Burning the misconceptions

Wood burning stoves have been delivering a sustainable, renewable heating method for a long time – long before the carbon reduction and air quality targets were introduced. It’s been estimated that there are over 2 million stove and fireplace installations in the UK, which represents an investment of around £2bn in peoples homes. Stoves don’t just provide warmth, they make a genuine contribution to economic growth.

MISINFORMED CONCERNS

As mentioned in the media, some misinformed campaigners wish to ban the sale of wood-burning stoves. A great deal of these misinformed concerns come from the fact that “domestic burning” is far too broad-brush and covers both the burning of wood in highly efficient wood-burning stoves and also bonfires and open fires too. Burning wood in an Ecodesign stove vs open fires and bonfires is an incredibly bad comparison. An Ecodesign stove will emit virtually no visible smoke, and up to 90% fewer emissions than an open fire and up to 80% less than a 10-year-old stove.

BE AS GREEN AS YOU CAN BE

To make sure your Ecodesign stove remains at its optimum level of efficiency, it’s important you burn correctly seasoned wood, namely wood that is at or below 20% moisture, such as “Ready to Burn” certified wood. If you are burning unseasoned “wet” wood, regardless of what stove you have, you will be creating totally unnecessary pollution.

People who have misinformed concerns need to consider these two points:

• Domestic burning covers both hugely inefficient open fires and bonfires plus Ecodesign stoves. You need to be aware of the stark differences.
• If you burn wood on an Ecodesign stove, you need to make sure you burn correctly seasoned wood

CONFUSING MEDIA COVERAGE & SOME MISCONCEPTIONS

If the above points were not frustrating enough, there is more misleading information still circulating in the media. Here are three to be aware of:

• Burning wood accounts for 38% of PM2.5 emissions, compared with 12% from road transport.
• Emissions of fine particles from domestic wood burning more than doubled between 2003 and 2019, from 20,000 to 41,000 tonnes.
• An Ecodesign stove will emit 750 times more pollution than an HGV vehicle.

The SIA (Stove Industry Alliance) states that the figure of 38% of PM2.5 in the UK is caused by domestic wood burning is “greatly exaggerated” because it is based on an incorrect assumption of the amount of wood fuel used. This figure comes from a government survey back in 2015, which incorrectly estimated that 6 million tonnes of wood are burnt each year.

Recent figures published by Defra show that in fact 1.75 million tonnes of wood fuel is burnt indoors each year. This number is much more closely aligned with the SIA’s own research, which gives a figure of 1.85 million tonnes. If Defra’s latest wood fuel volume figures were combined with the correct emission factors, the real percentage of PM2.5 attributable to domestic wood burning would be less than 10%.

750 TIMES MORE POLLUTION THAN AN HGV?

The statement that an Ecodesign stove emits 750 times more pollution than an HGV is misleading and incomparable. Furthermore, this ‘erroneous’ test was based on an HGV in a laboratory test environment, measuring exhaust fumes, while the stove emissions were measured when on full output.