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.

Wood burning stoves are only carbon neutral if you ignore the cost of harvesting the wood and transporting it.

That's just a super unrealistic criteria though. In that case nothing is carbon neutral that we consume- every single thing will have a ecological/carbon footprint and including transport just makes carbon neutral an impossible concept. Still better that there's some sequestration than none.

Keepitonthedownlow So those who live rurally aren't allowed an opinion? I am not over romanticising as we live rurally, with no gritters when it gets icy; sod all public transport, and we need the wood burner for heat and potentially cooking, when there is a power cut.

Does anyone recall going to smoke-filled pubs ~18 years ago?
I went to pubs, even though I don't smoke.
Heck I've lived with smokers a lot in my life.
I've lived with a lot of gas hobs, too.
I worked on a (geological) drilling rig -- flipping diesel fumes.
I've stood at bus stop wishing the diesel fumes away.
Heck I've walked down London streets wishing the diesel fumes away.
I gag when I walk in some shops the disinfectant & soap smells are so strong - make my eyes string.

So it Turns out that your Wood burner scare stories don't scare me.

"Your lifestyle is very unsustainable"

Your remarks are very unsustainable.

@Bluntness100

Well I do drive a 4x4, as I live semi rurally with crap roads, and I was scared shitless driving at night in the rain or ice on those unlit roads, which even have trenches either side to prevent flooding, in my old small car. Not that I need to justify my car choice.

We also have two wood burners , as it’s an old listed building and takes a lot of heating, and we are self sufficient in wood.

What should we do with the wood from our garden when a tree comes down, ans why should we pay to only use central heating? I don’t think so.

Bluntness you must have acres of woodland. I can't imagine the wood for two stoves never running out, even if logs do burn for 15 hours or whatever it was.

In any case, this thread was not with made with rural dwellers in mind.

I think you'll find you're over romantising. Many people choose to live rurally because they want bigger homes and gardens. Then moan they need 4 by 4s etc.

You're hugely over-simplifying it.

Yes, some people will choose rural living for more space, but others were raised there and just want to stay close to home, or maybe they have caring responsibilities, or maybe they can't afford to buy in a city with better transport links etc etc.

We live rurally because it's a hell of a lot cheaper to buy here than it is to buy in a city, even when you factor in the cost of running two vehicles. Last winter we had no central heating and British Gas fucked up and didn't manage to get our new boiler fitted for six months. We had hot water and an electric shower but no gas heating whatsoever.

Our wood burner meant we actually had affordable heating inside and didn't need to rely on running hugely overpriced storage heaters just to stop the house from freezing. I would never get rid of it now, even though we've not actually used it yet this winter. It was a life-saver and I'm very, very glad we have it as a back-up.

Lots of homes near us were without power for 10 days recently due to Storm Arwen - those with woodburners at least didn't freeze to death when it snowed three days later!

www.mumsforlungs.org/our-campaigns/wood-burning

We have a bio ethanol fire. It’s pretty, instant and very clean. Real flames give such a cosy focus.

I don't have one but really wanted one of for years.
My very in your face eco neighbour who used to boast about her lack of need for a recycling bin etc no food waste went and got one.
We already live on a busy road... And I read it really pollutes...

Flashbac Perhaps you need to tell the rural dwellers in the title of the thread that they are not welcome to comment then. Tugs forelock, whilst backing away.

Its our only source of heat. We get our own wood mostly from our orchard but sometimes neighbour. We chop, season etc ourselves.

Got about 4 years worth of wood in the garden at the moment. Most of it providing a nice winter hibernation place for small animals.

@flashbac

Lots of people from rural/cut off areas replying. Obviously nobody is going to begrudge you lot having a fire in the same way a farmer might need a 4x4. I'm talking about usage in built up areas that have mains electricity AND gas. I had no clue they were such polluting beasts.

People in urban areas suffer from fuel poverty just as much as those in rural areas, though.

Running a woodburner is much cheaper than paying for all the gas and electric that's required to heat house.

@MrsSkylerWhite

We have a bio ethanol fire. It’s pretty, instant and very clean. Real flames give such a cosy focus.

The fuel is quite expensive isn't it? Does it give out heat?

My god. Those writing comments like

No near neighbours to pollute

need to read up a little on how air pollution works 🙄

I think you'll find you're over romantising. Many people choose to live rurally because they want bigger homes and gardens. Then moan they need 4 by 4s etc

I’ve never moaned I need a 4x4, I’m perfectly happy with it thanks, and yes I choose to live here. Quite happily.

And yes, op I have three acres of garden,a very, very small part of which is indeed wooded, but the garden itself has many large trees, round it’s boundaries, three years ago a large ash tree came down, it was approx 100 feet, we are still burning it.

In addition we had to have another one felled, as it was a risk to life and a building, we had to take some lime trees out that were very old and diseased, some oaks have had to have had some large branches taken down, some trees had self seeded and we had to take them down, as they were growing large and wer going to take over, , at any given time we have least three years worth of seasoned wood in stock, over two large wood stores, plus piles under tarpaulin that we transfer over and season.

So yes, we are totally self sufficient in wood and do not buy any.

@Keepitonthedownlow
Nah, I’m just not keen on people and therefore chose to live in a lesser populated area.

The fuel is quite expensive isn't it? Does it give out heat?

Not much, but it does give out loads of water vapour.

@etulosba

The fuel is quite expensive isn't it? Does it give out heat?

Not much, but it does give out loads of water vapour.

Whenever I've used one I've found it absolutely blasts out heat.

GoodPrincessWenceslas

etulosba
The fuel is quite expensive isn't it? Does it give out heat?

Not much, but it does give out loads of water vapour.

Whenever I've used one I've found it absolutely blasts out heat.“

Yes, ours does, usually raises the room temperature (6x5m with high ceiling) by 2 or 3 degrees within an hour or so.

(Can’t comment on cost because I’ve no idea how it compares to logs. We use it as a nice extra in the evenings though and it’s not expensive. Obviously, it would me much more so if it was our only heat source.)

[quote Blackkitty]@Keepitonthedownlow
Nah, I’m just not keen on people and therefore chose to live in a lesser populated area.[/quote]
Thus strengthening the view that types who pollute without consideration for others are selfish misanthropes

Apologies didn't mean to reply to @Imdreamingofapeacefulxmas who is clearly not a misanthrope

I'm not madly bothered about the pollution aspect what I didn't like and never like is the preachy, holier than though neighbours rubbing their eco cred in neighbours faces but then having a wood burner pumping out fumes

Love ours - it is lit every night from November to early March. We buy local logs in the summer and stack them to dry out over the warm season.

@MrsSkylerWhite

We have a bio ethanol fire. It’s pretty, instant and very clean. Real flames give such a cosy focus.

@MrsSkylerWhite I've been looking at these can I ask your opinion on them? Is it just a nice visual or do they produce heat? I'm keen on the environmental credits as opposed to wood fires