HIGHLIGHTING DANGER OF WOODBURNERS

[GlassHouseBlue]

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) -
essentially tiny particles of soot - is one
of the most dangerous air pollutants.
Breathing it in is linked to lung cancer,
heart damage, strokes, impaired cognition
and mental health problems, and can
exacerbate conditions such as asthma,
COPD and pulmonary fibrosis. Children
and elderly people are most vulnerable

I wouldn't be buying a brand new modern one, I'd be buying second hand. Easily done. Do you think I have the luxury of thinking about the environment? I'm too poor to take the highground over the environment I'm afraid, much as I'd like to be in the position to.

I'm asthmatic, breathing cold air is a major trigger for me, and in 2021 I was too afraid of the heating bill to turn the heating on so sat in my freezing house or by the cooker with my scarf wrapped around my mouth. In December 2021 I caught covid, developed a secondary infection had two rounds of steroids and antibiotics and was ill until May. I was wrong to do it to myself and to my children. Yet here I am trying again to contain the heating to one hour a day. Cold air vs Warm air. The warm air is better.

Exactly, so the risk is absolutely tiny.

Think I might light the log burner.
I'll take my chances living in the country in a tiny hamlet than in a city with air so polluted you can taste it.

@DysonSphere im still a bit astounded you can justify buying a wood burner if you have asthma! https://www.asthmaandlung.org.uk/media/press-releases/health-experts-issue-warning-call-tighter-regulations-wood-burning-stoves

Same here. We installed cavity wall insulation in our 1930s house as advised by the government and it was an absolute disaster. It wasn't long before damp appeared in every single inside wall. The company which installed it came back 3 times to take it out - then they went bust, leaving our walls in a terrible state, and some cavity wall beads are still lurking in the cavities. We've had to have the inside plaster hacked off the walls right down to the bare bricks, waterproofed then waterproof plaster put on. We're still waiting for the decorator to finish painting our rooms. It's cost us a fortune and we still have no cavity wall insulation. 😡😡😡

You know what's also bad for asthma? Sitting in a damp, unheated home.

Oh @GlassHouseBlue you need to focus your energies on the big industry polluters, and not try to blame the people heating their houses with wood burners. There are much bigger issues, disposable everything from vapes to nappies, chemical shit storm food-like substances, fossil fuels instead of renewables, EVs instead of hydrogen fuelled transport.

@coffeesaveslives i’m kind of aware of that, I treat enough of those with asthma ( and sadly see people die from it) As I said rather a long way upthread, I have no issue with people in fuel poverty heating their homes however they can , or with people in rural areas who have risk of blackouts or other issues with unreliable heating. The main growth market for people installing woodburners is people who do it for aesthetic reasons…..as pollution from woodburners has increased, it generates other costs for society. Somebody using a wood burner in an urban environment is directly increasing pm 2.5 pollution for their neighbours , the impact of peaks of pm 2.5 on asthma exacerbation is so well known.

I wouldn't have one in the house when my DCs were small and feel the same now they're older. If it's the only way I could afford to heat the house I would do but I think there's too much risk with them.

@coffeesaveslives You could also read this report I posted earlier that shows it can be a fallacy that wood burners are cheaper than gas CH…unless someone is using a free source of wood. https://urbanhealth.org.uk/insights/reports/wood-burning-is-more-expensive-than-central-heating
There are also other ways to optimise your home temperature https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/medical/beat-the-cold/keeping-warm (also has links to sources of financial support)

100%

I should think unhealthy eating and lack of exercise are more damaging.... to people who have and have not a Woodburner.

WHY ARE PEOPLE POSTING IN CAPITAL LETTERS.

We can all read sentence case just fine. THANK YOU.

But many people do have access to free or very cheap wood. We can get a huge dumpy bag of wood for £40 here and it lasts us a month - it's much cheaper than running the gas.

The only reason we use the mains heating is that it's more convenient and less hassle - but we can afford to have the choice, many can't. I'm not going to sit here and make people feel bad for choosing an affordable way to heat their homes.

Grants etc. are all well and good but many people don't qualify.

We saved up for a few years to get our stove. It has saved us a small fortune in heating bills. We have wood already in for the winter so it will continue going on when we want it on. We burn wood, not coal or plastic. My DH has brittle asthma and is absolutely fine. I walk to and from work on a busy traffic route, the stuff that comes out of my nose is black afterwards so I think wood burners aren’t the main concern when it comes to pollution and my personal health. Too many cars on the roads in my opinion. Every bloody family member has one in my street.

We found exactly this, I have mentioned it on similar threads because there was lots of shouting about how dangerous it is and its killing people who use them inside their homes, yet the gas oven and hob sets the thing off but the burner doesnt, even though the burner is near the monitor and the oven isnt

However what then happened when I was mentioning it on threads is that the narrative changed to 'well its about what happens outside' and 'they're not accurate anyway'!!!

We have the cleanest air currently than at any time since the height of the industrial revolution, people are getting really out of context here.

This is good to know.

It really winds me up when people quote things like 'it's the same people idling cars'.

If you live in a well insulated home in a city and a ess to gas, fair enough.

If you live in places without gas, if which there are many, they are a good send.

I would not be without ours. It's our main source of heating.

The parts of the house with electric only don't get above 14 degrees even when it's on (and that's expensive).

I don't have any heating in our bedrooms.

Without the wood burner we'd all be more likely to have breathing problems.

Kids have been brought up with it. None of us has had a chest infection or asthma in the time we've lived here.

We face the north sea. I'm fairly sure the air exchange is good whether I want it to be or not as the wind is brutal!

Happy with my wood burner 🤷‍♀️

We live rurally have no gas and all electric heating, and have had power cuts every bloody storm, one being knocked out for 3 days we would have frozen without it.

£5 for a bag of logs a day vs the £10 a day to run the night storage heaters downstairs..guess what we’ve chosen the wood burner every night this week

shock horror I’ve also been known to burn coal

Would you not be better to get a larger delivery?

It usually works out better. If you don't have a log store, a pallet box turned sideways works pretty well. We discovered this year that an empty bulk bag for gravel fits over them nicely (we took a double load and despite having three stores it wouldn't quite fit)

I love stacking the wood in October and getting ready for winter.

Oooh I'd love a log burner in my bathroom

Ooh same - that would be so cosy!

Yes we have one in the living room and really want one in the kitchen diner, it has a fire place there so we could do it.

What about CO2 in the air? Background levels in the air we breathe are double what they were in the 1960s.

What a load of scaremongering. I live in a small mining village probably every single household had an open fire at one time. My mothers 88 and still has 2 open fires it hasn't done her any harm she hasn't seen a Dr. In 25 years. Hasn't done her any harm.