Bay Area fireplace rebate applications to start Friday

SAN FRANCISCO — Starting Friday, Bay Area homeowners can apply to receive $750 to $12,000 in rebates to replace wood-burning fireplaces or stoves with cleaner gas or electric heating devices such as fireplace inserts. Preparing to give away big public subsidies to reduce smoke, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District set 10 a.m. Friday to begin taking applications for a total of $3 million in rebates. Pollution officials urge homeowners to sign up promptly because the rebates are available on a first-come, first served basis. The money is expected to cover rebates for only about 1,500 homeowners, and 40 percent of the funds will be set aside for low-income homeowners or residents of ZIP codes heavily impacted by winter smoke, or neighborhoods without access to natural gas pipelines to heat homes. “We expect the rebates to go fast,” said Tom Flannagan, an air district spokesman. “We’re doing the rebates now so that these installations will be done over the next few months and people in winter can enjoy the benefits of switching from their dirty old wood-burning devices to cleaner alternatives.” Rebates start at $750 to decommission and seal up a fireplace and $1,000 to replace a fireplace with a natural gas fireplace insert, which relies on gas logs to produce flames. Low-income homeowners are eligible for larger grants. The maximum rebate is $12,000. Flannagan said that to fill out the application, homeowners need to figure out generally what type of device they intend to install — such as a gas fireplace insert. Before the installation can begin, homeowners selected for grants must receive an air district notice that their project plan has been approved. The air district last year set aside the $3 million for the rebates in an effort to protect public health from wood smoke particles, which can lodge deep in the lungs and cause or aggravate asthma, strokes and other problems. Burning wood fires is generally banned in the Bay Area on Spare the Air days in winter unless a homeowner lives in an area where the only option for home heat is a wood-burning device. However, under a new district rule effective Nov. 1, homeowners wanting an exemption from the no-burn rule must register their stove or pellet stove with the district to verify it’s a low-emission model certified by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Contact Denis Cuff at 925-943-8267. Follow him at Twitter.com/deniscuff or facebook.com/denis.cuff. HOW TO GET A REBATE Homeowners can submit applications for rebates to replace fireplaces with cleaner devices either online at www.baaqmd.gov/WoodSmokeGrant or by calling 415-749-5195. Visit the same website for information about rebates Rebates vary by device installed, and can be as much as or less than the cost of the new device installed. The base rebate is $750 to seal and close off an existing fireplace. The rebate is $1,000 for a new gas fireplace insert, and $3500 for an electric heat pump. To seek the rebates, homeowners must live within the air district, which covers seven Bay Area counties and southern portions of Napa and Solano counties.