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General: Increase in solid fuel burning?

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  1.  
    • CommentAuthorWeeBeastie
    • CommentTimeNov 18th 2022
     
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/04/home-wood-burning-pollution-expected-to-rise-due-to-uk-cost-of-living-crisis

    Certainly seems to be the case in my suburban area. One stove installer I spoke to had four times as many installations lined up than usual for the time of year. Evening and weekend walks have more smoky spots.

    I see some work that doesn't meet building regs, with flues terminating near opening windows or roof surfaces.

    New stoves may well have to be EcoDesign but if more and more of these are installed and used (plus people reviving legacy stoves and open fires) then pollution is bound to rise.
    • CommentAuthormarsaday
    • CommentTimeNov 18th 2022
     
    Friends last night were saying they only use the wood burner now.
    • CommentAuthorJeff B
    • CommentTimeNov 18th 2022
     
    We too have installed a wood burning stove this summer. By adding 75mm of IWI to the living room we hope that we will only need the stove alone in the afternoon/evening as we will open the doors to the hall and kitchen/diner and allow the heat to dissipate gradually through the house. The plan is to only use the C/H oil boiler for a few hours first thing in the morning.

    We had to wait 2 months to get the stove as the manufacturer was overwhelmed with orders. Thankfully we stocked up with logs in advance (in April), well before the price went silly.

    We are in a rural location so hopefully the smoke from the stove will not cause a nuisance to anyone.
  4.  
    Ive just fired up a Stanley range..I added extra bricks in the burn chamber,the heat it gave off was impressive and it produced very little smoke.
    Has anyone made/used a rocket stove.They are super efficient woodburners that produce almost no smoke at all.I believe they were developed in third world countries where wood was scarce.
    • CommentAuthortony
    • CommentTimeNov 20th 2022
     
    Smoke is bad but the harmful particulates are tiny and invisible
    • CommentAuthorMike1
    • CommentTimeNov 21st 2022 edited
     
    For the least polluting wood burners (high efficiency, low carbon monoxide, low particulates, low NoX and - for boilers - low VOCs), take a look at those awarded 7 stars in the French 'Green Flame' rating scheme. It includes various popular brands sold in the UK (including Bronpi, Charnwood, Dovre, Hwam, Nordpeis, Wiking) and over 100 brands in total.

    There's a database at https://www.flammeverte.org/appareils

    Yes, it's in French, but easy to use once you know that:
    - appareil indépendant = self-contained device (not a boiler)
    - chaudière = boiler
    - poêle = stove
    - foyer fermé = enclosed fireplace
    - bois-bûches = logs

    Everything listed has 7 stars (lesser ratings were dropped a few years ago) and all testing is by independent labs, not the manufacturer.
    • CommentAuthorWeeBeastie
    • CommentTimeNov 21st 2022
     
    A friend visited a stove retailer recently who told him EcoDesign stoves only emit 'hot vapours'! I would always like to ask such retailers if they would be willing to duct these 'hot vapours' back into their house for extra heat if they are so clean....
  8.  
    I have severe asthma, and the wood smoke makes me ill. It can get so bad that I may end up in a hospital on particularly "smoky" days and have to take steroids to be able to breathe. This has become much worse this season. I have HEPA filters installed where I live and work, and have to carry a respirator with me at all times in case I walk into a smoky neighborhood. I also take expensive biological medicines (NHS pays £1000 a month for these). These measures allow me to remain alive.

    I am sure there are "efficient" stoves which are less polluting for their immediate users, but to everyone outside smoke is still smoke. Filtering for the smoke at the source -- the stove -- doed not work, since the amount of soot generated by burning wood will saturate any filter in a matter of days (look at a camping pot/kettle used on a campfire -- it become black after a single cooking).

    There are other ways to stay warm that do not involve forcing oneself and one's neighbors to breathe smoke. There might be short-term savings by using wood, but in the long term one does more damage.

    I apologize for this post: I do not post on this forum frequently. Be well and stay warm.
  9.  
    <blockquote><cite>Posted By: tony</cite>Smoke is bad but the harmful particulates are tiny and invisible</blockquote>
    The most harmful particles are, indeed, tiny, but when viewing through a thick cross-section (e.g. during the sunrise) they still absorb and scatter light, and one can see the characteristic haze. Cold wind-free days are particularly (no pun intended) bad for particles, b.c. people burn wood to stay warm and the smoke is not blown away.

    I use a laser particle counter to keep track of the particulate contaminants. These counters used to be very costly, but now, with China having their horrific pollution issues, there are low-cost counters which can be used as a rough estimate of how bad the air is. Dylos is a reasonable unit (I believe it does 0.5 micron and 5 micron particles). These cheap counters are easy to "sanity-check" -- place them next to a good filter, and the counts should drop dramatically (especially the 5-micron type). E.g. two 3M cheap "filtretes" 1500 drop the counts to almost zero for 0.3, 0.5, 1, 2.5, and 5 micron (with a fancy counter). Then, one gets used to what "bad" and "good" means. On "high-pollution" days (as defined by DEFRA) my ambient counts in a non-filtered office go up ten-fold.
    • CommentAuthorRobL
    • CommentTimeNov 22nd 2022
     
    I bought a cheapie pm2.5 ug/m3 meter a year or so. I thought it was bust at first, just measured 0-2 at home indoors. Then we fried something, 50. Then dark brown unburnt toast, 200 if memory serves. A bbq somewhere outside, or a house stove, got around 50 I think. Cycling round Cambridge, I think it noticed busses, but nothing like heavy toasting. Or frying something to death, so it’s got a few black bits, that made the meter an angry red colour, saying 2000.
    Not all particles are the same as each other, and the meter just measures how many, not what they are.
    • CommentAuthorneelpeel
    • CommentTimeNov 23rd 2022
     
    Can anyone advise how localised the pollution from wood burning is?
    I predominantly burn wood for heat now (mainly to cut down on oil burning), but I'm out in the sticks and there are only a handful of houses within 2 miles of me.
  12.  
    Posted By: neelpeelI predominantly burn wood for heat now (mainly to cut down on oil burning), but I'm out in the sticks and there are only a handful of houses within 2 miles of me.


    Same here. Gradually working our way round with insulation and airtighness to use less of everything.
    • CommentAuthorJeff B
    • CommentTimeNov 23rd 2022
     
    Posted By: neelpeel
    I predominantly burn wood for heat now (mainly to cut down on oil burning), but I'm out in the sticks and there are only a handful of houses within 2 miles of me.


    Same here too. We are also in a rural location but we do live in a small close of 10 detached houses on pretty generously sized plots. A very windy spot near the sea so hopefully any smoke is rapidly dispersed into the atmosphere rather than linger around the outside of the house.

    Not much more we can do in the way of insulation or draught-proofing though.
    • CommentAuthorrevor
    • CommentTimeNov 24th 2022
     
    Posted By: Jeff BSame here too. We are also in a rural location but we do live in a small close of 10 detached houses on pretty generously sized plots. A very windy spot near the sea so hopefully any smoke is rapidly dispersed into the atmosphere rather than linger around the outside of the house.


    Likewise here. Rural very windy spot 1.5 miles from coast. We just burn in the lounge for about 2.5 hrs each evening using timber branches off our small holding but if been a sunny day do not bother. Just heating one room (Kichen) with LPG boiler feeding UFH at moment. Have insulated to the gills don't think there is nothing else we can do heat pump would not be economical last year we used £200 worth of gas this year projected will be £280 but my export of electricity during the summer should cover this. I would like to know what the politicians who are telling us what we should be doing toward climate change, what have they done. Googled our PM he has 4 cars quite luxury ones to boot. Did not mention if they were EV's but don't think they are.
    • CommentAuthorJeff B
    • CommentTimeNov 24th 2022
     
    Our plan is to use the oil fired C/H system in the mornings until 10.00am, then "cruise" through to late afternoon with C/H off (hopefully sufficient heat retained within the structure until then), then light wood burning stove for the rest of the day, probably until about 10.00pm.
  16.  
    Posted By: runcyclexcskiI have severe asthma, and the wood smoke makes me ill. It can get so bad that I may end up in a hospital on particularly "smoky" days and have to take steroids to be able to breathe. This has become much worse this season. I have HEPA filters installed where I live and work, and have to carry a respirator with me at all times in case I walk into a smoky neighborhood. I also take expensive biological medicines (NHS pays £1000 a month for these). These measures allow me to remain alive.

    I am sure there are "efficient" stoves which are less polluting for their immediate users, but to everyone outside smoke is still smoke. Filtering for the smoke at the source -- the stove -- doed not work, since the amount of soot generated by burning wood will saturate any filter in a matter of days (look at a camping pot/kettle used on a campfire -- it become black after a single cooking).

    There are other ways to stay warm that do not involve forcing oneself and one's neighbors to breathe smoke. There might be short-term savings by using wood, but in the long term one does more damage.

    I apologize for this post: I do not post on this forum frequently. Be well and stay warm.


    I do take exception to your comment in respect of filtering systems as certain filter systems are excellent at removing particles. Been fully discussed on here over 5 years ago so not a new solution. Totally wood burning here with range cooker, central heating stove and snug stove.
    • CommentAuthorcjard
    • CommentTimeNov 25th 2022
     
    @JeffB "We are in a rural location so hopefully the smoke from the stove will not cause a nuisance to anyone."

    Not an argument I've ever really understood tbh; it's the same air we all breathe that combustion dumps its crap into

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