Are wood burning stoves an ethical no go?

[Starryskiesinthesky]

I know many people who have these and just wondered where they sit ethically? Thanks.

yes they are not very environmentally friendly.
not just the exhaust, but also the fuel. unless you grow the wood yourself or have a reliable source nearby it will have an enormous carbon footprint.
better to insulate your home to the best standard possible.

All new models are clean burning. Just source local wood.

We are in a smokeless zone so you cant just use any old wood I think which makes it more complicated.

even 'clean' burning wood burning stoves emit a considerable amount of fine particles.

They are really really bad for the environment and I think they should be made illegal in cities. They contribute massively to poor air quality which is damaging our health. We opted to take out our chimney and get under floor heating instead. Sure it isn't as romantic as a fire based heat but it is very fuel efficient and keeps the heat in brilliantly.

I wonder if all the critical people here have the option of mains gas?

For those of us who are rural, 'romantic' is not why we have wood burners. It's because the options are limited. Is burning wood worse than using oil? Burning wood releases the same CO2 as if the wood was decomposing outside. The oil would be delivered in a (diesel exhaust pumping out) tanker. Likewise LPG. Comes in a lorry. Is that eco-friendly?

We do not have mains gas. We looked into eco options- many of which require electricity to run. Our electricity is more expensive because we can't get the dual fuel discount.

We have a wood burner. Most of the wood we burn comes from a maximum of 500 metres from our house. We cut it by hand. (Not even using a chain saw) We store it. Then we burn it. We plant replacement trees.
It's not romantic. It's bloody hard work.

We have a multifuel stove and burn smokeless ovoids as wood burns too hot.

Also getting one put in. Multi fuel. While we have central heating and hot water, I remember coal fired from childhood (I'm old) and the smokeless fuel/filter options are so much better for air quality.

Local wood as well.

Its complex. Our house is wood fuelled. We have a back up oil boiler to use if absolutely necessary but under normal circumstances our heating and our hot water is all from burning logs. We get paid under the biomass scheme to burn it (although its still expensive). It's a sustainable energy source and in theory is a green option (but it doesn't seem that way when there is smoke pumping out of the chimney).

Rurally it makes sense when your options are electricity and oil.We used a local supplier who was a solid wood from his woodland maintainance buisness We also used heat logs in very cold weather.
It can be hard work though.Even though our wood came cut we still had to lug each van load from the front of the house to the back for storage and splitting logs for kindling warmed you up a lot.Filling baskets in the driving rain,snow also fun.The woodash was good for the veggies though.
I've never used smokeless solid fuel though,is that an option in cities or are their similar problems?

In cities they should only be used with smokeless approved fuel, in which case that would be great (reduce use of gas). In practice people shove any old wood in, to save money.

Wood burners only really a sustainable option in off-grid properties that have access to local wood.
Otherwise you are probably better off with conventional gas boiler.
You could have a look at gasification stoves for another wood burning option.

We now have one. Wouldn't dream of sticking any old wood in. Smokeless coal and kiln dried wood is easy to get in our area at supermarkets if you can't get to a local supplier. Northern suburb on edge of the Pennines.

We are also rural. No gas options. We currently heat with oil.

Our oil system is ancient, inefficient and needs replacing in the next few years (if it will hold out)

We have been looking at all alternates, including a wood burner. However locally to us they are talking about adding a tax increase to the wood over the next few years to discourage the burning of it. We would have to buy as have no own source.

I think our solution is to go with an air heat pump for heating. Alongside that we will add solar to contribute to the electric used for the pump (far less that actual electric heating), and hope that the solar battery storage decreases in price over the next 2-3 years so we can add that also.

Our current heating costs us around £2500 per year in oil. Our electric usage for the air heat pump has been calculated at around £600 per year (which will then go down if we combine with solar). So for us the savings should soon pay back for the system.

Another one here using a wood stove to heat the house as opposed to oil.
We have an endless supply of broken pallets that we chop up and use. Heating comes on for 2 hours in the morning, our system is so rubbish you cant get hot water without the heating being on and the evening we open up all the doors and light the fire.
For us it's better than oil

They are not ethical in a city where the air quality is already poor. Even new clean ones emit particles which end up in the lungs of children.

I found this resource invaluable when researching whether to buy a wood stove or not. Saved myself thousands by now being educated on the subject!

theconversation.com/blame-wood-burning-stoves-for-winter-air-pollution-and-health-threats-110662

Even a 2022 stove emits more PM2.5 than 18x new diesel cars. Then there are the other 200 or so toxins and carcinogens in wood smoke.

This was one the One Show last night. The tide turning, even on prime time TV - the truth is finally being communicated.

twitter.com/BBCTheOneShow/status/1110984596416421888

Common sense suggests they will be banned very soon. You have been warned. Neighbours will soon be able to breathe clean air again.