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

[Don'tcallthepolice]

Just this

Many posters have already said heat pump wouldn’t work in their houses.
So if you dint have main gas, oil is expensive (remember, no discount/help for that!), then wood it is!

People in town don't seems to have the same philosophical relativism to localised pollution if someone is fly tipping on their street. Ah well, that litter has to go somewhere, right? May as well be on your own doorstep, right?

I can see both sides. I grew up in a drafty farmjouse with not central heating (and no gas supply). The wood burning stove was essential to keep us warm (Its was apain in the arse to keep lit and clean though - being the first person to get up and light it on a frosty morning was NOT FUN).

I now live in London and our neighbours have a wood burner in their conservatory/garden room. They are always burning unseasoned wood and coal on it and stinking up the neighbourhood. Today it is very still and cold and there is a pall of woodsmoke hanging over our road. I hate them.

This will be the first of a few posts.

Wood burners are totally unnecessary if cost effective alternatives are available and even the cleanest should be banned from urban environments where there is a mains gas supply.

Wood is considered a renewable combustion resource in all environmental sustainability assessment methods.

In the UK 40,000+ people a year die from diseases where particulate matter emissions are a contributing factor.

Particulate matter is classified into PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 based on the sized of the particles, and measured in μg/m3.

For anyone interested enough the research paper is here.

Well, yeah, lots of the modern day eco-warriors are childless or single, young people - but I bet you they drive and fly around like there's no tomorrow! They will not compromise their lifestyles - they just want you to compromise yours!

We do have a wood burner just because we like the look. However, we don't use it much and I don't think most people who have one use it on a daily basis either, unless it's their main heat source. Reason being, it's difficult to keep it clean and wood is quite expensive. It's just a nice focal point in the room - we've had it on perhaps 4-5 times this winter so far.

When we look at environmental impact, we need to look at the whole picture. What else is that person doing or not doing to impact the environment? I think some people are way more polluting than others, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were some eco-warriors among them! There should be some kind of a scale to add up your overall carbon footprint, with varying degree of points for the activities people engage in.

Out of curiosity, I've done a carbon footprint test. My score is 9.4 tonnes, which apparently is just under the UK average. That's with eating very little meat, walking to work and taking no flights in the last 12 months, and recycling everything I can. We live in a larger house, so I think that was a negative factor. It's a bit misleading though because they ask you how many adults are in the household - it should absolutely be the total number of people, including children, in my opinion.

The world average is 6.3 tonnes. Here's a link if you want to try it: footprint.wwf.org.uk/#/

It’s so chilly today, we’ve lit ours early. All toasty now.

The Guardian article and the executive summary are somewhat alarmist as they focus on peak hourly average rather than absolute values compared to recommended safe levels:

Therefore, the findings suggest that the peak hourly concentrations are often higher by a minimum of 250% and a maximum of 400% when participants have refuelled their stove more than once during a usage compared to one refuel or none at all.

^^

Sorry posted too soon. So on the plot attached the average concentration of PM2.5 is something like 25-35 μg/m3

For reference current London air quality is here PM2.5 = 32.6 μg/m3

Particulate matter is a really serious issue but alarmist headlines that attract sound-bite attention spans really don't help.

Because open fires release up to 10x the harmful emissions than a stove and are 50% less efficient.

So it's actually a positive thing that people are replacing their open fires with stoves.

So do you fall in the "I don't have a choice, there's no alternative" or the smug "yes I might be living in a large city with a gas supply, but it doesn't matter so long as I am 'toasty' because my long burner is so amazing" because that's the OP's question. Not do you have one, or are you 'toasty' but why, given, how polluting they are? Through lack of an alternative or just ignorance or selfishness?

I’m sorry you feel judged by eco warriors, but the wood burner isn’t good for your health or your neighbours.

@StillWantingADog well yes but living in the country doesn’t always mean escaped from the city with wads of cash.🙄😂😂😂😂

pets also cause asthma and have a huge carbon footprint….and yet so many want a dog.

@DNBU but the wood burner isn’t good for your health or your neighbours

Read the report, not the headlines, the found a risk but did not draw any substantive

the present study encourages future researchers to study the occurrences and effects of relatively short-term peak PM exposure on human health...

and

it is recommended that DEFRA testing standards be modified in order to account for these normative health risks

In other words there is a risk but it needs to be quantified.

Yes, but dog doesn't leak in when you open the windows and make you wheeze.

Why would you open the windows if it's cold enough to light a wood burner?

@DNBU interesting questionnaire thanks. Mine is 9.6 although I scored low in all sections but household and that seems to be because we're heated by gas and I don't know off the top of my head if my energy supplier is a green firm or not.
Sadly, I do have a petrol car, but its a little run around for little run arounds and public transport isn't an option for me where I live.

To air a room out.

I can see why people like them - light, heat, cosy.

Not everyone is aware of the particle issue or cares tbh.

I think more people in cities should worry that they'll be banned in built up areas quite soon, to improve air quality. Imho they're a bad investment in cities for that reason.

My neighbours fire up their stoves throughout the day, you never know when it's going to blow over.

That's probably more to do with what and how they burn. The wood needs to be dry, the stove clean, and burned hot. If a stove smokes something is wrong.

I just reread that - stoves? as in plural?

Preach to me only if you are childless, never drive a car, never fly anywhere and never use plastic oh and are vegan as those are all demonstrably worse for the environment.

Two different homes on the same small street in the middle of a housing estate, full gas, never seen an open fire in their lives- built in the 90s - street. In two different directions too, so the wind is as likely against you as not.

As I posted previously there is absolutely no need for a wood burner if mains gas is available. Your neighbours also don't know how to use one. How old are the properties?

@FourTeaFallOut sorry I've just reread 90s, how big are the properties?

Middle class marker of taste