Economical and dust free alternative to log burner

[MontezumasPuma]

We were just about to have a log burner installed (log burner purchased, fitting booked) when last night out of the blue, DS was ambulanced to A&E with viral wheeze. Obviously a log burner is now out of the question because of particulates, but we have a big old stone house that needs more than central heating to keep it warm. Would prefer not to use gas or electric but can’t think of any alternatives. All suggestions gratefully received!

Sorry to ask a daft question - if it's just a viral thing, why would that rule out a log burner?

Also, there are some log burners that are really clean-burning, especially if you're meticulous about the quality of the wood you burn. You can get those devices that measure the particulates in the air. There was a post about that somewhere on here and people were saying that cooking in their kitchen on the stove top was sending out more particulates than their wood burners...

If you definitely are ruling out a wood burner, there are those bioethanol fires but apparently they don't throw out a lot of heat and are best used as supplementary heating.

There might be other options but I can't think of anything else off the top of my head.

I hope your son is OK and makes a quick recovery.

Thanks, it’s not just a viral thing. It means that when DS has a virus, his lungs are sensitive to triggers that cause symptoms which are like severe asthma - the breathing related symptoms can be almost impossible to distinguish from asthma. We don’t know yet whether he’s asthmatic too so we have to take all precautions at this stage. I’ll google the log burners you mentioned.

I stayed at a cottage which had a wood pellet burner which burns a lot cleaner ( complete combustion). It threw out a lot of heat and you sort of just hoover up any ash- there’s far far less than with a wood burner. Might be an option.

You need to read up about the amount of fumes that come out of even well sealed burners. In a few years' time, they will be seen as an ecological and health liability, a fancy of the middle classes and people will want to get rid of them, not install them.

Apparently you can get infrared radiators that are very energy efficient because they only heat the person instead of the room.

I have no idea how good they are, they sound like wizardry to me. I have only seen them mentioned on here.

I know wood burners are lovely an all, but they are shite for health and the environment

Definitely do not get one of the biofuel ones. I’ve never had a headache like it

I agree with @EarthSight and @theduchessofspork. Wood burners are neither healthy nor environmentally friendly.
We won’t be able to buy a petrol engine car with the latest exhaust filter technology, but we can burn shit in our houses with no filtering of the emissions?
I think you’ll end up with an external wall mounted gas fire, or electric oil radiators.

One of the perils of living in old technology houses. They cost a fortune to heat.

Is the house big enough, with enough storage space, for a biomass boiler to run the central heating system?

No idea how much it would cost. And you might still need to top up temperature in specific rooms with a gas fire or electric heater.

https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/advice/biomass/

Log burners are incredibly bad for the environment, but even worse for the occupants of the house - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/17/wood-burners-urban-air-pollution-cancer-risk-study

It amazes me that people who wouldn’t dream of allowing anyone to smoke in the same room as their kids are happily exposing those kids to dangerous air pollutants.

@Fuckingfuming1 could you tell me why? We’re looking into it and if you can save me a headache I’d be grateful!!!

The most economical thing is to try and improve your energy efficiency of the home.

What is the current set up? Do you have wet central heating (eg water flowing to radiators)?

Stone walls need to be kept dry but then work really well with constant low temperature heating like underfloor heating provides because dry stone then holds the heat well and so stays warm.
What state are your external walls in?

Sensible precaution. Wood burners will likely be banned soon in urban areas.
I have seen electric stoves that look like wood burners but I don't know how effective they are.

In perfect lab conditions, bioethanol burns and produces just CO2 and water which allows manufacturers to tell you they burn "cleanly" (you need to think about condensation because of the water though)

However, you won't burn it perfectly at home and it produces formaldehyde, benzene etc which causes headaches

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140903091728.htm

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24517295/

It is also highly flammable and requires careful storage somewhere outside the house.

Bioethanol is less bad than wood burners in terms of pollutants and particulates but still not great especially when you have a child and also expensive and not particularly effective at heating a home.

i am sorry to hear about your son.

I think you should consider moving to a home where the internal environment can be better controlled and the air filtered for his long term health.

Nothing you do an old, drafty, stone built house is going to improve the air quality.

all the best
FFAB

@MojoMoon this is very useful, thank you.

Have a look at Calor Provence gas.

We have one in our old stone fireplace and it looks great. We decided against a log burner because we wanted zero effort and the ability to just turn on/off.

It doesn't have mains gas so you can move it around to heat anywhere.

@wereonthemarket oooooh I like that!

I'd suggest gas fire, or bioethanol. Definitely the right decision to not have a wood burner, I understand it where houses don't have a gas mains, but otherwise they should be made illegal.

@MontezumasPuma it is literally lighter fuel I believe. So if you imagine that percolating around the room when I say a headache, I literally mean a banging headache.

And all of my animals left the room. They wouldn’t stay in the room with it.

I’ve put a log burner in now I don’t know whether we over stacked it but I’ll be honest with you. The smoke alarms were going nuts due to the particles so I’m still learning how to make that work for us. And to be fair, the cats excited with that going too.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/have-a-gas-stove-how-to-reduce-pollution-that-may-harm-health-202209072811#:~:text=Cooking%20with%20gas%20stoves%20creates,of%20which%20are%20lung%20irritants.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/15/gas-stoves-pollution-alternatives

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-health-risks-of-gas-stoves-explained/

If you are concerned (rightly) about the health impacts, then a gas burning heater is also a poor choice!

Burning anything is bad for you.

Okay, I think we’ve solved it. We’re looking into a balanced flue gas stove, which vents and draws from outside, so no particulates in the house at all. Thanks for all the suggestions, they’ve been really helpful.

@wereonthemarket we’ve bought a Calor Provence as a stop gap, it’s great! Thanks for the tip 😁

You're welcome. We also bought as a stop gap til we got a log burner. That was years ago now. Every time we've considered a
Log burner we rule it out because the calor fire is just so easy and practical (and completely mess free!)

OP i absolutely understand why you are taking the approach you are, but we have a log burner and I'm very asthmatic and it's never made the slightest difference to me.