Wood burning stoves are annoying and OVERRATED and now I've read they cause THREE TIMES more air pollution than road traffic!

[flashbac]

I have one (came with the house) and it's such a high maintenance beast. Wood isn't cheap either. It makes a mess too. So overrated and harmful to the environment.

@Chasingaftermidnight

YANBU OP. People can try to justify it all they like but they’re the most selfish, thoughtless vanity item you can possibly buy.

'Vanity item'

There speaks someone who presumably has mains gas? Can turn on the heating at the flick of a Switch? Rarely has power cuts? Doesn't depend on a diesel guzzling lorry to deliver expensive LPG or Oil. Which can't get through if it snows...

I don't understand people who say they have to close windows when neighbour has lit their burner. They're not burning it well if so. When mine is lit and going I can barely see the smoke coming out of the chimney, and certainly can't smell it in my garden.
And no, I don't have logs kiln dried or delivered from a long way away. I cut, chop, saw & season (for 2 years if necessary) my own wood. Max distance travelled is 1/4 mile. And constantly growing more to replenish.

@Blackkitty good idea. Last time we had a long power cut our burner heated the house, kept the kettle going for washing & tea, and cooked dinner on it.

YANBU. awful things.

The emissions figures account for multiple types of burning, if you're using properly seasoned/dried wood and a modern defra approved/ecodesign stove they are much lower.

If you're making a mess and constantly having to reload then you're doing something wrong.

Also didn't we just the other week have thread bashing stoves with exaggerated fearmongering?

I do close the vents but maybe I'm tight with the wood hence it goes out. I only use one piece at a time.

You're doing it wrong! No wonder it's not working. For a long burn you need a little bit of vent and a larger amount of fuel. Burning one log in a stove with the vents closed will cause that one log to quickly burn through all the air in there and then go out, you need to balance the oxygen and the fuel, with more fuel in there it will burn slower.

I live in a rural area and have a log burner. Mine is great and is on as I type this warming my living room and a good area besides. I utilise local wood from my garden and near neighbours and a load of these will see me through the winter (no transport required). In terms of emissions, my log burner is complaint with the very strongest emmission standards as most stoves fitted in the last five years are. It is now illegal to burn wet wood or house coal which caused many of the problems. The clean air strategy paper does not see newer log burners as a major problem , and in rural areas where at least half a dozen times a year we have a power cut (which means our oil central heating will not work), we need to rely on log burners at least as a back up. On my understanding, you cannot use a log burner for anything other than smokeless fuel in an urban area, so if you are smelling burning wood (a low emission stove with a properly compliant chimney does not produce much smell). So it sounds like a neighbour producing lots of smoke is breaking the law.

Love ours to death. We've put one in our last two homes. I don't find it messy or expensive. We tend to chuck in lots of offcuts from woodwork projects. It's SO cosy!

1000%.

There’s now plenty of scientific evidence unfiltered particulate pollution caused by these burners are highly toxic and detrimental to our health, especially children.

Anyone who reads the 3 articles/sites below and still thinks wood burners are a good idea need to have a really good look at themselves.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/16/home-wood-burning-biggest-cause-particle-pollution-fires

www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/wood-stoves-produce-three-times-more-pm25-pollution-than-traffic/ar-BB1dJwTe

woodsmokepollution.org/index.html

@flashbac

And once I've finally got it going can I pop out for a quick walk? No Can I get cosy in a blanket and not have to get up every time it needs another log? No

You aren't doing to right then.

@OfMinceAndMen

Love ours to death. We've put one in our last two homes. I don't find it messy or expensive. We tend to chuck in lots of offcuts from woodwork projects. It's SO cosy!

And so bad for the environment.

So don’t use yours?

I love ours and use it every night from October - Feb/March.

@Chasingaftermidnight

YANBU OP. People can try to justify it all they like but they’re the most selfish, thoughtless vanity item you can possibly buy.

Politely fuck off. Do you live in a city by any chance? Try living off grid where there is NO fuel direct to Your home. What an absolute cunty post ,ffs you townies havnt got a clue

@nosyupnorth

The emissions figures account for multiple types of burning, if you're using properly seasoned/dried wood and a modern defra approved/ecodesign stove they are much lower.

If you're making a mess and constantly having to reload then you're doing something wrong.

Also didn't we just the other week have thread bashing stoves with exaggerated fearmongering?

They're SO bad for the environment there should be a lot of threads about them to raise. I so hope they are banned very soon.

raise awareness

[quote flashbac]@kinko I have to keep feeding it hence not going out. I don't want it to go out while I'm out, especially not after I've spent all that energy getting it going![/quote]
How long are you going out for? I think not only do you not know how to use it, you’re not understanding the replies given from people who do use them,I can leave mine for over 15 Hours with one log and it doesn’t go out.

This is burning slowly, it gives off a lot of heat, I’ve not put a log on it for about four hours, and will shut it down shortly and just add one in the morning.

They're SO bad for the environment there should be a lot of threads about them to raise. I so hope they are banned very soon

You’ll be hoping for the rest of your life.

As a woodland owner all you "collecting wood" while out on walks do realise that wood, even ground wood, belongs to the owner of the woodland?

You can purchase a license from the FC to pick up a very limited amount of wood from FC woodland.

Otherwise, if you don't ask for permission you are stealing.

If you come on to my land stealing (and yes, it IS stealing) my wood I will prosecute you, for theft, and a civil prosecution for trespass.

And burning wood is carbon neutral.

Picking up wood and burning it is not good. You want the right type of properly kiln dried wood. In a decent wood burner. Then the pollution esp inside the home I'd massively reduced. Old wood burners and green wood are very harmful. The reason they are bad is so many people burn the wrong thing.

YANBU. I once lived very briefly in a house with one. They aren’t quaint or country, they’re fucking annoying and smoky and hard to light

They are shit. Really bad for health.

@RaPumPumPumPum

YANBU. I once lived very briefly in a house with one. They aren’t quaint or country, they’re fucking annoying and smoky and hard to light

This.

[quote flashbac]@kinko I have to keep feeding it hence not going out. I don't want it to go out while I'm out, especially not after I've spent all that energy getting it going![/quote]
Maybe you need to look into how to get it going. When we had one we would let it go out if we went out and restart it when we got in. It takes a minute to get it going - not sure why yours takes so much energy to start it!

Bluntness100
15 hours on one log sounds like you have magic fuel or some firey genie keeping it going. It doesn't sound possible! How big is the log?
I've googled and a average burn time is 2 to 3 hours.
Even this (old) thread indicates logs don't burn for as long as yours do:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/ethical_living/856493-How-many-logs-do-you-burn-through-in-your-wood

We've always had one for "backup". We're in a rental house at the moment without one which gives me a slight edge of worry but we're in the middle of a village now, so I'd expect a power cut to be sorted relatively quickly.
We're waiting to move to a house that only has a couple of neighbours, we will definitely keep at least one woodburner as a treat or for when the power goes.
It depends where you live, and how often you use it.

But I don't find them smoky or difficult to light and they seem to produce surprisingly little ash. Maybe you need to get your chimney swept? Or do you have a small room without much ventilation so it can't draw well?
I would always have a CO monitor just in case.

Get smokeless coal. We find it's the best as it's lasts ages and will still be warm in the morning. No constantly topping up like firewood.