Another neigbour getting a wood burner

[JoSFry]

Come on …. When will people wake up to the pollution these things cause!

No, I don't think so. A wood stove, burning for a few hours a day, for a few months a year, isn't a healt issue. Obesity in children is a much more serious problem.

They aren't remotely fine. What makes the difference is the source of wood. You can make the process carbon neutral, but only if the wood is sourced for this.

A modern wood burner still releases the same amount of co2 in 15 hours, that a car would driving for 200+ miles. And for other types of pollutants, this can change to thousands of miles of driving for the equivalent. But like I said, the co2 will be carbon neutral if sourced properly, unlike the car.

I was just going to say this. Electrostatic filters reduce emissions by around 95%. We have one on our burner and an indoor filter. I'm also in the sticks and have no near neighbours. Having said that, I'm enjoying my infra red heat bar that I've just had installed to take the edge off the chill in my kitchen.

Love a wood burner .

this net zero rubbish in this country is utter BS. We account for 0.96% of worlds carbon footprint. Sort china, India, and other countries out.

We've been self sufficient with our own seasoned wood for years. We have probably 4 mature trees as our main source, so not a wood. Every other year a couple are trimmed down radically and the wood gets chopped and dried. It gets us through each winter and it's comforting to know if the power goes out, which it often does in the countryside, we can still heat our home.

I work from home in a room with one, so much better than heating the whole house.

How do you know they have CH? We don't. Our stove (burns smokeless coal/wood) heats the whole of the main house.

That "perfectly functional" central heating system will be bugger all help in the event of power cuts or energy shortages.

Always best to have at least one backup source of heat which doesn't rely on the grid.

We've got an old farmhouse with two open fires and an old Rayburn which also provides heating and hot water. As long as the woodshed is full (which it is) we can heat our house well without any central heating.

For thousands of years open fires have literally been the only source of heat, light, and cooking.

Somehow the human race survived and we don't look back on those and massively regret that we kept the houses warm and food hot.

Yes and for thousands of years the average life expectancy was about 30.

Everyone was dying before they had a chance to suffer lung disease.

In the 50s about 4000 people died in the great smog.

That's exactly where we would be now if we didn't take steps to control air pollution.

You do realise that the average life expectancy was so low because of massive infant mortality, yes?

I don't understand why people don't get more upset about bonfires. They really are revolting because people burn wet leaves, old fence panels etc and are generally in the daytime when people are out and about. At least wood burners tend to be used later in the evening when the majority of people are in their houses.

The "life expectancy used to be 30" is untrue. It is misleading due to averages

https://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/did-people-in-past-really-only-live-to-be-30.htm

My friend's DH is an ex-fireman. After he retired he re-trained as a chimney sweep and set up his own business. Much of his work now comes from people with wood burners. Apparently they are slightly different to taking care of normal chimneys.

We don't have one and it would be hard and expensive to have one installed in our house I think. However, if we rent a cottage anywhere with a wood burner I love to light it at least once. They give such a cosy feel and I actually love the smell of woodsmoke.

You have made the common mistake everyone makes when looking at this.

Yes, life expectancy was low. Not because everyone died at 30, but because there was a high infant mortality rate. If you made it past 4, you actually had a good chance of living to 60+.

So people weren't dying too young to get lung disease.

The great smog is also not a good comparator given that it was largely caused by traditional house coal fires (now illegal) as well as a particularly severe anticyclone. Gas fires, coke fires, properly seasoned wood fires, all produce less smoke and particulate matter than traditional house coal which was high in bitumen among other things.

However do you manage to work? I'd be on the sofa, feet up, cup of tea, dog snoring, me snoring..........

Stop spouting crap

Well then you wouldn't be a hygge twat then, would you? If it is a means to an end and balancing immediate warmth set against health consequences is a choice you have to make. You aren't installing in in your high density, suburban home for the feelz.

We have a wood burner and use our own logs as we get a few trees down every year. The main reason we got it is for when the electric goes off which given the net zero mismanagement of the grid we will probably experience this winter. Your boiler or heatpump isn't going to work when the power goes out.

I live rurally and love my woodburner. Heating oil prices have doubled for us so woodburners will be mu h in use this year. In terms of the evidence of health damage the research does show some risk. However it also shows risks for other particle producing items such as scented candles and fried food. On balance I am very happy with my woodburner

A portion of China's emissions are our emissions which we have exported to them through exportation of our manufacturing. China is sorting out its emissions, they are world leaders in generation of renewable energy, and their CO2 footprint per person is well below Western countries. Sorry, the whataboutism argument as an excuse for not bothering to do anything constructive won't wash with me.

High density suburban homes aren't immune to power cuts and having no working central heating.

Doesn't matter where I live, I'd never go without a source of heating that I can control.

Which high density area do you live in that is so challenged by power cuts it makes you this anxious?

Why can't the chimneys be much higher to properly lift smoke away ?

I agree it's not a direct comparison yes because it was caused by coal fires and mostly the sulphur products generated from burning them.

But air pollution of any form is bad for people and we should get rid of it as much as possible.

Gas fires aren't comparable to wood fires. Gas is much cleaner burning. The fuel is more uniform and in appliances like boilers the combustion is much more tightly controlled to be complete. That's why you don't need a gas chimmney swept but do need a wood burning one swept, because tars and flammable material build up inside a wood burning stove chimmney much more rapidly.

If everyone burned highly controlled wood in a way to maximise the combustion the problem would definitely be less. But a lot of people don't. They burn inadequately seasoned wood, waste building products, treated wood (arsenic) and old painted wood (lead) along with a whole load of other rubbish.

Particulate filters for wood burners should be compulsary.