Scrutiny over wood and coal fires in UK homes

[Knots]

I've become an evangelist for burning dry wood because I worry about increased regulation in the future:

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42873645

Some good tidbits in the article:

The government says drying wood can reduce particles by half and produce more heat from less fuel.

I think they will implore us to burn cleaner for a while and then start pushing if it doesn't improve. My brother wants a wood stove of his own and likes mine, but his neighbor burns like crap and he and his wife complain about it all the time because the stink seeps into their house.

 

[blades]

one rottten apple in barrel ruins it for all of us -

 

[fbelec]

go ahead don't worry about it. when and if there's a problem you'll have something to compare. maybe he can get a fine for pollution

 

[georgepds]

They already have smoke control areas in the UK

https://www.gov.uk/smoke-control-area-rules

Break the rules and the fine is up to £1000

 

[sportbikerider78]

So happy I live in the country. Go ahead and create bs fines and regulations. No one knows what I do.

If people who have little resources stop burning wood, guess who will end up paying for them to burn oil for heat? Environment and taxpayer is damned either way.

 

[georgepds]

My friends in south hackney use anthracite in an open fire.. works pretty well

 

[jharkin]

So happy I live in the country. Go ahead and create bs fines and regulations. No one knows what I do.

If people who have little resources stop burning wood, guess who will end up paying for them to burn oil for heat? Environment and taxpayer is damned either way.

That defeatist "why bother we cant fix it" attitude is a great way to make sure we never progress as a society.

Just because you live out in the boonies doesn't mean you are in an isolated universe. The entire world is interconnected today. And these ARE real concerns. My daughter was just diagnosed with Asthma. Getting a cold almost put her in the ER a couple times. You better believe I am taking a long hard rethink of my burning methods, and I was not exactly sloppy before.

Its also not a binary choice. The alternative to wood does not have to be, and really shouldn't be oil. It can be natural gas, or even better renewable electricity. Solar and wind are actually growing the fastest in the developing parts of the world. People starting with nothing are skipping right over the dirty 20th century and going right to the clean 21st. It CAN happen if we find the will to do it.

 

[blades]

unfortunately the payback on solar is about the same as the avg. panel life span.

 

[jharkin]

unfortunately the payback on solar is about the same as the avg. panel life span.

Got any data to support that claim?

I doubt that there would be so many utility scale projects going up if it where ROI negative....

 

[sportbikerider78]

That defeatist "why bother we cant fix it" attitude is a great way to make sure we never progress as a society.

Just because you live out in the boonies doesn't mean you are in an isolated universe. The entire world is interconnected today. And these ARE real concerns. My daughter was just diagnosed with Asthma. Getting a cold almost put her in the ER a couple times. You better believe I am taking a long hard rethink of my burning methods, and I was not exactly sloppy before.

Its also not a binary choice. The alternative to wood does not have to be, and really shouldn't be oil. It can be natural gas, or even better renewable electricity. Solar and wind are actually growing the fastest in the developing parts of the world. People starting with nothing are skipping right over the dirty 20th century and going right to the clean 21st. It CAN happen if we find the will to do it.

My options are propane or oil..since..I'm out in the boonies. I'm only 5 mins outside a major town, but tons of America is the same way.

There is barely any wind here and many months without hardly any sun in the winter. Plus, being in the snow belt, I'm not going to spend my winter cleaning off solar panels even if we had sun.

It isn't defeatist at all to say that regulation isn't the only way we can get better and decrease pollutants. Plus, I was just stating the truth. If poor people shut down their wood burners, thousands of dollars doesn't just appear in their bank account to pay for heat. And that heat will not be solar.

 

[blades]

utilities and such do not care - heck they aren't paying for them , you are directly or indirectly.