Roughly 8% of homes in the UK have a wood burner and I confess that I am one of them. I like the focal point in the room, the flicker of the fire and the blast of heat on a freezing day. I am also attracted to the idea that if the electricity is cut off I would still be able to heat my home without relying on anyone else.
The trouble is that there is now increasing evidence that wood burners are bad for the environment. The main pollutant emitted by burning solid fuels like wood is ultra-fine particulate matter, also known as PM2.5. The toxins get lodged in the brain, heart and lungs. It is widely acknowledged as being the air pollutant which has the greatest impact on human health impacting respiratory and cardiovascular diseases as well as leading to asthma in the young and dementia in the elderly.
The overall scale of the impact of wood burners is hard to get your head round. Research suggests domestic wood burners produce more small particle pollution than all road traffic in the UK, The problem has also increased significantly since 2010.
So where are we heading on this?
The first step was the “eco design” standard which enables an 80% reduction in particulate emissions. However, even wood-burning stoves meeting the new standard still emit 750 times more tiny particles than a modern HGV truck.
Is the next step going to be an end to the sale of wood burners, the compulsory registration of existing wood burners, followed by a ban on their use? In London wood burners are effectively already banned in new and refurbished buildings as the impact of a wood burner would exceed the air pollution limits.
So if you already have a wood burner what should you do? There are three obvious measures. Firstly get your wood burner checked so you can see how eco efficient it is and take action accordingly. Secondly, ensure any logs you use have a maximum moisture content of 20% (they should ideally be kiln dried). Before use, you should bring the logs inside at least 24 hours before burning. Finally there is no getting away from the obvious. The way forward is to reduce the amount you use the wood burner. This means maybe just using the wood burner for special occasions or when it’s really needed.
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