Wood burner ban...

And their oil costs are not exorbitant ? My MIL just filled her oil tank for 1,500 she be lucky to get to jan with that plus electricity bill will be high too as its winter
I really struggle to understand how their ground sourced didnt work out at all, across the road from us have been using that as their heat source for 10 years, and we live in the country. It was also recently on a look back episode on grand designs, they showed that they had saved money with theirs Something not right, plus to cost of refitting for an oil heat system would be high too

still get crackling sounds from a stove and get more heat too with less fuel

Actually , you're wrong. Like many stove owners, we have a modern multifuel stove, but it's a faff to light just for the evenings, so we only light it a few times a year. We maintain it well and it's checked out every year and the flue is cleaned annually - so it's ready for use if necessary. We live in a cold 1930s house with a 1990s extension. The old part of the house has narrow cavities which can't take cavity wall insulation and is too cold in winter - even when the c.h. is on. Right now it's toasty in our sitting room as we have an oil filled radiator in there, but if we have a power cut, we'll use our stove.

@TheOlderIGetTheStayerIHome same issue here. Neighbour happily fills our garden with black smoke. Just walking from the car leaves my clothes stinking and my hands reek of smoke.
Council’s response was that unless we can guarantee that there will definitely be burning when they come out, they won’t come as the inspector doesn’t live in our county so not worth his time on travel 😑

They are quite fashionable these days, bit like Agas and Everhot ranges, but a large amount of people in the countryside who live in two up two down cottages rely on woodburners. Wood can be purchased relatively cheaply, and many of these homes are in areas with no mains gas.

While we're on the subject of gas...

www.cleanairhub.org.uk/clean-air-information/the-basic-information/gas-cooking-and-air-pollution

'Gas cookers are a major source of indoor air pollution and the main source of nitrogen dioxide pollution in the home. '

Why are we not seeing campaigns to ban gas cookers?

There was an attempt at one. It got short shrift.

Until I’m too old to use them safely, they will pry my gas hobs from my cold dead hands.

I think "peak" installation incompetence for heat pumps was probably around 2020.

It did get high profile in the media, so understandably people were wary of them. And understandably installers have got a lot better since then at doing good installations, especially in new builds where the thermal performance of the house should be highly quantifiable.

Nowadays with decent insulation and proper house/heating design there is no reason why you can't heat a house with a heat pump for costs similar to that of gas, and maybe even less if the installation is optimised.

If someone is living in a 2 year old house that isn't capable of being heated by a heat pump at comparable cost at least to what it would be with gas, I would strongly argue that is a problem with that particular house design/pump installation. This is almost self evident, as any new build house you might reasonably expect for it to be able to be heated at reasonable cost with whatever equipment is installed, be it gas, electric, heatpump or anything else.

Not a problem with the general principle of whether heat pumps can be used to heat houses at reasonable cost.

You have obviously missed the advice to have a fan hood running when using a gas cooker or at least open a window. I have read that advice.

It's not easy to buy a gas cooker now. Even a gas hob seems to raise eyebrows..... but if you have a pacemaker, you have to avoid induction hobs and microwaves. And all ovens sold now are electric.

If you think they are hard work, and too much faff then you don't have to have one.

Some people like them, and dont consider it too much work or faff at all. We dont ever find ourselves wasting wood lighting a fire just to keep the chimney clear. It is cold enough often enough in the Winter to light one anyway.

I've just looked on ao.com and there are 4 pages of gas cookers.

Look if you want to keep putting yourself and your children at risk of serious health problems, carry on using your wood burner. For the moment, it's your choice.

And all ovens sold now are electric This isn't true and is almost as insane a statement as the thread discussing giant morgues being built in Scotland !!!! 😂

@Additup why are you fighting to put your children at risk of serious harm to their health?

Real Christmas trees are terrible for indoor air pollution. There's been quite a bit of research about it and how bringing the tree indoors increases fungal and mold spore growth. Google Christmas Tree syndrome.

We can't have one because of this (DH health issues) but he has absolutely no problem with our woodburner or open fires.

I'm yet to see an annual ban suggestion around Xmas trees and they are far worse for respiratory health in an enclosed space imo.

By pointing out it's easy to buy a gas oven?

Yes, I will continue to keep my family warm with a lovely fire. I have no concerns about it.

You sound like the cigarette companies on the idea that smoking kills.

Medical coding doesn't confirm the reason for a death, it records the reasons doctors have attributed the death to. It doesn't capture everything. Pollution is rarely recorded, but the Royal College of Physicians are clear that pollution kills.

As to co-morbidities, of course some people are more susceptible than others, that's true with road traffic deaths, too. That doesn't make them less dead. The asthma, diabetes, and other long term conditions that wood burning stoves can help cause create comorbidities that make other health conditions more likely to be fatal.

God knows what our old neighbours burned in theirs as it smelled disgusting and we could smell it in our house even with all the windows shut.

I absolutely love them - Cumbrian so brought up with them, however if i was in London I would prob reconsider.

I’m aware. As I wrote, really only use it for effect and I prefer the look of an open fire.

Banning woodburning stoves will cause deaths from cold, damp, etc.

People need to heat their houses, and we don't all have access to gas, or reliable electricity, even.

Don't be ridiculous. I am nothing like those companies!

I am saying (and I note that no one has linked to the research that says children living with a wood burner are exposed to the same risks as those living with smokers) that there is a clear difference between attributing the death of someone hit and killed by a car to the car that hit them, and attributing the death of a 90 something who had dementia and copd to their exposure to a wood burner. It is tenuous, hypothetical, extrapolated and does not detail the weighting given to potential other causes.

That does not make me like a multi national company peddling carcinogens to the most vulnerable.