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Woodburners, nice or nasty?

(114 Posts)
ROMILO Thu 11-Sept-25 13:18:32

What do you think about woodburning stoves? Where I live there are lots. It is a fairly built up area with lots of victorian houses split into flats and built on slopes. We live at the bottom of a slope with several houses with stoves up and behind . In winter it is unbearable. We have to seal our bedroom window with tape and run an air purifier 12 hours a day just to stop our flat from smelling like a bonfire and to stop us having constant sore eyes. Everyone says the latest regulations mean they are safe but that is only if they are used as they should be (dry hardwood only) and not as a disposal unit for anything that burns. Does anyone else have problems? I think they should be banned everywhere except the most rural of properties . Not a popular opinion I know but maybe those people who dont agree haven't been on the receiving end of all the very unhealthy fallout.

foxie48 Sat 13-Sept-25 07:59:56

25 years ago we put in a wood burner in our large sitting room rather than have an open fire. We only use it in cold weather when we have guests staying as we have a smaller snug with good central heating and the tv. We've got a huge supply of of own wood which is well seasoned and we're rural so tbh I don't worry about using it and because it's in the centre of the house it helps to heat upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms which we use for visitors. One of my neighbours still uses a coal fired range for cooking, I can smell that.

SheepyIzzy Sat 13-Sept-25 08:24:22

Love both of mine! Though they are MF stoves, one has a back boiler and I put my cast iron pots on them in winter to cook on.

I burn smokeless coal and kiln dried logs.

I was raised with open fires and a draughty house! The fires are now stoves and the draughts can still be felt!

When mum had the boiler stove fitted in 1997, it was to replace an ugly gas fire, mums words were "I'm not spending the rest of my life looking at that thing!"

Yes, we are gas CH but our dual fuel bill is over £200 a month, it would be more with the heating on longer.

The Stoves are a different, comforting heat, we WOULDN'T be without them.

ViceVersa Sat 13-Sept-25 08:26:49

Rosie51

ViceVersa

If they are allowed, then how is it inconsiderate?

Seriously? Everything that is allowed is considerate?

If they are allowed and people are not breaking any laws, rules or regulations, then I don't see the problem, no. As I said, without using our wood burner as a source of free heat, we would really be struggling. Our main consideration has to be our own welfare. There are many others around us who have woodburners or coal fires.

Homestead62 Sat 13-Sept-25 08:58:00

I really did not want to cause argument over this, especially between other people. My opinion is a personal one expressing how it affects me. Woodburners/ log burners are allowed by law, so people use them. I do hope people can understand a little where I'm coming from.

Liz46 Sat 13-Sept-25 09:24:51

I have asthma and bronchiectasis and am unable to tolerate woodburners.

Okdokey08 Sat 13-Sept-25 13:00:25

This is a topic that will divide peoples opinion, those that have them, or desire them will defend them. I love the look, and the cosy ambience they offer… but actually detest it when neighbours put there’s on as others have said, acrid smell filters into our homes, affects washing, and even how my dog is affected as he lazes in the garden on a dry but cold day, he’s a big dog and loves outdoors no matter the weather. My husband has lung issues caused by asbestos in his youth (unaware) so it badly affects him, so we don’t even do BBQs. Here’s the thing, forget all my points “against” them, but they are in fact HARMFUL TO HEALTH & THE ENVIRONMENT… no matter how clean you think your fuel is.

Okdokey08 Sat 13-Sept-25 13:05:42

I have to add (controversially) some people who have them do so more for “status/vanity” reasons or like me liked the “idea” of the cosy fire, and now have them and need to defend the purchase, they know there are neighbours are affected… but hey ho! We live in a world of “have & have nots” and it seems “cares and cares not” and that has to be bad for the environment!

brownbunny17 Sat 13-Sept-25 19:13:10

Neighbours have one, makes me wheeze ! Really want them banned.

sazz1 Sun 14-Sept-25 00:13:34

We have a Woodburner which was already here when we bought the house. Husband loves it and we have it lit in the winter. I prefer an open fire like we had in our last house. My dad always said open fires were healthier than central heating as they change the air in the room several times an hour. With double glazing, loft insulation and cavity wall insulation I think he might have been right.

SilverFoxette75 Mon 15-Sept-25 08:40:02

We just had one installed. After going through no heat or electricity for two weeks after that storm earlier in the year, we decided we needed another heat source. The guy went through everything we can burn in it and how to maintain it, and we’ll definitely be sticking to those guidelines

silverlining48 Tue 16-Sept-25 12:45:31

We have a very cold, old house and had an open fire here initially but found it only heated the area around the fire, sitting a few feet away. there was no benefit.
Our woodburner heats the whole room, and if it gets a bit too hot we open the door and it drifts around and warms the whole place. It makes a huge difference.

M0nica Wed 17-Sept-25 00:19:00

SilverFoxette75

We just had one installed. After going through no heat or electricity for two weeks after that storm earlier in the year, we decided we needed another heat source. The guy went through everything we can burn in it and how to maintain it, and we’ll definitely be sticking to those guidelines

This is why we will be installing a wood burner in the house we have recently moved to. We had a fortnight without gas some years ago and were able to keep the house reasonably warm through out because as well as the direct heater from the stove, the burner heats up the brickwork of the chimney so that the brickwork of he chimeny acts like a storage radiator, absorbing heat when the fire is lit and giving off heat after the burner has died down for the evening.

We are renewing the heating in our recent acquisition and I am insisting that inrooms the chimneys go through the radiators should be on the chimney wall to get that double dose of heat from the warmed brickwork.

bikergran Wed 17-Sept-25 12:39:41

Loved them until few days ago when I read something about lung cancer and particles possibly from these wood burning stoves.