Rebates double to be rid of woodfire heaters

Rebates to householders removing woodfire heaters have doubled to $500.

The ACT government is also offering concession card holders a $1250 rebate to ensure the right support to make the switch.

Additional rebates and interest-free loans are available to install electric heating and cooling.

Since the Wood Heater Removal Program began in 2004, more than 1300 wood heaters have been removed, with 33 rebates paid in the past 12 months.

Environment Minister Rebecca Vassarotti says: “Research has shown us that wood heater smoke can have a massive impact of the health of Canberrans over the long term. If they’re not paying the price now, many risk paying the price later in life through doctor’s bills and healthcare costs.”

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July 26, 2024

4 Responses to Rebates double to be rid of woodfire heaters

Barmaleo says: 26 July 2024 at 11:00 am

Why remove wood-fire heaters? They are carbon-neutral. Trees capture carbon from air while growing. Burning wood, this carbon captured decades ago partially returns back to air and partially goes to the earth.

On contrary, electric gas heaters work mostly at night time using electricity produced by burning coal. This releases extra CO2 which was captured hundreds millions years ago. Additionally providing and maintain infrastructure to provide electricity requires a lot of energy and natural resources to spend. It is an additional CO2 and a harmful waste release in every kWh spent. Think about that.

For everyone with brains, it is clear that electric heating most wasteful and most harmful to Nature.

Imposing restrictions on old technologies is an old trick by capitalists to create an artificial market demand on new products. This gives them an extra profit selling these new products. And this can continue endlessly until people say stop this needless wasting of natural resources dues to constant dumping of perfectly working products only due to bogulsy created new product requirements.

Jim says: 26 July 2024 at 12:47 pm

Trying to pretend wood fire heaters are carbon neutral is a fairly impressive piece of trickery – it only works if taken over a very long time period, and even then its questionable at best.

But anyway, the fact is the key issue here has nothing to do with the carbon that is the problem – the real problem is the nasty stuff such as smoke that they spew into the air, that has serious impacts on some people. On that basis alone we should be finding better ways – which we already have available.

Much like for all the huff and puff about EVs, the fact that over time their increased uptake over time will greatly reduce the health impacts that directly flow from their exhaust fumes should be reason enough to be shifting our technology – be that to EV, hydrogen, or whatever other approach might lead to transportation which doesn’t involve spewing out nasty side effects into the atmosphere. The C02 issue is effectively a bonus on top of that.

Mark boast says: 26 July 2024 at 3:18 pm

But how many new or replacement wood heaters or similar appliances have been installed in the 20 years since the program began? It’s about the air we breathe. Not the arcane carbon neutral or right to light fires in populated areas.

Uncle Red says: 26 July 2024 at 11:38 pm

I get fined when I light the occasional fire in my backyard but can get up to $1250 if I light that same fire regularly in the house and smoke out the neighbourhood. Almost a KEEPING UP THE ACT feature.

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