Wood stoves the cause of depression according to this article lol.

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WiscWoody

Minister of Fire
Dec 24, 2011
2,078
Winter WI
I ran across this The Guardian article online and I had to chuckle that it said wood burning is the root of all that ails us lol and they hoped that politicians “raise awareness” of the harms of wood burning (they mean ban it) What do you think about the article? Up here many heat with wood since hardwood is plentiful here and I doubt we have more diabetes from it. I’d say our diets that are loaded with sugar is the culprit behind that!

 
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I'm glad I don't live in an area that is subject to inversions, burn bans and the rest of it, although air quality can be an issue. I don't side with the ban wood burning crowd at all but at the same time I don't pretend there's never any reason for concern. I'm fortunate we don't have a a high density of wood burners because like it or not particulates are bad for health and can be a real problem if present in high concentrations.
 
Jeeze that's the second article from the Guardian that's bashed wood stoves! Their article on indoor wood burning devices causing indoor pollution yes that is something that is inherently true if one burns wood in their home (either with a stove or fireplace) and can certainly be reduced with good practices and maybe air purification units. But this article is just ridiculous if they want to point fingers at burning wood as somehow causing depression ;hm
 
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As with most media organizations The Guardian has a slight skew to it's articles drawn roughly along political lines.

However it is the title of this thread that is most misleading. The article does not state wood stoves are the cause of depression, it states air pollution can increase depression. Here is the quote from the article:

"But a growing body of research reveals air pollution may be damaging every organ in the body, with effects including heart and lung disease, diabetes, dementia, reduced intelligence and increased depression. Children and the unborn may suffer the most."
 
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As with most media organizations The Guardian has a slight skew to it's articles drawn roughly along political lines.

However it is the title of this thread that is most misleading. The article does not state wood stoves are the cause of depression, it states air pollution can increase depression. Here is the quote from the article:

"But a growing body of research reveals air pollution may be damaging every organ in the body, with effects including heart and lung disease, diabetes, dementia, reduced intelligence and increased depression. Children and the unborn may suffer the most."
Yes I did read it again and I noticed it said that air pollution was the cause of depression, diabetes and other ailments. I’ll have to see if I can change the title of the thread.
 
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2 different views from the same guy here, first view is that the UK does not have the same air standards as us in the USA, so there maybe more pollution issues with stoves made the same time as us.
Second view and its more then likely to stir up the pot, but just like our latest measures in gun control here in the USA, use the media first to create the narrative, convince the reader that there's a problem, then push an agenda through whether it makes sense or not.
 
I also read the Guardian article...I can burn wood or I can burn oil... I may be mistaken, but I gotta believe burning wood is less of a hazard.
 
In regards to your local air quality, burning wood to heat your house is worse than burning oil.
What is a Silky Katana boy? I just noticed that in your signature.
 
I’m surprised that the indoor air quality is worse when burning wood in a wood stove since the stibe would be drawing air into the house for the burn process and the natural draft of the chimney out of the house. I know when I scrape the ashes into the ash bin of my stove there’s likely some very fine ash that floats into the area and I run my furnace fan for awhile while I take care of the ash in the stove and afterwards and I use a high MERV rated furnace filter to hopefully catch most of the ash dust.
 
What is a Silky Katana boy? I just noticed that in your signature.
It's a Japanese hand saw used for pruning and other cutting tasks. Quality hand tool and suuuper sharp. It folds but when open it looks a bit sword like so I guess that's where the name comes from.
 
Using my wood stove is my cure for wintertime blues or you could call it cabin fever. Nothing like a hot fire on a cold day that warms right to the bones. Dont believe everything you read just cuz its in the newspaper. Articles are only as credible as the authors.
 
If you can burn it clean like small fires with good airflow then it’s fine. But many people load it up and turn down the air to get through the day or night. And if it smolders it can lead to poor indoor air quality. Guilty as charged, we do what we gotta do.

There might be people who are broke and depressed already and all they can afford is wood. But then again there are plenty of people who can’t afford heating bills of all sources. And people who happily burn wood.

I think the media doesn’t want to glorify burning wood because it’s a way of being independent from commercially manufactured fuels. There’s not much money to be made or taxed, most is just cash on the side to the supplier. From what I know anyway.
 
This article is just information, nothing more. I don't think researchers or the media cares why people burn wood, just that it can be a significant source of fine particles that have been shown to have adverse health consequences.

EU countries have been trying to reduce particulates for some time and have been going from source to source and adjusting policy in an attempt to reduce overall atmospheric particulate pollution. So it's natural to see this research come out of their universities and agencies.

If you enjoy your wood stove like I do, be aware of the potential risk and take reasonable appropriate steps to minimize your exposure. And be happy if you don't live in an area that is either too densely populated or has too many fellow wood burners so you can continue to do it without creating an unacceptable health risk.
 
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The picture in the article reminds me of most larger cities in the US back in the 70s. Fortunatly we've come away from most of that. It takes but a moment trailing behind a vintage car to smell what it was like. Add coal and wood to the mix - I'm rural and can get away with it. Down town, probably not, and with good reason.
 

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My 12 month electric cost for the last year was $507 so yes I’m sure a bill that high wouldn’t be good! How come so high?
An example of a bill after installing electric resistance baseboard heat.
 
Folks in England might be a bit more sensitive to the dangers of air pollution. In 1952 during a major inversion and dense fog event, the air in London became terribly polluted by coal home fires and coal-fired electrical plants. The official tally for the 5 day smog event was estimated at 4-5000 dead, but recent research indicates it may have been upward of 12,000 people. This changed public awareness about the connection between air pollution and health and lead to clean air legislation by 1956.
There still were other reminders. During the London fog in December 1957 smoke and sulfur dioxide concentrations reached levels comparable to 1952 and there were 760–1000 deaths. There was another event in 1962 that resulted in 750 deaths.

In 1948 there was a deadly smog event in Denora, PA that affected half the town, but this has largely been forgotten.
 
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informative maybe. we heat because we are cold and want to be comfortable. burn gas the air gets acidic. burn oil to many particulates. burn coal to many particulates. burn wood to many particulates. nuke we all know the risks. electric comes back to what ever the plant is using for fuel. so what do we heat with???????????
 
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