In recent years, some confusion has developed as to whether wood burning is environmentally friendly and if in future it will be banned in the UK. The truth is that the only ‘bad’ wood burning is when using open fires or older, dirtier stoves, or with using wet or contaminated wood.
Wood burning in general is carbon neutral and sustainable (the UK has an excess of wood for burning without cutting down forests, as all forestry needs regular ‘thinning’ to stay healthy).
BUT- burning wood on older stoves which do not thoroughly burn all the fuel properly, emits various harmful gases and particulates (small solid bits) into the atmosphere.
Burning seasoned (naturally left to dry) logs on an Ecodesign certified stove eliminates these concerns by much more thoroughly burning and then re-burning all the fuel, particles and gases and emitting much less harmful exhaust gases which the environment can cope with.
The very strict European ‘Ecodesign’ legislation which will come in to force in 2022 will eliminate most stoves currently available for sale and will only allow the cleanest, environmentally friendly models. All Saltfire and ekol models already surpass this standard and are fully certificated.
So is wood burning a good thing? – On the right appliance, yes it is!
Eco design Ready Saltfire ST Stoves
Eco design ready Saltfire Peanut Stoves
Eco design Ready Saltfire ST-X Range stoves