Wood burner ban...

Am I the only MNetter who has a multi fuel stove and burns smokeless coal?

Where do you think all the storm damaged trees on your roads go? People generally buy by the trailer. £150 worth will easily last 3 months. People buying the bags out shops either only use their fires occasionally or are awaiting a delivery.

I always see adverts on FB saying anyone that wants wood and had a chainsaw, come help yourself.

I have two trees down from the storm. Will easily last a full winter once dried.

We have to collect them which keeps the cost down.

Yes they are but you have to collect them yourself.

My neighbours have theirs lit and spewing smoke for 18 hours a day. So we can't open any windows except by getting up at 4 in the morning to air the house. The conservatory and the garden are both unusable for 7 months of the year. No doubt we're breathing in lots of smoke even with the windows shut, and certainly lots gets in if we open the front door.
Most people don't give a toss about the climate or other people's health, once it comes down to anything they actually like - in particular wood burners and holidays.

Apparently one wood burner is the same, in terms of pollution, as 60 lorries. More air pollution is caused by wood burners than by all the UK's road transport.

But people would still rather see their children die of lung disease or cancer than get rid of them.

When are they going to ban barbecues. I hate them
with a passion. The smell is way worse than woodsmoke

Are you on about a wood burner or an open fire?? I have never have anyone say they can smell the smoke or theirs or my clothes smell?

Yes many selfish people do

😂😂😂

To go back to the OP -
"What about all this talk of black outs, and vulnerable critical infastructure and preparedness, should that factor in? If we really are at risk, people having an alternative source of heat is quite a good idea."

This was a factor in why we put a woodburner in many years ago. Similar as to why I have an electric hob, and an additional gas ring. A reluctance to have all my eggs in one basket, IYSWIM.

Humans have to stay warm, or die - it's as simple as that. I was brought up in a house warmed by electric underfloor heating (very futuristic at the time), but then the fuel crises of 1974 and 1979 pushed costs up so much we couldn't afford to use it any more. The flat didn't have fireplaces (how old-fashioned!) so it was 3-bar electric and a calor-gas heater from then on.

All my childhood's home's eggs were in one basket - all-electric. Fine for when it was designed, but rubbish when things changed. So I would be very wary of 'banning' any form of heating, when the world is as unstable as it is now (and likely to be for a few decades at least). The risk of physical harm to your household is far higher living in an unheated home than it is if there's a working wood burner.

Selfish 🤣🤣 so I live 10 miles from where the gas line ends and then properties are on oil or electricity only. Have you seen the price of oil!

They use a sustainable fuel. I appreciate their affect on air quality though. I have one but I live in a very rural area so I'm not polluting anyone's air (we also have a biomass boiler). It is almost essential in a power cut. I think they should be banned in cities though.

And yet there are grants available which would allow people to have government money to install biofuel heating systems. So basically a wood burner that also works with your radiators.

The problem is that people won't just use woodburners for emergencies. They become hugely invested in them and use them constantly.

We've had log burners for the last 38 years, and so do most houses in our rural village. There's no main gas, so all CH is oil-fired (as well as £££), and when we have big storms, the power goes off.

We buy unseasoned wood from the family that have a NT contract to manage the woodlands from a stately home, 4cubic metres every few years, and store it stacked to dry before we burn it. My chimney sweep is always very complimentary about the flue's cleanliness. We could also heat pans and kettles on the flat top.

Have you gone to your council about this? Councils have a legal duty to investigate if someone is creating a statutory nuisance under the 1990 Environmental Protection Act - as it sounds your neighbours are doing.

Contact your council's Environmental Health department.

There are burners that are either/and badly installed or burning unseasoned or treated wood.

Contact The Council to enforce

Apparently it's almost impossible to take that route successfully.

Gas central heating, how is the hot water distributed to your radiators? In an electric pump involved anywhere?

Not just.

Multiple Holidays.

Pets.

Halloween tat etc.

People are generally climate conscious until it means actually giving up something they like.

Then it tends to be "well all the billionaires are doing it so why shouldn't I?".

I’m gobsmacked that you can get that much wood for 50 quid and that it lasts you months!

Wood costs me a fortune but I don’t really light the logburner to save money.

I support a ban on cheap/wet wood. One of my neighbours burns anything and it’s wrong.

I wouldn’t worry too much. My grandparents-in-law used one daily and lived into their 90s!