Banning wood/coal burning in homes.

[justasking111]

Well living somewhere where we cannot get gas so use oil which is to be banned so they say, using a log burner to augment heating our home for economic reasons. What is everyone going to do now. Electric is so expensive.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51581817

I live in a rural area and rely on my stove for heat. We cut and season our wood, I can't understand why anyone would burn wet wood.

However the ban on house coal I'm not looking forward to. Anyone who has used a stove to heat their house will know straight away the difference between smokeless fuel pellets or coal and house coal. The amount of heat house coal throws out is astonishing and it lasts ages.

I can see why I would be banned in urban areas, I totally support that. Smokeless fuel on a stove in London that just looks pretty would be fine.

However particulates in the air aren't really an issue where I live, being able to heat your house when we have the third weekend in a row of no boats for freight and bad weather is.

Boris needs to leave his London bubble

My parents’ house is heated by a Rayburn only, and they switched from coal to the compressed woodchip blocks a few years back. They’re not quite as good as coal but not far off- can still leave it running overnight and similar price.

Teapotter I know nothing about compressed woodchip blocks. Have you got any advice please :)

Echoing other sentiments PP’s have mentioned living rurally.
We, DH and my family live in old stone houses in the north complete with purpose built stone fireplaces. The walls are very thick and the houses are at least 300 years old.
Me and DH also have oil central heating which works well to heat the upstairs (which was only added in the last 20 years) but doesn’t heat the downstairs at all. My parents only have an open fire to heat their house which hasn’t been renovated. Smokeless fuel is not as effective at heating and costs more to purchase.
I absolutely agree with this proposal for towns and cities, where there are more modern built housing, gas lines etc. But out in the wilds, where power cuts in storms and bad weather are normal, central heating hasn’t been installed or is ineffective, we NEED the old fashioned dry heat. Trust me - if I don’t light a fire occasionally in the Inglenook, the walls get damp, mouldy and cold. That is definitely not good for our family health. Not only that but we live in the country, with plenty of trees around. Air is different here to more densely populated areas.

The government is right to do something about air pollution, but this is the wrong way to go about it. Not all houses are built equal and they have failed to recognise this in their proposal.

@teapotter me too! Tell me of these logs??? Can you use them in a solid fuel aga?

We use compressed woodchip blocks occasionally - they're great for getting the fire started. And I'm in Maine, so we have lots of mills supplying the raw materials. We use them just like regular logs.

I didn't know you could even burn wet wood. Ie literally how do you get it to light??
I struggle even with seasoned logs sometimes.

I use coffee logs sometimes. They burn very hot and are sustainable but would be expensive for all the time use I guess... they do make the house smell like a Starbucks though which I quite like...

I can’t see how this could possibly be policed. If it’s down to councils, they’ve got no resources to deal with, well, anything. Ditto DEFRA.

It would also take you actually being caught throwing the logs on the fire, as by the time they get their fingers out of their arses to come and visit your property (IF someone reports you), the evidence would likely be gone.

You will still be able to burn wet wood you just won't be able to buy it. Why you would want to I don't know.

@MyFamilyAndOtherAnimals1

I'm in the same boat as we heat with coal too. No gas where I live either.

Not sure what we'll do to be honest. I'm sure they'll be no help given to us to install an oil based CH system and electric heating will cost a fortune to install and run

Just burn seasoned wood? No one should be burning the wet stuff.

Or smokeless coal.

I can’t see how this could possibly be policed

The law is you can’t sell it, not you can’t burn it.

@Tr1skel1on @5zeds just google “compressed wood bricks” to find a local company. There’s a guardian article here comparing them to logs, but my folks use them instead of coal, combined with their own logs. www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/money/2015/oct/10/briquettes-clean-fuel-fireplace-wood-burning-stove

Some people call them “heat logs” too

My parents get a pallet a time from here www.dawsonsfuels.co.uk/articles/benefits-of-heat-logs

We are not properly rural, but semi-rural near a town. However, I welcome the ban, although not sure it will help us here in our village. I dread every winter when the village is full of stinky smoke. My neighbour, who is a builder, I swear throws all sorts of shit in his wood burner. It stinks if the wind is blowing towards us, it comes down our chimney, so we had to block it off. We don't use our fireplace. He also had a chimney fire last year, so that probably reflects what he is burning. Every winter I have a really congested chest, and asthmatic symptoms, in the summer I am fine. I swear it has got something to do with the local air quality.

Oh, and everyone has access to electricity and gas, so no reason to rely on the log burners at all.

My oil bill is around 3k a year and we use it sparingly. The log burner is very important to us. I visit the elderly in the village there is always a fire going in the kitchen, on high days and holidays in the sitting room too.

We will never have gas nor will the villages around us, so open fires/log burners are essential.

@Baaaahhhhh not everyone has access to electricity and gas. A lot of rural areas have oil still rather than gas, but yeah you’re okay so that’s fine.

We have two multi fuel burners and an Aga. We only burn seasoned wood but we occasionally burn house coal we get free from a friend who does house clearances. It does burn hotter than the ash and oak we usually burn.

tbh it's not going far enough.
wood/coal burning stoves should be illegal in build up areas.
they are really unhealthy.

Oh, and everyone has access to electricity and gas, so no reason to rely on the log burners at all.

Everybody doesn't. My sister's house has no mains electricity, water or gas. A luxury I know, but our holiday home has no mains electricity, water or gas.

Oh, and everyone has access to electricity and gas, so no reason to rely on the log burners at all

Everyone??
How do you think you know this?
It absolutely isn't true.

We don’t have gas here, most people have oil stored in big tanks in gardens.

I want a log burner as when it’s cold it’s freezing here.

As I read it Baaahh was just referring to her neighbours from her previous post, who were polluting her air but all had access to gas/electricity - she wasn’t saying that everyone in the UK has gas and electric.

My friend in Denver USA they get weather warnings banning log burners coal dependent on the wind etc. so some days they cannot use them.

My neighbours never season their logs and the other neighbours seem to spend their life have bonfires producing acrid chocking smoke.

I wish council would take action as current rules are crap www.gov.uk/garden-bonfires-rules

My windows are rubbish and I hate feeling trapped when they are billowing horrible smoke next door.

I've seen logs will need to be seasoned two years I doubt any one will check. Though I suppose it gives the police something pointless to do which they seem to like.