Cheshire Cat
The most curious thing..
The route the smoke takes here is up their chimney, carried by the wind a short distance,and into my house through a window or door. The smoke STINKS out everything it touches.
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[News] Wood burners
- Thread starter Rdodge30
- Start date
Balls of Steele
Active member
- Oct 3, 2023
- 83
Same issue…with winds generally from the west it blows it straight into window or through window vent
portlock seagull
Well-known member
- Jul 28, 2003
- 18,166
Even if they don’t, it’s just not a big issue. As others say, it’s a headline easy target for politicians maybe but in the grandscale of everything else it’s amongst the last not the first things to tackle for the relative impact. That’s why it’s really not worth worrying about from a pollution perspective.
swindonseagull
Well-known member
Had a quote two weeks ago to have one fitted, as I have no chimney I need an outside flue.............................£5600........kin hell
dejavuatbtn
Well-known member
We have bungalows. His burner was installed about two years ago. The white smoke from his log burner drifts down, especially in light winds, and engulfs the house and garden. I’m no authority on these things but he has 3 cubic metres of logs delivered periodically from what looks to be a legit provider, so I am assuming the logs conform to whatever regs are in force. What smoke that’s produced stinks - can’t put washing out, can’t open windows and have to shut doors pdq before the smell gets in. IMO they are a bad idea.
Superphil
Dismember
I was refrying to the previous comment saying open fires are useless and provide no heat.
Sorrel
Well-known member
That does sound awful. Where I live many houses have wood burners - you can smell the different type of wood sometimes. But there's very little smoke and nothing at ground level - maybe it's an open fire?
BrightonCottager
Well-known member
The big issue here is that PM2.5s are so tiny they get into all of you, not just your lungs, but your blood and brain as well. This is the scientist who has done a lot of research and explains it well to mere mortals like us. Wood burners are bad news in urban areas, particularly when we get a period of cold, still weather like the last few weeks have been.
Justice
Dangerous Idiot
All these pizza oven shops burn wood for hours a day we have one local that burns constantly from midday to midnight. I don’t mind the smell of burning wood others aren’t happy about it.
I’ve wood tried wood fired Pizza and all the topping seems to slide straight off the top.
I’ve wood tried wood fired Pizza and all the topping seems to slide straight off the top.
Normal Rob
Well-known member
dejavuatbtn
Well-known member
Nope, definitely a wood burner. Smoke not so much a problem as the smell.
severnside gull
Well-known member
We only burn certified kiln dried wood. Emissions are minimal which negates the argument. The example given related to traffic emissions is, in my view, gaslighting by those with a vested interest to deflect away from the many associated health issues of diesel and other fossil fuel particulates etc - a scare story with only a tenuous base in reality (based, as others have said, on burning wet & treated wood which is now banned in most urban areas).
RandyWanger
Je suis rôti de boeuf
If you're a good citizen and follow the rules and only burn seasoned wood, it has a nice smell. Also burns easier and more efficient but I know some people just burn what ever crap they have lying around.
Cordwainer
Well-known member
- Jul 30, 2023
- 654
Would have thought that the events in Israel/Gaza/Russia/Ukraine are having somewhat of a carbon footprint as well!
Bold Seagull
strong and stable with me, or...
It's perhaps not a big issue now, but the continued growth in the woodburner market is perhaps cause for some concern regarding air quality. Evidence would suggest its not an area you want to see a huge increase in new installations especially in towns and cities. There would be an irony if we achieve a desired reduction in motorvehicle omissions only for our air quality not to improve because of the number of woodburner installations.
I've got mild asthma, I cycle from Churchill Square back to Portslade each day, and the bit between New Church Road and Portland Road on a cold day I can definitely tell when multiple fires are being used. That section is worse air quality than through Churchill Sq. to Palmeira on a cold afternoon.
Sorrel
Well-known member
We do pick up wood from a nearby wood, but we cut it and store it somewhere dry but with a breeze - it burns great after 8 months or so.
Bold Seagull
strong and stable with me, or...
You see adverts on FB Marketplace for construction timber advertised as 'firewood' that is clearly treated and it is a worry what people decide to put in their burners. Not everyone is using barn and kiln dried well seasoned responsibly sourced fire wood.
Most treated timber has chromated copper arsenate in it, releasing arsenic into the air = not a good thing.
JJ McClure
Go Jags
That doesn't sound great, but in all honesty I wouldn't expect those things to be happening at the same time. We only use our log burner during winter and in the evening so even if there is smoke the chance of people having washing out or doors and windows open is negligible.
This is not meant as an attack on you and you might well be right that it's used by other polluting industries to deflect (Oh look, a squirrel!), but I don't think your view that it's just a scare story concocted by other polluting industries is correct.
There are proper studies by serious scientists that have helped form government policy: https://assets.publishing.service.g..._mortality_effects_of_long_term_exposure.pdf?
In short, the research calculated that (in 2008), there were 29,000 deaths in the UK attributable to PM2.5 emissions. Other studies have shown that nearly a third of PM2.5 emissions are from the domestic burning of wood for heat.
To compare the emissions with other forms of central heating (we have heating oil as no mains gas here in the sticks):
PM2.5 Emissions to Heat a Typical Home (12,000 kWh/year):
| Fuel Type | PM2.5 Emissions per Year (g) | Equivalent kg/year |
|---|---|---|
| Dry Seasoned Wood | 2,400–7,200 | 2.4–7.2 |
| Natural Gas | ~12 | 0.012 |
| Kerosene | 240–960 | 0.24–0.96 |
The good thing for those living in the sticks (including you @severnside gull?) is that the real problems lie in the more densely populated areas, so I'd imagine the majority of those deaths could be prevented just by a ban on burning wood in London...
dejavuatbtn
Well-known member
His is linked to central heating and hot water I understand (in a not very understanding way).