To be considering an eco friendly log burner and if I am what are really good alternatives ?

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I’ve always wanted a log burner and we are finally redoing the lounge so need to make a decision. I’m aware of the environmental draw backs but have seen there are now eco friendly log burners. How good are they environmentally wise? We’d only have it on a couple of times a week during the winter. If it’s still a no no what are the best alternatives- aesthetically and for use. Really not keen on the plastic log look. Not keen on the idea of ethanol either. What could be a focal point alternative?

just wondering what’s the reason you said no to ethanol? X

I guess ultimately no sort of heating is environmentally friendly. Apart from maybe heat pumps? but even they increase your electricity use and electricity production uses fossil fuels.

The gas used for your central heating burns fossil fuels and contributes to air pollution. Would a log burner mean you use your central heating less? Mine does.

i suppose the one downside to a log burner to consider is the potential risk to your health. There are studies on this that the air in your living room/house will be slightly polluted even if you can’t notice it. I’m not sure if the eco ones are any better for this. I have a log burner and it meets the standards to be used in clean air areas. I don’t notice any smell from it either inside or outside (we have an old house so the chimneys are very tall which probably helps for the outside). It seems very airtight when the door is shut. But they are linked to lung and heart disease. I’m not sure what the stats are for how much extra risk you have.

https://www.surrey.ac.uk/news/hidden-health-risks-wood-burning-and-eco-stoves-homes

I must admit I don’t know if I’d have one installed now. Saying that I do still use the one I have and love it. Both me and dh grew up with open fires and has to be better than that. MIL is late 80s and in fine health and sits in front of her open fire every day which is lit all day every day in winter.

Expensive to run and flammable.

We live in rural France where everyone and I mean everyone has woodburners. The wood that we buy is grown locally and large areas are cut down regularly and left to regrow for another decade. So the wood is about £50 per tonne [after a euro to £ conversion]. We also source lots of wood from the woods behind us, by cutting up and removing naturally fallen trees, we save all our winter prunings for kindling and have a huge woodshed to stack it all in. All in all we spend a large amount of time collecting and dealing with wood to be used to heat the house here.

In the winter the fires are lit in the morning, banked down to keep the main living areas warm and dry for the day and refired up around tea time for the evening. We usually only use 2-3 larger 'paid for' pieces for the woodburner each day. Everything else we burn was free, it just took our time and energy to cut, stack and store. They are essential here, and our heat pump is really only used to take the edge off in the mornings, and to warm the whole house through [not the main living areas] to stop any damp from forming in the evenings, and for hot water.

If you are just using a woodburner for 2-3 nights a week in the winter, that means what, 12 times a month, so maybe at most 60 times a year? For that you really need to spend money to buy wood which you might not get through each winter so you'll need to store it as it is inefficient to just buy smaller amounts. You will need a yearly sweep to keep it free of soot and nests. Unless you have already got seasoned kindling you'll need to buy that [v expensive for what it is] or split down the straight bits of seasoned wood that you bought. So you may need to buy an axe or some log splitting tools. So already, it is a huge outlay for just 60 fires a year.

I am a committed wood burner fan, don't get me wrong but I'd either buy one and use it to actually efficiently heat your house and commit to it, or rethink it.

Unless you live in the middle of a field, miles from any other homes don't do it. They are severely polluting with a direct health risk to you and your neighbours. All the "eco friendly stove" marketing is green wash by the stove industry. Especially if you just want it as a decoration.

The advertising standards association has just banned adverts claiming "very low emission" as it's simply not true.

I'm wondering the same. The house is naturally damp and I think would benefit from a real fire warming the bricks up in winter but the internal air quality??? Difficult to decide tbh between damp or pollution 😬

Here is the ASA release . Here

Also check if you live in a smokeless zone you can now only burn certified "ready to burn" wood or those artificial logs, not any old wood. Or you are likely to be fined.

Where do you live OP? Geographically, in a low-lying valley or flood plain? Or rural and on a hill top? Coastal? How much dry storage do you have?

You can minimise any smoke by burning seasoned logs which you buy & leave under cover for another 12 months.

And being in a windy place will mean any wood smoke is blown away quickly.

If you live in central London, I'd look for an alternative.

Have you thought about having a stove that burns smokeless coal?
It seems to be less polluting than wood.

I've got a Calor gas cast iron stove that actually looks like a log burner, what about that?

And they’re shite.

Wish I’d done a search on Mumsnet before I bought ours. It’s got about as much heat and atmosphere as burning a tea light. The fact that it comes with a heat protective glove is laughable.

We have a log burner, Charnwood C5 I think without looking it up

Love it and you wont be just burning it once or twice a week I can tell you, you'll have it on as much as you can, its gorgous and gives a heat like nothing else

Those days and nights where no matter what you do with the heating, its still cold, this thing fixes all that

We have a bulk delivery of wood once a year, works out really economical. We had 3 years using up a tree in my dads garden but thats gone now.

We use less central heating in the winter now

We got a air monitor and the only time it goes off is when the cooker is on. The monitor is in the living room next to the wood burner no where near the kitchen. I dont believe the claims that the air inside the house is unhealthy or deteriorates, that hasnt been our experience.

What are you trying to achieve?

Is it a large space you can't heat sufficiently by other means or do you just want it to look nice?

I'm very pro wood burner but in the right houses in the right places. We don't have gas and have been through several long power cuts after storms. Would not be without ours but we also have a high chimney with sea in front and woodland behind.

Those put into single storey extensions with a neighbour on higher ground behind them - in built up areas with gas - are unnecessary and unfair.

There's also a bit of work with them. Stacking the logs (having a store to put them in) making your kindling etc. I love this part of winter prep but if you've only got a small garden or limited access it might be a pain.

If you genuinely need it for heat then do it. If you just want it to look pretty, find an alternative.

We have a log burner and an air purifier that kicks in if the air quality drops, which sits right next to the fire. It also purifies the right size particles out (smoke/carbon) and it only ever kicks in when dh makes a meal of putting another log on but it purifies and clears the air in about 5 mins. When I do the refueling it doesn't kick in at all.

I think it is better for the environment because we only have it on once a week (on a Sunday) and it means we don't use gas heating apart from for water. So our overall heating usage is much lower because we can just heat our living room when we want to rather than the whole house.

Very inconsiderate in urban areas. There are none that are safe in terms of air quality inside or outside. Risk of house fire (especially chimney fires) is huge. They need regular cleaning and sweeping and the dirt from them gets everywhere. Plus any stove and chimney however well manufactured will be a massive source of draughts and make the house overall less energy efficient.

This is just nonsense.

I live near a local installer in tge country where there are logs available. I have gas in my sitting room but I want to get rid of the gas . I have an unused gas fire and that is due to tge fact that it has a flame and my dig used to drag her blankets round

I love the idea of a log burner.

Unfortunately, 2 of us have chest conditions, so it isn't an option.

eco - I would love to check out their claims - the filtration system must add a lot of upfront and ongoing costs if it is to be truly effective

We’ve got a Gazco Sheraton stove in our very cold living room - instant ignition, no faffing with logs, toasty room and passes as the real thing

Which part do you think is nonsense? We've had stoves in 2 houses, had a chimney fire in the last one (very scary), never again.

Everything I said is self evidently correct about a device that burns wood and sends it up a flue.

You could look at at a pellet burner. They use waste wood from industry that would otherwise go straight to industrial incinerators, so the emissions are a moot point.

This, I live in a semi built up part of a remote area, every winter I'm affected by pollution from 'smokeless' coal fires and wood burners. It's particularly unpleasant if there's any dampness in the air (common).

PP is correct. This isn't nonsense.