Bay of Plenty Regional Council is reporting its ‘Hot Swap' loan programme has seen the removal of 50 open fires and 318 old wood burners from Rotorua homes.

It is estimated this will make the air cleaner by removing more than three tonnes of small particulates.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council is hoping open fires are a thing of the past.

Rotorua has the worst winter time air quality in the North Island, mainly caused by home heating. This scheme is an integral part of the Rotorua Air Quality Action Plan to meet the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council group manager strategic development Mary-Anne Macleod says the community's support for the Hot Swap had been high, but there are still many homes needing an upgrade to clean heat to reduce air pollution.

'We are very happy with the number of households that we have been able to convert to clean heat and we hope that the commitment of people to make the change continues,” says Mary-Anne.

'As the weather starts to get cooler people think about their heating options. Homes with new efficient heating will be warmer and our air will be cleaner.”

Hot Swap is an interest-free loan, paid off over 10 years to upgrade old wood burners and open fires to clean heat.

Rotorua homeowners and landlords with properties in the urban air-shed are eligible to apply for the loan to convert old wood burners and open fires to clean heat.

The air-shed is an area within Rotorua that exceeds the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality and covers most of urban Rotorua.

Clean heat is about appliances that use fuel efficiently to heat homes and have little or no emissions compared to open fires and old wood burners.

Clean heat options include approved wood burners, pellet fires, heat pumps and flued gas heaters.

'Being warm is just as important as having clean air to breathe – we recommend that homeowners stay warm and investigate which clean heat appliance will suit them best by getting a home heating assessment from one of the regional council's service providers,” says Mary-Anne.