|
Q: Your columns of late have been so serious and my question
isn't so serious but I would like it answered. It seems that there is
movement away from properties being built with wood burning
capabilities, which has been such a big thing here in the past. Why?
A: Wood, and more specifically firewood, is an interesting
real estate subject in Mammoth Lakes. All you have to do is watch the
large piles of firewood in the Industrial Park rise and fall during
the year to know that this town burns plenty during the cold months.
Part of the experience and romanticism of mountain living or a
mountain visit is the heat, the firelight and the crackle of a real
wood fire. Just the thought of it reminds me of all the times I froze
my butt off waiting for the fire I just built to get raging enough to
produce some heat.
The reality is that firewood is a tremendous amount of work
and is messy in many ways-the most critical being the damage it can
cause to our health. This issue came to the limelight in Mammoth in
1990 when the Environmental Protection Agency cracked down on Mammoth
for having episodes of "dirty" air. Those events occurred on winter
nights with inversions of cold air and lots of wood smoke in the air.
The other culprit was the cinders used to keep the roads safe.
The crackdown by the EPA resulted in the street sweepers you
see in Mammoth sweeping up the roadside cinders and an ordinance
requiring the changing out of woodstoves and fireplaces to "EPA" wood
burning appliances. These change-outs are required when a property
sells, but many owners moved to the more efficient appliances because
they recognized the overall benefit. Not only did they produce far
less "particulate matter emissions" when burned but they burned far
less wood, produced much more heat, and kept the house a whole lot
cleaner. Plus they can look pretty.
One change in the public's awareness was just how much effort
the wood was and how much damage the wood caused. The cutting,
splitting, hauling, stacking and on and on meant you could touch a
piece of wood a dozen times by the time you got it to the fire. I can
remember in late 80's we burned 6 to 8 cords at our house every
winter, and those were light winters. Not to mention the ultimate
damage to decks and siding, hearths and walls. And the excessive soot
was not only a housekeeping issue but a major health issue.
Meanwhile the competition for heating grew. Propane became
more prevalent in new construction and combined with the better
insulated properties and the accompanying heat source for water,
proved to be very effective and efficient. Wood pellets made as a
byproduct of wood milling came along in the early 90's and as the
stove technology got better and better and the pellets became
increasingly available, many of the wood stove change-outs were to
pellet stoves. The particulate matter emissions of a pellet stove are
so low that they are exempt from the regulations.
One of the real appeals of pellets stoves, unlike woodstoves,
is that they can be loaded up and burned for a day or two without
reloading. And now stoves that burn oil and kerosene are becoming
popular because like propane they get loaded at a tank outside and
you never even think about it-you just alter the thermostat.
You are correct that more and more of the new properties are
being built without wood burning capabilities. One of the reasons is
cost. The cost difference between a real woodburning fireplace and a
gas fireplace in new construction is significant. The end user can
just turn the thermostat or touch a button and the fireplace ignites
and gives off the flames and heat of a real fire. Today's nightly
renter tends to think building a fire is a charming novelty but when
there are problems getting it or keeping it lit and then keeping it
stoked and on and on, it becomes a negative more than a positive
experience.
Many of the developers today are also looking forward to
having some participation in the long term operation and/or
management of the project. They know that firewood and fires create
massive maintenance issues as well as liability concerns. None of the
recently constructed Snowcreek or Intrawest properties have wood
burning capabilities.
The few new properties that are built with wood burning
appliances are usually second homeowners who just insist on being
able to have a real fire on special occasions or longtime locals who
remember years ago when power outages could last a long time and
wouldn't think of being without the back up.
As for the rest of us, I guess Hal Clifford the author of
Downhill Slide is right, we're all becoming a bunch of mountain
dilettantes
|
