Renting in Medford With Only a Wood Stove: What Code 7.222(3) Says

What Section 7.222(3) Covers

Section 7.222(3) is the whole rental rule. It puts a duty on the property owner to equip a rental with heat other than a solid fuel burning device, allows one exception, and says a breach belongs to the owner. It makes no distinction between certified and uncertified devices.

Section 7.220(11) defines "solid fuel burning device" as a device designed for solid fuel combustion so that usable heat is derived for the interior of a building. It includes "solid fuel burning stoves, fireplaces, fireplace inserts, or woodstoves of any nature," and it does not include barbecue devices, natural gas-fired artificial fireplace logs, DEQ approved pellet stoves or Kachelofens.

What Counts as a Secondary Source of Heat

Section 7.220 does not define "secondary source of heat." The nearest defined terms are "alternative heat source," meaning a heat source other than a solid fuel burning device (7.220(1)), and "sole source of heat" (7.220(10)), meaning one or more solid fuel burning devices that are the only source of heating in a residence. Under 7.220(10), no solid fuel burning device is the sole source of heat "if the residence is equipped with a permanently installed furnace or heating system utilizing oil, natural gas, electricity or propane." The term "sole source" appears in the sole source exemption in 7.224. The code does not say it is the test for the rental rule.

The code also does not say whether a baseboard electric heater, a wall heater or a portable space heater counts as a secondary source of heat. Section 7.222(5), which covers installing a device in new construction, uses a longer phrase, "an alternate form of space heating, including natural gas, propane, electric, oil, solar, or kerosene, sufficient to meet necessary space heating requirements." That wording is about installation and is not the rental rule.

The Three Exemptions in Section 7.224

Section 7.224 says a household may operate a solid fuel burning device during a high pollution period when "the head of that household has previously obtained" one of three exemptions. Every exemption expires on September 1 of each year.

Can a Landlord Hold One

Section 7.222(3) allows a rental without secondary heat if "the landlord has a valid exemption under Section 7.224." Read literally, though, 7.224 grants exemptions to a household, through the head of that household, and what an exemption permits is operating the device on a high pollution day. No part of 7.224 is addressed to a landlord, and its text does not say an exemption relieves a property owner of the rental rule. The two sections do not clearly connect, and we cannot tell from the code how the City applies them. This guide therefore does not say that an exemption lets a landlord rent a unit heated only by a wood stove.

Section 7.224 also does not say what must be filed or where. The only filing it describes is the sworn statement for a sole source exemption, and it names no office. Section 7.228 says only that "The City Manager shall prescribe administrative regulations governing the procedure for granting exemptions." We did not find those regulations or an application form, and we found no City of Medford page on woodstove exemptions or enforcement.

What a Tenant With Only a Wood Stove May Burn

The burn restrictions are separate from the rental rule. A high pollution period starts three hours after DEQ or Jackson County Health and Human Services first designates a red or yellow day, and consecutive red or yellow days count as one period (7.220(2)). The code defines red and yellow days by forecasts of PM2.5 levels. An "Oregon certified stove" is one certified by DEQ or EPA as meeting the emission standards in Oregon Administrative Rules 340-262-0500 through 340-262-0600 (7.220(5)).

Who the Code Holds Responsible

So the code does not hold a tenant responsible for the landlord's failure to provide secondary heat, but it does presume a resident over 18 responsible for burning on a restricted day.

Penalties

Medford Municipal Code 7.900(1) says a violation of a provision of Chapter 7 constitutes "a violation punishable by a fine as set forth in Section 1.100," and that each day a violation is caused or permitted to exist is a separate violation. Section 1.100(2) says a violation so classified is "punishable by a fine not exceeding $250." Section 7.226 adds that whoever violates the chapter is subject to "appropriate legal proceedings to enjoin or abate such violation or noncompliance, in addition to the penalty provided in Section 7.900."

Who Enforces It, and Who to Ask

The woodstove sections do not name an enforcing agency or officer. They say only that "a citation shall be issued" (7.222(1)), that the City Manager prescribes the exemption procedure (7.228), and that visible emissions are judged by "a certified observer" or by equipment approved by the Jackson County Department of Health and Human Services (7.222(4)).

The one City contact printed on the code pages is the city attorney's office, 541-774-2020. The page footer gives it for ordinances passed after the one cited, so it is about how current the code is, not about enforcement. Jackson County Health and Human Services, which with DEQ designates red and yellow days, describes its program as aiming to improve compliance with the Jackson County Air Pollution Ordinance by "producing the daily wood burning and open burning advisories, responding to complaints, and conducting public education campaigns." Its pages list 541-776-9000 for the advisory forecast and 541-774-8207 for the Air Quality Program, for certified-stove questions. That is the county's program under the county ordinance, and we have not seen it described as enforcing Medford's code. For a question about a particular rental or exemption, ask the City of Medford.

What Oregon Landlord-Tenant Law Says About Heat

ORS 90.320(1) says "A landlord shall at all times during the tenancy maintain the dwelling unit in a habitable condition," and that a unit is unhabitable if it substantially lacks, among other things, "Adequate heating facilities that conform to applicable law at the time of installation and are maintained in good working order." The statute does not define "adequate heating facilities" and does not say whether a wood stove qualifies. Whether a unit heated only by a wood stove has adequate heating facilities is a legal question the text does not answer.

That quotation is from the 2025 edition of ORS chapter 90 on the Oregon Legislature's website. A note on that page says some sections were amended or repealed in the 2026 regular session, and we did not check whether 90.320 was among them.

How Neighboring Codes Differ

Ashland, Talent and Phoenix tie the landlord exception to the sole source exemption, which is item B.2 in each of their lists. Medford refers to any exemption under Section 7.224. The Jackson County rule, which applies in the Air Quality Maintenance Area, has no landlord exception at all. Jackson County Code 1810.02(a) says "This chapter shall not apply: (a) Within incorporated limits of any city," so the county rule does not apply inside Medford, Ashland, Talent or Phoenix.

Where a Chimney Inspection Fits

A $99 inspection in Southern Oregon looks at the chimney a stove vents into. It does not settle any question under the Medford code above. Those are questions for the City.

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