Are wood stoves eco-friendly?

Do our stoves produce too much carbon monoxide?

Requested by: Eric Durand, Haute-Savoie

Wood stoves offer a low-carbon alternative to heating your home using fossil fuels. Trees absorb carbon dioxide as they grow, which is returned to the atmosphere when their wood is burned. If you buy your logs or wood pellets locally, a wood stove is virtually carbon neutral.

The downside is that wood fires produce large amounts of particulate matter, tiny fragments of soot like those emitted by diesel cars. These contribute to climate change, but can also cause respiratory problems or even cancer in humans. In urban areas in particular, wood stoves are therefore not the greenest choice