If you have an older wood stove, your incentive for upgrading to an approved appliance has just gotten sweeter.
The provincial government has made changes to the Coldstream/Lumby/Cherryville Wood Stove Reduction Program (formerly the Wood Stove Exchange Program), in an effort to align the program with the Clean B.C. Roadmap to 2030. As of the beginning of 2023, the rebates for upgrading uncertified wood appliances to CSA/EPA certified wood appliances have increased from $300 to $500, while rebates for upgrading to pellet appliances have also increased from $500 to $750.
If you upgrade to a heat pump, expect an extra $250 rebate, while a new electric insert rebate has increased from $300 to $400.
In addition, the Coldstream/Lumby/Cherryville Wood Smoke Reduction Program, administered by Lavington Life Society, has expanded its boundaries to include the Okanagan Indian Band. First Nations’ communities are eligible to receive a rebate of $1,000 for an exchange from an uncertified wood stove to a CSA/EPA certified wood stove, $1,500 for a pellet stove, and $2,000 for a heat pump.
Gas-fired and propane-fired appliances will no longer be accepted as replacements for wood-burning appliances. Old stoves cannot be used again and must be destroyed with proof of recycling. To destroy a stove, remove the doors, smash the flue collar and take out the bricks.
Province wide, approximately 10,000 wood-burning stoves have been replaced by cleaner heating appliances since the program began in 2008. This is a reduction of approximately 300 tonnes annually of particulate matter released into the air.
The Clean B.C. Roadmap to 2030 is an extensive government plan to lower climate-changing emissions by 40 per cent. Click here for more information on it.
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