Wood burners

[primeoflife]

Would it be a good idea to get one? I've heard they can save loads on your gas bill but have also heard going forward they'll be additional costs due to being bad for the environment.

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/emissions-of-air-pollutants/emissions-of-air-pollutants-in-the-uk-particulate-matter-pm10-and-pm25

Woodburners triple level of air pollution inside the home according to this article.

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/15/wood-burners-emit-more-particle-pollution-than-traffic-uk-data-shows

They dont stink.

i love mine. Living in a 250 year old cottage, with a massive inglenook, sticking a gas fire in isn’t an option, never. And as I’m off grid LPG is expensive as it is. I have a great wood supplier and a great coal man.

This doesnt answer my question in case thats why you posted it

Can you break down,

• figures from seasoned wood in a closed system
• figures from unseasoned wood in a closed system
• figures from DEFRA approved appliances separating out the above
• figures from 'wood products' which are not designed to be burned
• figures from the above categories of wood on open fires in the house
• figures from the above categories of wood in bonfires

I dont see the breakdown in the article but its long and I might have missed it

What is this clean, zero maintenance form of heating that doesn't burn fuel?

I have a love/hate relationship with mine - old house, no gas, countryside and room impossible to heat without it.

However:
They are more expensive to install than you think
You need somewhere to store wood/briquettes
The fuel is more expensive than you think
Someone has to faff with the fire and the ashes or it goes out
The polution information, even for the eco stoves, is appalling

No way would I have one in an urban area or if the house could be heated another way.

I hate the look of them and they're very bad for your health

It's always been said that wood is a renewable source but I don't understand how.

It takes years to grow a tree that can be logged. Replacing it with a sapling means it will take years for it to grow. Yes they grow quicker than coal/peat is made , but there will still be a gap meaning trees are felled more quickly than they can grow.

The trend for oak furniture horrifies me as oaks take so many , many years to grow to felling stage. I know , as I'm currently growing an oak and it's barely three foot tall after nearly15 years.

The air is heavy with the stench of wood fires at this time of year and going forward.

We really should be looking at cleaner energy , not air fowling energy.

By all means burn wood if you're in the wilds but not if you live in a densely populated area.

Ours doesn’t smell. You can smell them outside though, as most of the village have them. We don’t really use any other heating, as our house is tiny. We have a kettle on it all day, so constant hot water. We dry our own wood. Really glad we have one with bills going up.

I used to live with an ex who had one and it stunk. Hated the thing. And cleaning it out was messy. He was a prick though so probably slowly poisoning us with cheap wood.

Yeah they smell outside.

We have one on a housing estate and so far loving it. A lot of the estate have them and you can smell it if they are all lit at once but if it's cold enough to light it then it's to cold to have windows open. Ours was nearly 4k including the fire place

Love mine and I love the smell of woodsmoke at night.

they are bad for health and environment.

and unless you have a good supply of adequate firewood it's not cheap either.

Id guess they are better than some methods the energy industry use

I also love the smell. Coal fires burning when i drive home from work, seeing the smoke in the street lights.

when the wind blows a certain way, i can smell years of soot in my chimney. Its a comforting aroma reminding me of the past generations who have sat around the fireplace

We love ours. We had one in our last home too. They make our home so cosy. There's nothing better at the weekend than going for a long walk in the cold and then coming back to light the woodburner and defrost infront of it!

I agree. There is nothing more cosy than lighting the wood burner.

It will cost at least £2000 to get installed and if you use it instead of gas it will use a lot of wood you are unlikely to save money. We have one we just use in the evenings in winter, nice to have and of course heating if we have a power cut.

The woodsmoke smell outside sets off my asthma. If you can smell it, what is it doing to your lungs?

Ours is a top up on the coldest evenings as my central heating is crap, but nothing more.

If your wood burner smells, you have a problem, possibly a serious one.

I love mine, it's fantastic (Waterford Stanley Oisín in blue enamel)

Mumsnet have a real love/ hate relationship with woodstoves. I love them I have two and between them they do a great job of funnelling the heat upstairs and warming the house. I'm rural, have no neighbours within 300m and an inevitable annual powercut. If you're rural you can reduce your wood cost substantially by chopping/ storing your own wood. Which I do I also buy kiln dried at 90 quid a tonne. Maybe not great for your health to burn wood indoors and cleaning the ash generates dust but it beats being cold and damp.

Everyone locally has a stove/ open fire.

Our neighbours have one and we hate it. Can't put the washing out to dry and can't open our windows and it aggravates my son's asthma. I think they should be illegal.

I've seen that guardian article about the study that shows they increase pollution in the home by up to 3 times. And not to have one if you have children or elderly people. We will have a newborn this winter and I'm getting antsy about lighting ours since I read it. Would you light one with a tiny baby?

Depends where you live I think, in a very built up area town/city it perhaps not, but if you live in the country with open spaces, then absolutely.

Although I'd recommend getting a multi fuel burner rather than just a wood burner