Woodburner - health risks

[SecretOfChange]

Just came across this article: amp.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/18/wood-burners-triple-harmful-indoor-air-pollution-study-finds

What do you make of it? Real issue? Paranoia? Has anyone heard anything like this before and from other sources? Thanks.

@changi
I hear you!

Or telling us hot water is not necessary, or washing clothes more than once a week, or using gas to cook on etc etc.

The drax power station in Yorkshire burns wood to produce electricity, the pellets it burns are imported from the us Now is electricity really green energy ?

@Chumleymouse

The drax power station in Yorkshire burns wood to produce electricity, the pellets it burns are imported from the us Now is electricity really green energy ?

I didn't think the thread was about green energy but about health risks . I don't imagine many people make heating choices based on whether they are green or not.

They will be in the future as heating from gas and oil is phased out.

I wanted one but decided to buy an electric one. It’s good quality nd looks just like a woodburner, except no stovepipe. It must fill a hole really. We don’t need the heat from it.

@PresentingPercy I like my oil CH and open fire/multi fuel stove. Without them, I'd have no heating. There s no mains gas where i live.

I wouldn’t have one.
I hope they’re banned soon.

The future for electric only heating is a long way off , there are millions of people in this country who can’t afford to heat homes properly ( or at all ) with gas and oil , so electricity costing 3 times more ..........

The rich will be fine with electric but the rest will be left out in the cold ( collecting wood ) 😀

For sure gas and oil will run out one day, but till then we will continue to burn it because it’s cheaper than electric.

And when the power outages return aka the 1970s ....... everyone will return to fires for heat, cooking and hot water.

Or freeze.

I have no gas either!!! You will eventually be forced to have electricity. Oil burners will be phased out. Have you not read government policy? I’m rural too. You have to modernise. I do believe the grants required will have to be generous though.

And what about the people who can’t afford to modernise ?

Electricity from air source heat pumps isn’t three times more costly! Utter rubbish. The pumps are expensive which is why grants are needed. After that they use existing rads. People are clinging to the dark ages of fossil fuels and really will not install log and fossil fuel boilers. I doubt if they will be available.

Will not be allowed to install...

I remember the power cuts of the 70’s you had a couple of candles and sat round the open fire. Battery radio with radio Caroline on 😀

You don't get electricity from air source heat pumps, you need electricity to run them. Which is a problem if you don't have mains electricity.

@Chumleymouse

We had the local circus in our car park running their generators to power the shops! Still had the power board from that installation when we had a refit in the 1990s.

@PresentingPercy

So you won’t mind huge Diesel engines and generators powering the heating on boats running 24/7?
Or is there a plan to provide extremely long electrical leads to all the boats in this country..... 🤪

You need to get out in the real world and see how a lot of people live in this country air source pumps are science fiction to a lot of people , I know people who still heat / hot water with just coal and wood . I deliver to people who answer to door in coats and gloves ,

Wood is cheap ( or free ) and won’t require thousands of pounds to install and maintenance costs , I doubt many air source pump systems will be able to heat a lot of old uninsulated homes well ?

In theory everyone would like to live in a warm , cheap to heat home , but the reality is very different. You try to keep as warm as you can , as cheap as you can , And for a lot of people that means burning wood and coal .

If the experiments and tests were conducted, like those in a local marina - they were only tested in the first half hour of the fire being lit, not when they were fully lit and working properly. Totally useless experiment as that not how fires are used. They are lit and run for hours, days or even months without being extinguished. Not lit, extinguished and relit several times an hour.

A few times when we had power cuts it was wonderful to have the wood burner for heat & light.

It seems like we get at least 2 power cuts/year that each last at least 6 hours (sometimes on/off/unstable electricity period). That's a long time to rely on candles & no heating in winter. Oil fired boiler doesn't work without electricity.

I’ve heard that the particulate pollution one wood burner produces is equivalent to 18 diesel cars. Most of the houses near me have them and at this time of year the smog is hideous. Imagine living on a street with 100+ cars in a jam for the whole night, it’s really not nice if you suffer asthma, etc. Not one of them will need one for heating, they’re just a decorative toy that ruins the air quality for everyone else.

I didn't think the thread was about green energy but about health risks

I think that post was making the point that all energy has health risks. Power stations which make electricity cause air pollution and affect people’s health.

@DoubleDessertPlease

I would suspect that’s wrong. Our stove doesn’t set of our carbon monoxide alarm - next doors Diesel engine, when running will. Thankfully they don’t run it that often.
I know which one we would rather sleep with.

[quote Bargebill19]@DoubleDessertPlease

I would suspect that’s wrong. Our stove doesn’t set of our carbon monoxide alarm - next doors Diesel engine, when running will. Thankfully they don’t run it that often.
I know which one we would rather sleep with.[/quote]
Carbon monoxide and particulates are not the same thing. The particulates from a fire may kill you more slowly than carbon monoxide, but they're still very bad for you.

@lljkk

A few times when we had power cuts it was wonderful to have the wood burner for heat & light.

It seems like we get at least 2 power cuts/year that each last at least 6 hours (sometimes on/off/unstable electricity period). That's a long time to rely on candles & no heating in winter. Oil fired boiler doesn't work without electricity.

Same here, power goes off several times a year, I have a "power cut" box. With our stove we can get both heat and hot water, though I haven't used it for a year. I'm not sure any boiler works without electricity.