The quality of emission inventories substantially bases on the reliability of used emission factors (EFs). In this work EFs were studied according to recently published characterization methods, called “beReal”, reflecting real life operating conditions in Europe. EFs for four pellet stoves and nine firewood appliances (roomheaters and cookers) of carbon monoxide (CO), organic gaseous compounds (OGC), nitrogen oxides, total solid particles (TSP) of hot and of diluted flue gas, total, elemental and organic carbon (TC, EC, OC) and benzo(a)pyrene were determined.

CO, OGC, TSPs, TC, EC and OC emissions from firewood appliances were significantly higher than for pellet stoves, indicating the high relevance of classifying appliances according to the operation type. TSP sampled from diluted flue gas at 40 °C (28 mg MJ⁻¹ to 271 mg MJ⁻¹ based on fuel input) was higher than TSP sampled from hot flue gas (2170 mg MJ⁻¹ to 70 mg MJ⁻¹). This reveals the high relevance of sampling conditions for the determination of real life emissions. Benzo(a)pyrene emissions scattered over a wide range (0.5 μg MJ⁻¹ to 129.8 μg MJ⁻¹) indicating high sensitivity to unfavorable combustion conditions. Therefore a higher number of experimentally determined emissions factors could improve the reliability of EFs for inventories. CO emissions measured in beReal tests were substantially higher than official type tests, thus showing that type testing results provide limited information for the determination of real life emissions.

A systematic evaluation of EFs with defined real life methods like beReal would substantially improve the reliability of emission inventories.