EPA wood stove rules in 2026 What applies now and what's next

Status as of October 21, 2026: the 2020 Step 2 limits apply. EPA's next action on the residential wood heater rule is due by December 15, 2026 under a court consent decree. We'll update this page when it's published.

The Limits That Apply Now

The federal standard for wood and pellet stoves is 40 CFR part 60, subpart AAA, the New Source Performance Standards for residential wood heaters. Its emission limits for room heaters (§ 60.532):

Central heaters are covered by subpart QQQQ, which measures emissions per unit of heat output: 0.10 lb/MMBtu for hydronic heaters on crib wood, 0.15 lb/MMBtu on the cordwood option, and 0.15 lb/MMBtu for forced-air furnaces, all from May 15, 2020.

In the current EPA export, every one of the 265 room heaters but one (the Dielle FBX pellet line) is marked as meeting the 2020 standard. 30 were certified on the cordwood option; the Drolet Escape 1500’s 1.7R series is one, at 2.4 g/hr.

How a Stove Gets Certified

An EPA-approved lab tests the stove at several burn rates and reports the weighted average emissions. The same test measures efficiency, heat output and carbon monoxide under CSA B415.1-10 (§ 60.534). Those are the figures in the EPA Certified Wood Heater Database and in our database table. Every certified stove carries a permanent label in a readily visible or accessible spot, showing the model, month and year of manufacture, serial number, certified emission rate and the standard it meets (§ 60.536).

Fuel Rules Most Owners Don’t Know

The same section limits what you can burn in a certified stove:

• Pellets must be the type specified in the owner’s manual and graded under an EPA-approved program; the rule names the Pellet Fuels Institute, ENplus and CANplus.
• Prohibited in any certified wood heater: garbage, lawn clippings or yard waste, anything with rubber or plastic, petroleum products or paint, asbestos, construction or demolition debris, and paper products, cardboard, plywood or particleboard. Paper, cardboard and wax fire starters are allowed for lighting the fire.

What’s Coming: the 2026 and 2027 Deadlines

EPA is required to review the standard periodically. Under a consent decree in State of New York et al. v. Regan (No. 1:23-cv-02767, D.D.C.), the agency’s own regulatory agenda lists these deadlines (Unified Agenda, RIN 2060-AU07):

The agenda also says “regulatory development for the next iteration of the NSPS will proceed once the new emission test methods have been promulgated for wood heaters.” In other words, a new rule depends on new test methods, which is why test fuel (crib wood vs cordwood) keeps coming up in discussions of the next standard.

What This Means If You’re Buying

• A stove certified to the 2020 standard stays legal to own and use. Any new limits would apply to stoves made or sold after the new rule takes effect.
• The test method may change. If EPA moves to a different test, future listings may not be directly comparable with today’s. Today’s listings remain the best like-for-like comparison of current stoves.
• Local rules can be stricter. Some states and air districts restrict burning on poor air quality days. Check with your state or local air agency.

For how today’s limits play out across the database, see catalytic vs non-catalytic. For the tax side, see the 25C credit guide.