Woodstoves and health

I'm a wood burner lover but without one in this house. I'm sure some one will tell me the facts are correct but I' m suspicious when this information is pushed, is it the fossil fuel giants behind the negativity?

Well we have multi fuel burner and will never give it up. We burn only dry wood and have a gadget that we use on every log which tells us if it’s safe to use. I will only give up my burner when all gas guzzling and fume producing cars and lorries are no longer used and private jets and helicopters are also banned.

We have one, didn't particularly want one, but previous owners had it installed, we've occasionally used it, my husband says it makes him wheeze, I don't particularly like intense heat and it's a load of faff also. Not a fan!

There are government guidelines for using a woodburner. We always use very dry wood (test using a moisture meter) and never use it with the door open. We check the door seal is still in place. It's a good way of saving on gas for CH. I'm asthmatic and it does not affect me at all. Monbiot had a rant about them in the Guardian but the photo in his article showed the stove doors open! Most people in our street in rural Somerset have them and not for cottage chic! There's no doubt they cause particulate pollution but I suspect diesel cars and woodburning power stations here and abroad churn out far more.

It was in the Guardiian. Not renowned for a balanced viewpoint, I’d suggest.

Barmeyoldbat

Well we have multi fuel burner and will never give it up. We burn only dry wood and have a gadget that we use on every log which tells us if it’s safe to use. I will only give up my burner when all gas guzzling and fume producing cars and lorries are no longer used and private jets and helicopters are also banned.

Hear! Hear!

We also used a moisture meter and seasoned logs for 3 years and also burned with the doors closed.
Interesting though that the info was not just Monbiot and I doubt he chose the images!

We have a multi fuel burner and try to use approved wood on it, although sometimes we have to forage for fuel. There's no way I'm giving it up if I can help it as it's the only alternative heating we have if there's a power cut (common here). We have oil central heating and no mains gas in the village. I'm sure that being cold is far less healthy than anything the stove can produce.

Me too Barmeyoldbat.

I burn kiln dried logs, no rubbish, and do not have central heating. It's lit for 4 hours a night for 4-5 months. I use my car less than once a week and haven't jetted abroad for 3 decades!

When other emissions, forest fires, bonfires, waste incineration, large commercial/industrial buildings full of chemicals cease catching fire, etc.etc.etc. I may think about giving up any heat in my home.

Barmeyoldbat

Well we have multi fuel burner and will never give it up. We burn only dry wood and have a gadget that we use on every log which tells us if it’s safe to use. I will only give up my burner when all gas guzzling and fume producing cars and lorries are no longer used and private jets and helicopters are also banned.

Same here.
We need it in Winter, especially in power cuts.

We wouldn't be without ours now. We have several log stores around the garden, so we only burn the wood which has dried. We are lucky to be surrounded by woodlands, so have a ready access to free wood.

I'm not denying how great they are.
I was surprised that well-managed high quality approved woodstoves are still causing pollution in our own homes.

I'm not trying to start a campaign against the woodstove!

Here's some of the evidence for those who are interested

www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/12/1326

We have one at our beach house which we use a few times a year in Winter. I adore it, it is so cosy. It has a very high flue for safety. We rarely buy wood because we tend to find enough in the garden, usually eucalyptus. I have never seen any smoke outside and it has a glass front door. Quite a few people have them down there. Log burning has been going on for a long,long time before they even had electricity and gas and long may it last.

Here's another article- though you won't like it Experiencednotold as it's also the Guardian's environment editor.
It does link to the sites he's discussing.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/17/wood-burners-urban-air-pollution-cancer-risk-study

The Guardian sounds like a boring paper. Are they the Guardians of humanity or something?

It's the only left-leaning UK paper nanna8 and originally a broadsheet though now "compact" in actual format.
It's a major national newspaper with large circulation with editorial and news-gathering functions.
I don't think it has shareholders and its profits (I think) are reinvested in journalism.

I can’t see how they cause pollution in your own home when using it. The doors are sealed and any pollution would leave the house via the flue. Maybe a bit when you clean it but you could Always wear a mask to that. We collect wood to burn and this year we have collected enough for next winter when it’s dried out. As for health I have very dry eyes and the central heating plays havoc with them. Also a lung problem but have now problems so far with woodburnef

The pollution is apparently released when you open the door to refuel it.

We've had one that is supposed to run the central heating (which it, disappointingly doesn't, we still have to back it up with an oil boiler) which was installed about 10 years ago. I do love it for making the room cosy.

We're in a semi rural area and get most of our wood from our own land.

Articles like these do make me feel a bit guilty, but then I think that some of my forebears lived to very ripe old ages while using open coal fires...

Yes Maizes agree with you about living with open fires. We use wood topped up with coal, if it’s lit about 5 for the evening then we only have to top it up once, maybe not even that. How much pollution do people get from a bbq, no mention of that

Barmeyoldbat

Well we have multi fuel burner and will never give it up. We burn only dry wood and have a gadget that we use on every log which tells us if it’s safe to use. I will only give up my burner when all gas guzzling and fume producing cars and lorries are no longer used and private jets and helicopters are also banned.

Absolutely would not be without mine either! We have the same gadget, never leave the door open and have it inspected when we have the chimney / flue swept each year.

If the wood burner in question conforms to the current EU standards, which it will do, if it was bought pre-Brexit and withing the last five to ten years, these facts are not correct.

Unless, of course, people are burning the wrong kind of fuel in them.

Wood must be completely dry and never have been painted, varnished nor treated for outdoor use. Newspaper may be used as kindling, but not as fuel, and sawdust briquettes must not contain glue.

No rubbish may be burnt in a wood-burner - the days of shoving the potato peelings into the stove are long gone!

Stove-pipes, flues and chimneys must also comply with the regulations.

You should have a smoke alarm in the room where the wood burner is anyway, but you should also have a carbon monoxide detector as well, and preferably a heat alarm too. If they are properly installed and maintained, there shouldn't be any issues.

I don't understand what multi-fuel means. A wood stove and... what other fuel?

We don't have a wood stove, but friends of ours have an open-type wood fireplace that they use every evening. It seems a lot of work.

CanadianGran - Multi fuel stoves can burn wood, coal, anthracite and turf (peat). They are different from open fireplaces as more efficient and controlled burning.