Since mid-January, about 50 Spokane-area homeowners have scrapped their old, inefficient wood-burning stoves for cleaner heating options under a wood stove change-out program, the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency says in a press release issued last month.

The agency, which is administering the program, says the upgrades completed thus far will result in an annual pollutant reduction of more than 4,200 pounds. When complete, the program will have removed about 140 old stoves, preventing an estimated total of six tons of fine-particle pollution each heating season.

The wood stove change-out program provides incentives for wood burners to upgrade their old devices to cleaner, more-efficient wood, pellet, or gas stoves, or electric "mini-split" ductless heat pumps.

Of the 47 completed stove change-outs as of April 18, 24 of the program recipients switched to cleaner gas devices and 23 upgraded to cleaner wood or pellet stoves or inserts, the agency says. About 30 additional change-outs also were in progress, leaving about 30 to 40 discount vouchers available.

"Smoke from wood heating is the chief source of particle pollution in Spokane during winter. These change-outs will result in cleaner air in our neighborhoods," says Lisa Woodard, agency spokeswoman.

Spokane-area residents can apply to Spokane Clean Air to upgrade their old wood stoves. Information and application forms are online at www.SpokaneCleanAir.org/wood_stove_changeout.asp. To qualify, a home or business must be located within the boundaries of the county's smoke control zone and have a currently installed and operational pre-1995 wood stove—freestanding or insert—that is being used as a main source of heat.

Approved applicants will receive a discount voucher and a list of participating business that will accept the voucher toward purchase and installation costs of a new device. Voucher values are $500 to upgrade to a new wood device, $700 to upgrade to pellet heat, and $1,000 to upgrade to either natural gas or one of the previously mentioned heat pumps. The greater the air quality benefit, Woodard says, the bigger the discount.