Another neigbour getting a wood burner

[JoSFry]

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

Modern burners are definitely better, but that doesn't mean they're pollution-free. Wood burning still releases fine particles, even with the right fuel. And the carbon-neutral argument is more complicated than you're making out. Carbon neutral doesn't mean harmless to your neighbours' lungs.

Please link to the research that demonstrates increased risk to human health from stoves that meet current DEFRA regulations.

It'll be a looooong wait....

Yes there are in England.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/22/only-one-prosecution-wood-burning-complaints-year-england

But the enforcement is poor.

15000 complaints and only 24 fines.

Yeah, let's fit all that in a post on mn. Go and do some reading on it, or don't, up to you.

I'll kick you off with dementia. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5999109/?hl=en-GB

I find them deeply depressing. For all those who say it's fine inside with them on, that's because all the particulates are going outside and descending on your neighbours.

I'm a total heathen. I have a false one perfectly situated in the old fire grate (well near enough!), false flue and all. It's gorgeous and I only use it on very cold days to throw out some extra heat. On other days I just use the wood burning look for effect only.

Do I get any brownie points, oh and I don't have solar panels, but I have gas c.h.

Some are more polluting than others - depends on whether you're burning properly dried out/seasoned wood. But yes it's an odd middle class obsession.

I live in rural Scotland and all the houses in our village have wood burners. We have mains electricity but there isn’t mains gas to the village, so an oil fuelled boiler is our only option. The cost of oil is hideous - 5 years ago, 500ltrs cost £289. Our last 500ltrs was £677 and will only last around 6 weeks in winter. We most definitely wouldn’t be without the wood burner and seasoned wood. We regularly have temps of -10 or below in winter.

Interesting - thanks for that, I might look up the rates for how well enforcement works here. I can imagine my council would be very hot on it as we have a large industrial background which has contributed to our overall air quality today.

You made the claims, I'm sure you can type a few numbers. If the increases are truly as dramatic as you seem to think, surely there is simple evidence which says (for example) "the risk of cot death rose from 2% to 35% in homes with woodburners"

The study you linked doesn't really help your argument. I've directly copied the conclusion below.

"Conclusion
If the associations we observed are causal, then air pollution from residential wood burning, and air pollution from traffic, might be independent important risk factors for dementia."

Not quite the same as "woodburning increases your risk of dementia from 15% to 60%" (or whatever you believe the numbers are).

I live in a place where we can cut our own wood most years and so using our wood burner is free, saving on expensive electricity. Wood burners are also great in power cuts – and they smell lovely, too.

But in recent years it's been warm enough in winter that we can get away with jumpers, slippers, and rugs inside most of the time anyway.

The emission of PM2.5 from local residential wood burning was associated with dementia incidence with a hazard ratio of 1.55 for a 1 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.00–2.41, p-value 0.05). Study participants with an address in an area with the highest quartile of PM2.5 from residential wood burning and who also had a wood-burning stove were more likely to develop dementia than those in the lower three quartiles without a wood-burning stove with hazard ratios of 1.74 (CI: 1.10–2.75, p-value 0.018).

I live in the sticks with no mains gas. I don't know anyone without o stove of some kind.
I have no romantic illusions though, it's a filthy pita and I hate it. What I wouldn't give to flick on a gas fire.
Having said that we get lots of power cuts, it heats our water and a couple of radiators.

I'd like to know more about air quality monitors and air filters. I do have an air filter but have no way of knowing how effective it is

I'd like to know this too. My family and my DHs are all from the countryside and all used open fires and log burners as a source of heating and often to cook on too. Most of our relatives lived good lives, well into their 80's and 90's.

I think the problem is many people getting log burners these days don't understand how to season wood properly and just burn any old crap in them.

You need to actually read the study and the conclusion.

"In conclusion, if the associations we observed are causal*, then air pollution from residential wood burning, and air pollution from traffic, might be independent important risk factors for cardiovascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Given that this is the first study on exposure to residential wood burning and dementia incidence, the results should be corroborated by others."

• Because if you read the study you'll see this could not be proven.

I live in the middle of nowhere I use my wood burner regularly - used it this week for the first time since probably March.

We have electric heating (no gas & the cost of fitting oil fired central heating is ridiculous plus the cost of oil) so yes use my wood burner regularly, the cost of electric heating is also now obscene. The wood burner heats the majority of the downstairs which is enough for us.

Wood is getting more expensive but cheaper than the other options. I’m ready to use the seasoned wood I got 2 years ago, but tend to use kiln dried and smokeless coal.

My stove is cheaper to run than my gas boiler, better for the environment, and heats my cold house faster and more effectively. My wood is seasoned and sourced locally.

Location plays a Key part in the argument for/against log burners. In built up areas, and without the use of filters, it is anti social and poses an increased health risk. In rural areas with fewer neighbours, not an issue. I am just processing a cherry tree I had cut down as it was encroaching on my conservatory. It will provide a winters worth of free fuel when it is seasoned. My neighbours are also quite a distance away.

It is an emerging field, they are demonstrating to you the incidence of dementia alongside exposure to wood burning stoves. It is an observational study and this is a standard disclaimer to show they know further work is demanded, beyond the blatantly fucking obvious correlation they demonstrated.

Yeah, yeah, it is just the beagles dying of cancer, nothing to see here.

The more households that can keep a room warm for a couple of weeks without gas or electricity, the better.

Whether the danger is from storms, floods, cyber attacks or worse, more resilient households means more resilient country.

I like them but I can’t really shake the inclination that they are detrimental to health. Yes, even the shiny new ones that meet all regs! I have friends who have to clean residue from their windowsills and ceilings. How that can possibly be ok when you think about the anatomy of lungs. You don’t need to link me studies, I’ve read many that tell me it’s perfectly safe but it’s just a feeling I can’t override.

I guess I have middle class aspirations so I would love one but I just can’t bring myself to do it! Yes I know we breathe in traffic pollution, air pollution and god knows what else but we have little choice. If a fully functional central heating system is a viable alternative (yes, I know it isn’t always) then I’d stick with that. And yes, I know central heating systems aren’t without risk!

Lord I miss the smell of a wood burner 😭😭

We live rurally, in an old farmhouse. We love our wood burner. We get a lot of power cuts, and our house gets cold very easily.
We have woodland on our farm, and so plenty of trees that need to come down in order to maintain it properly. This means that apart from our own labour, the time it takes to cut, dry, and stack; the wood is free.
We have our wood burner cleaned and serviced every summer. We never have it on when we are out. Being a farm, we are very hot on fire safety, and have plenty of fire extinguishers, which are again serviced annually.