Woodburning stove - eco?

KDN

New to this site so my apologies if this has been covered.

I have been told there are wood burning stoves that effectively burn their own smoke - creating minimum pollution, is this true?

Thanks in advance.

gratefulforhelp_2

No, they still emit smoke. They are "carbon neutral" in the fact that if you only burn wood, the wood when growing absorbs more Carbon dioxide than it produces when burnt.

They are probably not carbon neutral if you inlcude the energy required to make them, but wood is a "greener" fuel than coal or oil or natural gas, for the above reason.

A._Badger

Not quite the case, I'm afraid.

There are now many stoves on the market which emit such a small amount of smoke that they are permitted to be used in designated 'smoke control' areas.

Any halfway decent retailer will tell you more, or you can find them online.

The following link (from a retailer) explains: http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/smoke-control-areas-clean-air-act.html

Hope that's some help.

crphillips

if the wood is taken from properly managed forests then it isn't a bad way to heat your house. You've still got the burning of fossil fuels to transport the wood to your door so how green it is I'm not sure. I supposed sustainability is the key word. Unfortunately it isn't as clean burning as gas so there are always going to be more particulates in the air from a wood burner although most modern decent quality stoves burn the wood pretty efficiently so there is no visible smoke when the fire has properly caught.

A lot of the non DEFRA approved stoves burn as clean as the ones that are approved. The main difference between the DEFRA and the Non DEFRA stoves are the emissions during slumber but it is never recommended to slumber a stove excessively anyway. A lot of the non DEFRA stoves have the same air systems as the DEFRA stoves but they haven't paid the money to get the certificate or they'll just need a minor mod to make them more efficient during slumber. The trade off here is that you can't really slumber a DEFRA approved stove but that ain't a bad thing.

You'll find the dearer stoves burn cleaner as they have a more complicated baffle and air system that feeds extra air in above the fire at the back of the firebox. This encourages more of the unburnt smoke particles to burn again. The cheaper stoves with a simple primary and secondary air supply don't burn the cleanest but still aren't bad if a good hot fire is burned with plenty of clean, bright orange flames.

[Deleted User]

perhaps you mean a wood pellet stove. Ours produces virtually no smoke and an eggcupful of ash after burning 15 kg of pellets. It was already in the house when we bought but would cost over 3k. I would say that it is very suitable for a house like ours with a lot of thermal mass ie once warm it takes very little to keep it warm. It certainly wouldn`t give you a derriere-warming flame. I wouldn`t buy one for a `normal` house

The stove works electronically ie via an on/off switch and a timer and requires minimal intervention

KDN

Thank you for your comments, all the best!