As we get our first cold spell of the season, I felt it was time to help explain the Air Pollution Advisory and Woodburning Restrictions in the Metro Denver/Boulder Area:
In the 7-County Metro Denver/Boulder Area, there is an Air Pollution Advisory that is posted every day from October 31st to March 31st. Each update is posted at 4:00 pm.
This advisory addresses three topics: Visibility Standard Index, Air Quality Index, and Residential Burning:
Visibility Standard Index - reports the air's visual quality. The visibility standard is 0.076 per kilometer of atmospheric extinction, which means that 7.6 percent of the light in a kilometer of air is blocked. Values between 0-50 are good, 51-100 moderate, 101-200 poor and 201+ extremely poor.
Air Quality Index - reports the daily level of air pollution on an hourly basis. The index reports the highest level of either carbon monoxide, fine particulates or ozone depending on which pollutant has the greatest hourly concentration. Air Quality Index values between 0-50 are good, 51-100 moderate, 101-150 unhealthy for sensitive groups, 151-200 unhealthy, 201-300 very unhealthy, and over 300 hazardous.
Residential Burning -
Red Advisories - indicate that either current air quality is poor or conditions are expected to worsen later in the day or the next day. Red advisories trigger mandatory residential burning restrictions and voluntary driving reductions in the seven-county Denver-Boulder metropolitan area only
Blue Advisories - indicate that air quality is good or moderate and no restrictions are in place while the advisory is in effect.
So, depending on the Air Pollution Advisory, you are either allowed (Blue Days) or not allowed (Red Days) to use your wood burning fireplace. This is one of the reasons that the overwhelming majority of new homes are built with gas fireplaces instead of wood burning. There are some exceptions to this mandatory residential burning ordinance, such as those who use Colorado Phase III certified wood burning stoves, Colorado approved pellet stoves, approved masonry heaters or those whose stove/fireplaces are their primary source of heat.
To view the most recent Air Pollution Advisory, click here.
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Sean Patrick Reilly
RE/MAX Southeast
303.512.0405
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