Why does everyone install wood burners knowing how terrible they are for the environment?

[Don'tcallthepolice]

Just this

You’re right, the OP was about the environment. The bigger issue is the health one, though. It seems that many people aren’t at all aware of this and we all should be, so we can make the decisions we need to with full knowledge.

where is OP?

still waiting for replies on how us evil burners should heat our homes without the stove….

Are you surprised? I am so glad I am not reliant on electricity for my heating (and gas/oil/ASHPs etc systems all need electricity to function).

The press seem to have stopped threatening the possibility of rolling blackouts this winter but should they occur then people will be cold as well as sitting in the dark.

Anything that is dependent on a distribution network leaves you totally vulnerable in the event of problems. If the National Grid is hit by cyberterrorists then the whole system could go down.

It also gives me the opportunity to just warm the one room I am actually using so is cost effective.

You should know better than to try to order wood in the winter. Order it in the summer

It's George Monbiot though that I have the utmost respect for , Cassandra though he may be.

We have a new eco design one, it barely emits any smoke at all. It’s incredibly efficient. It’s also roomsealed and we have a HEPA filter for the rare moments smoke gets out into the room (the filter has a PM 2.5 indicator, and it’s very rare that the air is anything other than perfect). It’s significantly cheaper than using our night storage heaters per kWh and given most of our power plants in the U.K. are gas-powered I’m not convinced it’s worse for the environment.

@Another76543 thank you for this. I didn't know. I've lived my whole life with gas cookers. My range is on its way out and I will have an induction hob next time.

I know you say we can be too anxious but I also think we can make sensible choices about our health, particularly as we get older. It's up there with cutting down on meat, alcohol and exercise enough.

Fundamentally, yes! The original question was posted with the underlying message that those of us installing wood burners damage the environment (global warming etc). Highlighting health concerns, on the other hand, would assume pollution within your own home (toxic particles, supposedly). While both of these messages have been designed to convey a negative opinion about woodburners and the people who use them, the underlying message is quite different. Let me translate: "you idiots using wood burners, don't care about the environment and other people" vs "you idiots using woodburners don't care about your health and the health of you family" That's about the gist of it. 😂

They’re undeniably so closely connected?
Air pollution is a health concern - for you, your family and others.

I wonder how many of the wood burning stove haters fly.

Study suggests pollution from airplanes flying at ‘cruise’ altitudes contributes to 8,000 deaths per year globally**

news.mit.edu/2010/airplane-emissions-0928

Yes, in the long term. Pollution from woodburners, however, is negligible compared to driving, flying, generally living your life - and like I pointed out - the single most environmentally damaging thing you can do to the planet is having numerous children. And it's usually people shouting the loudest about the environment are those with several children, ferrying them around to school and play dates in big cars and taking them on foreign holidays. Probably having bonfires too and fireworks, real Christmas trees, wrapped presents, countless plastic toys etc, etc, cause it's fun for the kids! And they're not going to give that up, are they? Yet, others are made to feel guilty for burning a bit of wood in the winter to keep the house warm. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the environment, and I try to do my bit - I just can't stand hypocrisy!

Middle class? 😂

If only you could see me and my house...

That was in summer :) I season my own wood but buy in pretty wood for the tourists (Holiday cottage).

Same here. Just paid £360 for outdoor seasoned hardwood from a local estate. Price has about doubled from last year.

No free wood here. No trees to speak of in our area that are not either farmed pine or belong to estates that have signs threatening prosecution for collecting wood on their property. Where is all this free wood people speak of coming from? Unless you have your own woodland or can get by lighting your fire a few times a year with the odd felled tree/sticks I think people might be not quite telling the truth about ‘free wood’. Around here its far too valuable for it ever to be free. We even sell (at the going rate) the ‘unsplittable’ pieces of our wood delivery that are too big to go in our burner to neighbours who have open fires.

I know plenty of childless people ‘shouting loudly about the environment’.

I can understand the use of them when there no other viable or affordable alternative - I know someone who lives on a boat and uses one because they don’t have a lot of options, but some people have wood burners because they just like the look (not implying this is you).

The adverse health and environmental effects are well documented though.

(And i think that’s what the OP is getting at - people installing them where they aren’t absolutely necessary)

It's the localized particle pollution isn't it? I guess it's weird because people are polluting their local environment, so it does seem an odd thing to defend. Other things that damage the environment impact much less on people at an immediate level.

I have chronic asthma - diagnosed at age 13 and lung issues ever since. The cause? Living in a damp, mouldy, largely unheated house. My childhood bedroom had 3 external walls and was over a garage, no double glazing, no central heating, no open fires. It was miserable... black mould on the walls and despite my parents trying to come up with (cheap) resolutions such as polystyrene tiles, the wallpaper still fell from the walls. This was a 1930s semi in the 70s.

I now live in a 100 year old house with an open fireplace. I only burn kiln dried wood and there is a very good draw up the regularly swept chimney. I'll take my chances on bitterly cold days when it is used in addition to central heating which hardly touches a draughty old house like mine. It may be worse for the environment (or not!) and may not be great for my health - but I can assure you that the alternative is even worse.

The one we had in my old house was far more effective at heating the building than radiators....
I remember the freezing winter of 2010 when our boiler packed up in -5 temp are we could find anyone available to fix it for 5 days. We basically moved a sofa bed into the living room and spent 5 days keeping the log burner going 24/7 to avoid freezing.

Are log burners any worse than using other finite natural resources like gas for central heating?

Who cares? That wasn't the question, was it? Heat pump perhaps. But it's not the question is it?

So are bonfires bad for the environment too?

People say that wood is renewable without considering that localized air pollution is really dangerous, especially in big cities. I think people don't consider that.

Is this a serious question?

Yes?

Yes