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

If the wood is burning properly there is no smoke.

Sure. But nobody with mains gas can reasonably justify a wood burner other than just a nice thing to have.

That isn't true. There may not be much smoke but there will definitely be some pm2.5 emissions.

On the other thread a poster said freshly lit woodburners produce smoke.

i don’t know how long it takes to get the wood “burning properly”, but my house smelling of woodsmoke for any amount of time is too much.

As for the environment, I'm getting a bit tired of daft comments about how "Well, some of you people drive a car" and so on.

I don't own a car, as it happens. But we can electrify vehicles and are rapidly decarbonizing electricity generation in the UK. I think a lot of people in this country genuinely believe that most UK electricity generation comes from coal; in fact, coal generation has basically stopped, and we are now basically using natural gas (much cleaner), renewables and nuclear.

Furthermore, trying to rewrite the urban fabric of the UK to eliminate car use is pretty difficult; conversely, the majority of woodburner users are perfectly capable of not using woodburners; most of them do not live in farmhouses without gas supplies.

Woodburning has an outsize environmental impact, because it's not just about CO2; it's also about black carbon, which absorbs heat and acts as a massive turbocharger of global warming. Worldwide, biomass fuel burning contributes to global warming more than plane travel. We need to be helping people in developing countries to acquire clean, safe cooking stoves and heat sources, and people in developed countries need to stop using woodburners unless it's essential for Reasons, like the abovementioned remote farmhouse etc.

Of course they can! Mains gas has become prohibitively expensive for many people.

Along with many other things including people who avoid MOTs and whose vehicles belch out black smoke whilst they're driving along.

This is the funniest thing I have heard for a while.

Are there people who are so "into" this stuff that they have genuinely convinced themselves that you can burn stuff without producing smoke?

@GreenTeaLikesMe https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2011/10/18/141455850/curbing-cooking-smoke-that-kills-more-people-than-malaria#:~:text=That's%20according%20to%20the%20World,with%20smoke%20and%20blackening%20walls.

Or chillax, pop some sausages on the barbie, burn some old pallets and spray loads of lynx deodorant for a giggle.

Clearly I'm being sarcastic, but we seriously need to stop environmental fretting and live

When lighting a stove the smoke doesn't end up in the room.

Log burners are responsible for 17% of the small particle pollution in London. They should be banned in built up areas.
One of my neighbours has a log burner. The smoke comes into our bathroom if we have the window open. If we hang washing out it ends up stinking of smoke. Usually you can't see the smoke but we are to the east so the prevailing westerly wind blows it towards us.

OK, so let's crack down on polluting vehicles more, then.

When we try cracking down, we will immediately get whiny responses about "But what about all those dirty buggers burning wood in their woodstoves? Why don't you put some pressure on those people instead?"

So we'll return to the question of woodstoves, and get whinging about "Why are you picking on us? Crack down on polluting vehicles instead for goodness sake!"

And round and round we go with the buckpassing, and meanwhile nothing is being done about air pollution.

Unless you live in unusual housing circumstances, stop burning stuff, seriously. These things should be banned in urban areas.

I always find it fascinating how wound up people get on MN about topics that I have never heard people even mention or show any concern about in real life. Woodburners is definitely one of these topics.

If the temperature is high enough then there is no smoke. The chimney will smoke until the optimum temperature is reached.

Well aren't you charming?

Thank you OP for your post. It’s amazing how dismissive people are of evidence that they don’t like. Amazing how many people know better than the experts! (“Oh oh but they’re not experts because look, this stove company says they’re wrong!!”).

”Well I read that BISCUITS give you CANCER so I’m going to keep burning wood and poisoning but just my family but all my neighbours too, because it looks so pretty, so there!

We had a wood burner installed about 10 years ago, I am so cross with myself I just had no idea of the danger. Our poor son suffered asthma and other breathing difficulties as a toddler.

When I learned how horrifically polluting it was we never used it again. And do you know, my son’s asthma all but disappeared.

We sold the house last year and the people who bought it have just replaced it with a bioethanol burner instead. I know others who’ve stopped using wood burners on our road.

I should say, I do understand that for some people a wood burner may be the only affordable or practical option for heating. But it’s staggering that some of them are arguing “well I need it there for it can’t possibly be polluting and all that nasty sciencey evidence is just plain wrong because I say it is!

🙄

On the other thread a poster said freshly lit woodburners produce smoke.
i don’t know how long it takes to get the wood “burning properly”, but my house smelling of woodsmoke for any amount of time is too much.

They don't, or not if they're functioning properly. There should be no smoke produced into the room if the door is shut.

You may get a very mild, brief, smoke smell when you refuel initially and before the stove is at operating temperature, although you can generally avoid this by opening the door slightly to let the pressure equalise before opening it further to add logs.

No it ends up in mine after it leaves the chimney.

Bacon! my ultimate favourite breakfast 😋 eaten in front of the open fire ! still here to tell the tale .

To be fair, the wood burners issue has been debated for a while now and well beyond MN! Not saying I agree with the OP’s view as I think I would want to research the arguments on both sides, but it is hardly a niche MN issue.

A quick Google will tell you that around 15% of properties in the UK are not connected to mains gas, an estimate of 4.5 million homes. Hardly 'unusual circumstances'.

Wood is more expensive per kwh than mains gas.

I've just never heard anyone in real life even mention it as a concern and I know loads of ppl with log burners or even open fires, some old, some new. Perhaps it's because we're rural.

“No smoke produced into the room”

oh well that’s ok then. Fuck the neighbours exposed to the smoke from the chimney, as long as you don’t get the smoky smell in the room.