Many residents of Washington County, Oregon rely on wood heat to stay warm during the winter months. Most of the year, woodburning isn’t a problem. But during colder months, the area experiences temperature inversions that can cause smoke from woodstoves to get trapped close to the ground and create potential adverse health effects. However, the cost of a new stove is too expensive to justify the cost for most residents.
A woodstove changeout program was launched in August 2016 by the county’s Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Community Development. Funds were provided by program partners, including the American Lung Association of Oregon, Centro Cultural, City of Cornelius, City of Hillsboro, Community Action, Intel, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), and the Oregon Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association (HPBA). Qualifying residents could receive a rebate between $1,500 to $3,500 when they replace their non EPA-certified stove with a cleaner heating appliance such as a heat pump, natural gas stove, EPA-certified wood or pellet stove or insert, or a gas furnace.
Shortly after the program was launched, Washington County’s Office of Community Development hosted five public information sessions to discuss the new program with county residents. Each session was an hour in length and started at 7:00 pm so as not to conflict with residents’ work obligations during the day. In addition, the program organizers developed a short 5-minute video about the program which could be viewed at any time on the program website or the local news station’s YouTube channel. To reach the entire community, one of the program partners, Centro Cultural, shared information and provided application support to the county’s Latino/Hispanic community.
The program in Washington County continues to be successful for a variety of reasons:
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