Woodstoves and health

Well it makes me quite sad that these lovely stoves are so polluting in the home.

grandtante the tests were carried out on the new ecostoves in laboratory conditions. These new regulations are apparently very weak if you read up on it.

I don't think alarms are a solution blondie but obviously useful for other reasons.

I will never forget our happy days with a woodburner but the evidence against them is sadly growing. The thing that really amazed me was the release into the home with only re-loading the stove. It's massive unfortunately.

It just feels very sad.
I thought more people would think so too to be honest.

The popularity of them is also growing at a steady rate, so clearly many people aren't bothered by these reports.

It has been a legal requirement since 2010 that you must have a carbon monoxide detector. Installers are not allowed to instal a wood burning stove without.

We use ours every night during the winter months, only burn kiln dried wood. We have a carbon monoxide detector regularly checked. The stove and chimney is serviced and swept annually and we have never seen any smoke from the chimney or any fumes in the lounge. We will not be giving it up any time soon,it’s lovely and cosy and saves on any need for heating in the evenings. I’m sure it’s less polluting than all the smoke we endure from other peoples bbqs in the summer months.

Ah, I thought somehow it involved electricity or oil. Makes sense now.

I don't intend to give ours up as, like some other posters, I can use it in the case of power cuts. The gas went off twice for a couple of days last year, and I could heat water and cook pasta on the wood burner. The stove is serviced and the chimney swept every summer, so the door seal and all the other bits stay in good condition.

George Monbiot is sometimes heading towards the extreme in his views (on meat-eating for example) IMO.

We have actually had a leaflet delivered from the NHS warning us of the health risks, so not just The Guardian, although I agree that The Guardian has a tendancy to doom monger.

I have asthma and bronchiectasis. I was in a club sitting fairly near to a wood burner and when the manager opened the door to add more wood, I had an asthma attack.

I think they are unsafe and wouldn’t have one, but each to their own and everyone can make their own decisions as to the amount of risk they think is acceptable.

When I move house I shall have another one installed and hopefully by that time opinion will have changed , a bit like
butter v margerine or eggs were bad and now are good or even
antibiotics are good but do a lot of bad as well.

It's obviously an individual decision as to the possible risks involved, but for us personally, ours has been a lifesaver. Having a free source of heat outweighs any risks as far as we are concerned. I appreciate that may not be the case for everyone, but ours is most definitely staying put.

I also have a lung problem but never had a problem. I notice nothing had been said about fuel burning bbqs, how much pollution do they produce. To be honest I feel it’s a load of fuss about something that is quite small. How often do you open the burner door, once we have lit the fire with wood and coal that is it usually it for the evening, if you refuel we only open the door about halfway, throw a log in and close. Takes a few seconds.

I’m with you Barmeyoldbat. I love my wood burner, and won’t be giving it up unless it becomes totally illegal.

Surely if you open up the bottom before you open the door, then open the door slowly, any smoke and particles would be drawn up through the flue?

As I only use my wood burner occasionally, and then I often cook a meal on the top, I shall continue to do that and not worry.

Not all stoves are multi-fuel. Both our stoves, one only fitted this year, are wood burning stoves, multi-fuel would have meant a different grate and anothed 1,000euros on the price.

We use our wood stove in cold weather to avoid turning the heating back on during the day, a key energy saver this year. Our stove is set in a huge 17th century brick chimney with bread oven set in the middle of the house. 3 or 4 days of using the stove and the whole chimney warms up like a huge storage radiator, which holds the heat for up to a week, so it heats 2 of the bedrooms and the hall as well as the living room.

So whatever the pollution - and both our stoves meet relevant standards, the amount of heat we get from the fire and the storage radiator effect makes the emissions per unit of heat very low.