For all the wood stove owners and soon-to-be-owners of wood stove inserts out there, what do you think of this?

Hampstead, Canada has passed a by-law that bans all wood-burning appliances.

As reported by the West Island Chronicle:

“Throwing a few logs onto the fire to ward off the chills, or boosting a home’s market value by saying it has a fireplace, could soon be memories in the Town of Hampstead, where a bylaw cracking down on wood-burning has just been passed.

By-law No. 729-2, dealing with construction and plumbing, as well as wood-burning appliances, states that “no person shall install a wood burning appliance, in which wood or solid fuel is burned and which discharges combustion products to the air, in or about any residential property.”

Responding to a resident’s questions about the ban during last week’s town council meeting, Mayor Bill Steinberg said the purpose was ‘to get people not to use their fireplaces on days when there’s a lot of smog … A lot of people are using it when there’s a lot of smog. It’s a health hazard for old people, young people, people who have respiratory diseases.’”

What do you think of this? Do you think a town council should use it’s authority to ban wood stove inserts and all other wood-burning appliances? With the price of fuel so high, what would you do if your town implemented such a ban?