EPA-Certified Wood Stoves: What the Step 2 Standard Means

If you are shopping for a wood stove or an insert, you will see the phrase “EPA certified” on every listing. It sounds like a simple tick-box. What it actually means is a smoke limit, set by the federal government, and it tells you how clean a stove is when it burns dry wood in a lab test. It does not tell you the stove suits your house, your chimney or your town. This guide covers the standard and the practical steps that come after the purchase. Installation and sweeping of stoves and inserts are on our wood stove and insert service page.

The Step 2 limit

EPA regulates new wood heaters under 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart AAA, the New Source Performance Standards. The limit came in two steps. Step 1 started in 2015, at 4.5 grams of smoke per hour. Step 2 started May 15, 2020, and tightened it. EPA's page on choosing a stove puts it this way:

The two test methods are different ways of loading the stove in the lab. The limit is 2.0 grams an hour for the standard crib wood test and 2.5 for the optional cord wood test. A stove that meets either is Step 2 certified. The number is an emissions rate measured under test conditions. Real emissions depend on how you run the stove and on your wood, which is why seasoned firewood matters as much as the label.

EPA stopped updating its Burn Wise pages on October 30, 2025 and keeps them as a historic record, so the pages we cite will not be revised. The Step 2 rule itself is a regulation, not a web page. We did not research any change to it.

What we could not confirm

• The EPA pages we read describe the standard for new heaters. We did not find a rule on existing stoves, and we did not research whether a seller can still sell old inventory. If you are buying used, ask the seller for the model's EPA certification.
• We did not research any Winnebago County or Illinois rule that sets emissions limits for wood stoves in use, and we found none for Rockford. The local rules we found are about open burning, permits and primary heat, and are below.

What Rockford and the other towns say

• Rockford. A fireplace or wood-burning appliance cannot be the primary heat source in a building, and all fuel-burning appliances must connect to an approved chimney or vent (Property Standards). Installing or replacing a heating appliance needs a mechanical permit, so a stove or insert install is permitted work. Call Construction and Development Services at (779) 348-7158.
• Loves Park and Machesney Park. Both list a stove or insert install as mechanical or HVAC work that needs a permit. Loves Park Building Department: (815) 654-5033. Machesney Park Building Division: (815) 877-6072.
• Pecatonica. The village names chimneys in its list of required inspections. Village office: (815) 239-2310.
• Everywhere else in the county. The county pages we read do not name stove work either way. Call the Winnebago County Building Division at (815) 319-4350.

Your town's page under service area has the permit office and the code edition in each case.

The chimney comes with the stove

A stove needs a flue that matches it. That usually means a liner, the stainless pipe that runs through an old masonry chimney from the stove to the top. CSIA recommends a Level 2 inspection when you add a new appliance or replace one with a dissimilar one:

That video scan is how a technician finds cracked tile or old creosote before the stove goes in. See do I need a chimney liner and the chimney liner page. The national range for a liner is $1,500 to $5,000 (Angi, national, September 21, 2026), and HomeGuide lists $900 to $3,800 for stainless steel. Both are on the cost page.

What it costs

The two guides give different ranges, so ask for a written, itemized quote that lists the stove, the liner, the hearth pad, the permit and the labor. Illinois law requires a written contract for home repair jobs over $1,000, and chimneys and chimney liners are named in the Act; see how to hire a chimney sweep in Illinois.

Questions to ask the dealer

• Is this model EPA Step 2 certified, and can I see the certification?
• What chimney does it need? Is a liner part of the quote?
• What clearances does the manufacturer require to walls and furniture, and what hearth protection?
• Who pulls the permit, and does the price include it?
• What does the stove burn best, and how much wood a season should I expect to use? A stove sized to the room burns cleaner than an oversized one run low.
• Will your installer do a Level 2 inspection first, and give me the video?

Ask for the answers in the written quote. A stove is a heat source, and your insurance company may ask for the permit and inspection record if there is ever a claim. Keep a copy.

After the install

Burn dry wood, keep the air supply open enough for a clean burn, and have the system swept and inspected once a year, as the national standard (NFPA 211) and the U.S. Fire Administration both advise. The USFA also says to keep ashes in a lidded metal container outside, at least 10 feet from the house. Time the sweep for the off season: chimney swifts roost in chimneys in summer and the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act protects them, so sweep from October to March (best time of year to sweep).