Wood burner

We have just had a quote for one to be put in. They are quoting £2k because they will have to make good our chimney etc. It is £90 pa for a service.

And we are having a flue and a chimney pot with a twirly thing ( I can't remember their name!)

This is for a multi-fuel 7KW one.

We have access to free wood and a wood shed to dry it out in.

I really don’t understand the wood burner love. They are the ultimate status symbol amongst my middle class peers. All of whom are health and environmentally conscious.

There is so much evidence that the are very likely bad for your health (even if they are eco and you burn the recommended fuels, you are still filling your house full of particles) and the environment.

Why are people oblivious to this?!

I have no idea @rosser, they are just romanticising something that's horrendous for the environment, including having a very poor impact on your actual neighbours, and leaching toxic air into your home. See www.mumsforlungs.org/our-campaigns/wood-burning. I know most people like to put their fingers in their ears and not listen though! And before you say it, you cannot smell or taste or see PM2.5 but it will negatively affect your family's health.

@Rosser@MrsJamin

Because people can’t afford any other form of heating and hypothermia is often fatal. Plus there are still homes which simply can’t have any other form of heating in.
EVERY form of heating and power has negative eco implications. For some, of it literally comes down to cost.

Every part of life is bad for health in some way.

God knows what you would say if you knew that some people smoke, yes smoke tobacco in their homes!!!

We can’t afford to heat our home without ours. We collect our own wood and are lucky enough to have an allotment where we dry it. Simple really. Nowt to do with being middle class.

We had the central heating on for maybe an hour twice a day and used the wood burner in the evenings.

When we lived in the UK countryside we had one.
It was much cheaper than the oil we had to use as there was no gas connection.
I loved it.

I’d like to see some evidence about the numbers of wood burner owners who use them because they can’t afford to heat their homes otherwise and those who use wood burners because they are a status symbol. Call me a cynic but given the insta generation we live in I’d be inclined to put the number in the second group at higher. A pic of your cosy log burner is much more aesthetically pleasing than my radiators. Plus keeping up with the Joneses is unfortunately very much alive and well and unfortunately the Joneses have a top of the range log burner!

Many things in life are awful for us, and I personally do many of them BUT I absolutely will not risk my children’s developing lungs breathing in unnecessary carcinogens (you cannot compare log burners with modern central heating in this respect).

I’d urge those of you who use them or considering them to do some serious research beforehand. That is all.

1. They are expensive to install
   

@Rosser.
The ‘insta - generation/grammars’ are very much a minority compared to those of us who rely on food banks/on minimum wage/fired to choose between heating or eating. Also if had to choose between freezing cold children or children in a warm room or house heated by a fire - I know which I would opt for.
We don’t live in a utopia. We have to make the best of what circumstances we find ourselves in. Fix that before preaching.

We are in London and ours cost less than £1000 to install. It's perfect for the evenings to warm one room, rather than the whole house. Likewise when wfh.

Call me a cynic but given the insta generation we live in I’d be inclined to put the number in the second group at higher.

I’d be inclined to believe you have no idea how much oil fired central heating costs, or if you do you’re not poor. We just can’t afford to re-fill right now, so we’re being frugal and mostly using the wood burner. Most of our logs come off the beach.

@Alphabet1spaghetti2 I am sorry that your circumstances are as such. I am basing this on my experience where log burners are very much associated with (or pretence of?!) wealth. They cost a fortune to put in for starters.

I don’t judge anyone doing what they need to in order to get by. We indeed don’t live in a utopia.

That said, OP is asking for advice on log burners and I personally am sure from my research that they are bad for you and that’s why I posted on this thread.

@Poppitt58 You are correct. No, I don’t. I live in a city where everyone has got log burners because they look pretty and not because they can’t afford to heat their house otherwise. Both kinds of individual do exist. More so, higher numbers of people live in built up areas with gas central heating than rurally, so while your experience/opinion is perfectly valid. So is mine.

[quote Rosser]@Alphabet1spaghetti2 I am sorry that your circumstances are as such. I am basing this on my experience where log burners are very much associated with (or pretence of?!) wealth. They cost a fortune to put in for starters.

I don’t judge anyone doing what they need to in order to get by. We indeed don’t live in a utopia.

That said, OP is asking for advice on log burners and I personally am sure from my research that they are bad for you and that’s why I posted on this thread.[/quote]
They dont cost a 'fortune', you can do them yourself if you can arrange to get them signed off and its all safe. We got ours on credit from the same place that we bought our boiler from as a job lot as the boiler needed replacing.

I know people with burners and none of them have them due to any pretence of 'wealth' . Sounds like you've got a massive chip on your shoulder.

@bellac11 I presume your assumption comments are based on my very judgey anecdotal insta comments and not my research based comments (I’m actually a health academic) that breathing in fire particles is bad for us (especially kids) and really shouldn’t be done unless necessary or occasionally? Of course not, people seem to be able to ignore that one and I honestly do not understand why.

@bellac11 No chip on my shoulder, I’m just convinced they are bad for us and I don’t understand why people are blind to it!

Well - I live rurally and I can’t afford to have my electric heating on as with an 8kw boiler it would be £2.48 an hour. I put it on for guests so they aren’t cold and don’t realise I’m struggling with bills but a lot of us are and I would be a total fool not to warm the house for free. Also, my GD has asthma and it doesn’t bother him in the slightest when he comes over so the particles thing can’t be that bad. I grew up with one too as did my siblings and our lungs are fine.

They dont cost a 'fortune', you can do them yourself if you can arrange to get them signed off and its all safe.

Yeah, ours was bought on Facebook market place, my husband and dad fit it and the local sweep signed it off.

Yes we have one. Haven’t put the heating on since Feb. Love it!

I have two, installed over 12 years ago, so the instillation cost are negligible now. Generally I burn one, unless it's really cold. I live semi rural, its fucking windy and the fire is a godsend. Usually I keep the living room super warm and then let the heat into the house at night. I like that the costs are upfront, I've usually bought the smokeless fuel in the summer and don't have to worry about a bill coming in.
Environmentally, yes not great but I don't go abroad, drive a very small car (less than 2000 miles per year) buy almost everything second hand and grow food, plus I'm veggie. I air my house frequently so, not concerned with pollutants.
It's not a status symbol here, it's a necessity.

@GottaLoveTheCold

The old ‘I grew up with it’ adage. Indeed. Many people smoke until old age. Doesn’t mean cigarettes aren’t harmful.



IMO there is simply no way that sitting near to and breathing in smoke particles regularly cannot be bad for you. Even if it causes no ill effects to an individual in their life time. That will not be the case for everyone.

My good friend (yes affluent, insta lover!) spends hours cleaning ash off her slatted blinds. The amount of particle we inhale inside, especially in our modern houses which have loft insulation, cavity wall insulation and windows and doors that are in the main, shut due to increasing utility costs and security, is quite likely to be significant. Especially coupled with the air pollution we are exposed to continually.


Of course it might not, but why take the risk? If you have the option obviously. I now appreciate not everyone does.

[quote Rosser]@bellac11 I presume your assumption comments are based on my very judgey anecdotal insta comments and not my research based comments (I’m actually a health academic) that breathing in fire particles is bad for us (especially kids) and really shouldn’t be done unless necessary or occasionally? Of course not, people seem to be able to ignore that one and I honestly do not understand why.[/quote]
@Rosser, I afraid your envious bitter comments on wealth, Instagram and status symbols undermines any message you are apparently trying to give on health, and you also seem to be not focusing on modern defra approved stoves, so your research appears lacking. It doesn’t matter though, becayse your main focus seems to be some form of bitterness that people who have them appear wealthy. Which is the oddest thing I’ve ever heard.