide emissions.

Once you consider the harmful contaminants in wood smoke, the health effects of wood smoke and the significance of wood smoke emissions, the short answer is that wood burning is not an eco-friendly or healthy option.

If you are limited by your  fuel options and decide to use wood-burning appliances, high-efficiency wood-burning ones are best. Check to see if the one you have is an advanced combustion system. They can burn up to a third less wood and reduce your emissions by 90% while generating the same amount of heat.

Still dreaming of gathering around the hearth on a cold winter’s night? Opt for an efficient natural gas fireplace (annual efficiency rating of 70%) and enjoy the warm glow.