Woodburner or not?

Section62

A0812 said:

Fuel is made from plants so more eco friendly...

Curious how it can be more 'eco friendly' when wood also comes from plants?

In fact the production of much of the bioethanol supply has required the turning over of land which could be used to grow food to grow 'fuel' instead, and the sustainable production of food is a more serious environmental challenge than people burning wood for heat. E.g. environmentally it is sub-optimal for us to airfreight vegetables half way around the world rather than use land here to grow them instead.

Although some bioethanol is produced from waste food, anyone who wanted to be really eco friendly could source 100% of their firewood from waste* if they wanted to.

(*e.g. trees that need to be felled/have fallen due to disease or storm damage, plus from thinning and crown reduction.)

AdrianC

A0812 said:

AdrianC said:

A0812 said:

Have you considered a bioethanol fire instead?

Fuel is made from plants so more eco friendly

Than fuel made from plants?

Fair point, well made.

Clearly what I meant was that it is a cleaner fuel to burn and emits less carbon.

Umm, remind me... Isn't ethanol also an organic chemical, C2H5OH? Wood cellulose is C6H10O5.

I suspect you mean it's short-term carbon cycle, as with wood, rather than long-term, as with fossil fuels. Plants grow, they absorb carbon from the atmosphere through the reverse of animal respiration, CO2 in and O2 out.

[Deleted User]

We have opted not to have one in our new build as we would never ever use it

sheramber

Had a 4 kw wood burner in the last house. 

It heated a 4 bedroom house. Open plan hall/staircase lounge meant the heat distributed throughout the house.

A lorry load of logs from the local forestry cost £600 and lasted 6 years.

Putting only one or two logs on rather than loading it regulated the heat during autumn and spring.

theoretica

In Scotland, not only is a CO alarm needed in any room with a fuel burning appliance, but in rooms the flu passes through.  https://www.gov.scot/publications/fire-and-smoke-alarms-in-scottish-homes/

As with others experience, I have loved them in old houses, especially where other heating isn't very good.  But I decided not to bother with one as a toy where the other heating was good.

grumiofoundation

AdrianC said:

A0812 said:

AdrianC said:

A0812 said:

Have you considered a bioethanol fire instead?

Fuel is made from plants so more eco friendly

Than fuel made from plants?

Fair point, well made.

Clearly what I meant was that it is a cleaner fuel to burn and emits less carbon.

Umm, remind me... Isn't ethanol also an organic*** chemical, C2H5OH? Wood cellulose is C6H10O5.

I suspect you mean it's short-term carbon cycle, as with wood, rather than long-term, as with fossil fuels. Plants grow, they absorb carbon from the atmosphere through the reverse of animal respiration, CO2 in and O2 out.

Wood is not all cellulose and wood doesn't burn completely cleanly (i.e. cleanly meaning producing only 2 products, CO2 and H2O) hence the formation of soot, ash etc. Ethanol should (given enough oxygen) just produce these 2 gases (I have no idea of the practicalities/efficiencies of bio-ethanol burners so can't comment). 

Due to the composition of wood the smoke can contain a number of different organic compounds including, amongst others, benzene*, other aromatic hydrocarbons** e.g. Benzo(a)pyrene which has been reported as a carcinogen and mutagen in addition to other inorganic (metal) impurities. These compounds wouldn't be produced by ethanol.

*Chemical research labs have phased out the use of benzene due to it's toxicity. 
**also found in BBQed food (as mentioned by previous poster)


***(The chemistry graduate in me must point out that from a chemical perspective an organic compound is anything containing a Carbon-hydrogen bond. Paracetamol, nylon, capsaicin, methane, heroin are all examples of organic compounds, many of which should not be burned in the home). 

sheramber

theoretica said:

In Scotland, not only is a CO alarm needed in any room with a fuel burning appliance, but in rooms the flu passes through.  https://www.gov.scot/publications/fire-and-smoke-alarms-in-scottish-homes/

As with others experience, I have loved them in old houses, especially where other heating isn't very good.  But I decided not to bother with one as a toy where the other heating was good.

These regulations don't come in until 2022.

Pagan98

SameOldRoundabout said:

We have a woodburner and love it. It’s great, we don’t clean after every use but I do clear the ash out and wire wool the glass maybe once a week in winter.

I find a bit of damp newspaper dipped in the ash cleans the glass up a treat - no need for wire wool.

macman

Almost every holiday cottage I've been in in the last decade has featured a woodburner and a compo basket of logs. I think we've actually lit one only once, and that was because it was the only means of heating the entire ground floor. The advertised 'underfloor heating' was only installed upstairs...
One place had a wood pellet burner, linked to a back boiler, and that was infinitely better to load and run, with minimal cleaning required.

jazzyja

Sorry to jump on this thread, but if your leasehold states "no smoke/fire area" in their terms would this also mean Woodburners? I'd like one but my leasehold states this