The middle class war over wood burners
A middle-class battle is brewing between country folk and an apparent city elite – including Londoners – over wood burners after a report branded them Britain’s biggest source of dangerous air pollution.
They have become one of the latest must-have status symbols for many, following on from how Aga cookers and Smeg fridges were seen by earlier generations.
And yet neighbours across the UK seem bitterly divided over whether wood burners should be something to celebrate and keep firing up, or else cool it for the sake of people’s health.
MailOnline has heard a wide-ranging variety of opinions about the trendy domestic appliances, amid surging popularity in the shops but also threatened bans by local councils.
Many defiant Britons insisted they would continue using wood burners, despite last week’s critical research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Some 1.5million homes across the UK are estimated to now have them installed – although the welcome for wood burners is not an entirely new phenomenon.
Cockney pub rockers Chas and Dave sang in a 1982 track, later incongruously covered by US piano balladeer Tori Amos: ‘Home baked loaves and wood burning stoves, Shirley MacLaine and Petticoat Lane … that’s what I like.’
But they have been highlighted as a newly surging trend especially among middle-class areas both urban and rural – but fellow householders, including those with existing health conditions, have raised new objections in an array of responses to MailOnline.
James Dixon sent MailOnline this picture of his wood burner at his rural four-bedroom house just outside Lyme Regis in Dorset, which he described as ‘off grid in the gas sense’
James Dixon (left) said he relied on wood burners to keep the sitting room and a spare bedroom (right) ‘habitable’ at his home near Lyme Regis in Dorset
Long Covid sufferer Mandy Cairns is an opponent of wood burning stoves, saying she is often forced out of her home due to adverse health effects she blames on those in nearby properties
The only source of PM2.5 emissions that has increased since 2003 is domestic combustion, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) report
Homeowners living ‘off grid’ in parts of the countryside told how they needed the devices to efficiently heat their homes – while others have accused Londoners of making an indulgent ‘lifestyle choice’ by buying the stoves, suggesting they have no ‘need’ to burn wood.
Middle class war, one wood burner fan is James Dixon, who lives in a rural four-bedroom house just outside Lyme Regis in Dorset, which he described as ‘off grid in the gas sense’.
He told MailOnline: ‘We rely on a modicum of oil for hot water and central heating. We cannot afford to heat the house electrically. We had an electric Aga that was on all day but that was costing the earth both, literally and metaphorically.
‘The central heating comes on for an hour at 6am and 6pm, when the oil burner works. We rely on our wood burners to keep the sitting room and one – slightly damp – spare bedroom habitable.
‘We are contemplating a biomass – log – boiler when it comes to replacing the ageing oil boiler so will be producing more of the particulate.
‘I am confident a heat pump will not suit unless we spend a fortune upgrading the house. I don’t imagine we are in a “smoke control” zone yet.’
But other MailOnline readers were quick to point out their pollution concerns relating to wood burners.
Mandy Cairns, who suffers from long Covid, said: ‘One of my symptoms is a severe allergic reaction to wood smoke whereby the muscles in my body go weak and I collapse to the ground and struggle to breathe.
Mandy Cairns was among the critics of wood burners getting in touch with MailOnline
‘I live in a rural town where one in three houses have wood burners and I have to move out for three months of the year because the air is so bad I can’t live here.
‘I can’t afford to move. Everyone around me has more than enough money to pay for their gas central heating as it’s a very affluent small town that I live in – even the local cafe-bookshop has installed one.’
Ms Cairns, from Dollar in Clackmannshire, Scotland, added: ‘I tried going back to stay at my parents’ house last year but then their neighbours put in a wood burning stove, so that option has been taken away from me.
‘I know I’m not alone and that there are many people being affected out there by their neighbours’ wood burning stoves.
‘But everyone I speak to always says the same thing – that they don’t want to fall out with their neighbours who are using a wood burner so they don’t say anything and that they don’t think the council will do anything about it if they complain.’
Meanwhile, Dr Shona Minelly, from Kingston-upon-Thames in south-west London, said: ‘I have suffered asthma attacks resulting in hospital visits because of the “Ecodesign” stove.
‘My husband suffered a heart attack last year after a neighbour burned their stove every day for a week and he was struggling to breathe.
‘Putting neighbours’ lives at risk in this way just so that a selfish family can stare at a pretty flame is morally wrong.’
She added: ‘None of the homes in London ‘need’ to burn wood, it’s a lifestyle choice. The exempt stoves are expensive and used by wealthy people with central heating.
‘Many of these burners have electric cars in their drive and solar panels on their roofs, so they obviously think they are being ‘green’ and are oblivious to the public health dangers.
‘It is only a matter of time before someone dies because of these stoves – we had a very close call.’
Facing a similar situation is Mike Hinford, who lives in a residential area near Bristol where there are ‘a lot of wood burners’.
He told MailOnline: ‘My health is badly affected by wood smoke pollution. If I go near wood smoke for only a few minutes my breathing is affected for hours.
‘We have no need to burn wood. It’s not cheaper. Unless the wood is free, and then it could be treated wood which contains arsenic. I really wish people realised how much harm they are doing with burning wood. They should never be seen as cosy.’
Sharon Brown, from Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, said: ‘When the road I live in was built, most of the houses had no chimneys.
‘Now an awful lot of people have wood burning stoves – in the evenings my utility room and downstairs toilet smell really badly of wood smoke.’
But supporters of the devices have also been singing their praises and pointing out possible ways to avoid any problems of people like middle class war.
Wendy Finney remarked ironically: ‘Our entire family were brought up with wood burners – we should all be dead from lung cancer.’
She went on to suggest: ‘Provided proper well seasoned fuel is used and lit fast with wooden firelighters, and plenty of really dry kindling to get a good flame going to warm the flue fast, there is not a problem.
‘Many people don’t know how to light a fire and use stinky stuff like paper. It takes experience. My chimney never smokes.’
A drop in particulate pollution from road transport and heavy industry such as steel has meant parts of the UK have now got the cleanest air for decades.
But the use of wood burning stoves pumping out particulate pollution known as PM2.5 is rising, according to the recent study by the IFS – and local authorities are cracking down in the air pollution fight, with some owners threatened with £300 fines for breaking rules.
Reading and Oxford’s local authorities ban the use of fuel or appliances not approved by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Penalties of up to £300 could be issued to anyone breaking the rules after the new policy replacing existing so-called ‘smoke control areas’ was brought in on December 1.
Exceptions are given for Defra-approved appliances and government-approved fuels – while outdoor barbecues, chimeneas, garden fireplaces or pizza ovens are also permitted as long as smoke is not released from them through a building chimney.
The rules have been brought in amid growing concern over the stoves increasing the risk of lung cancer and being one of the UK’s main drivers of harmful air pollutants.
Middle class war, among those sticking up for rural-based wood burners is Philip Knowles, from Somerset, who said: ‘Wood burners may be “trendy” in London, where air pollution is reportedly 15 to 30 per cent higher than the rest of the country, but here in the countryside many people use wood burners to heat their homes.
‘We are paying through the nose for gas and electricity – please don’t take away the little bit of self-sufficiency that our wood burners provide.
‘Using properly seasoned timber, which is in plentiful supply in the countryside, wood burners are an efficient and relatively inexpensive form of heating.’
Mr Knowles was referring to IFS data in last Friday’s report which found air pollution exposure in London has been 15 to 30 per cent higher than the average for each other region of England between 2003 and 2023.
Andy Hill, chair of the Stove Industry Association, pointed out to MailOnline that the data referenced by the IFS report ‘clearly shows that modern closed stoves using quality, dry wood fuel account for just under 0.3 per cent of total UK PM2.5 emissions’.
Stove Industry Association chair Andy Hill said: ‘Many households up and down the country cherish their wood burning stoves’
He added that wood fuel is a ‘very low carbon domestic heating fuel’ and has been defined by the Scottish Government as being net zero emissions at the point of use.
Mr Hill also said: ‘Many households up and down the country cherish their wood burning stoves as an effective way of heating their homes and keeping their families warm and cosy, with the added advantage that they also offer a sense of energy grid security, a means of keeping warm in the event of a power cut and a way of managing fluctuating heating fuel costs.’
Particulate pollution is widely agreed to be the air pollutant with the biggest impact on human health, increasing the risk of respiratory and heart conditions, and increasing hospital admissions.
Middle class war over, Children growing up exposed to particulate pollution are more likely to have reduced lung function and can develop asthma as the tiny particles penetrate the lungs and enter into the bloodstream.
The IFS said in its report: ‘The three largest sources of primary PM2.5 in the UK are domestic burning of wood and other fuels (29 per cent of total PM2.5 emissions in 2022), road transport (17.9 per cent of total PM2.5 emissions in 2022), and industrial processes and product use (16.5 per cent of total PM2.5 emissions in 2022) such as construction and steel manufacturing.
‘The only source of PM2.5 emissions that has increased over the period is domestic combustion. Three-quarters of the domestic combustion emissions of PM2.5 came from woodburning in 2022.’
Only log stoves officially given the ‘Ecodesign’ mark are allowed for sale in the UK and any wood for sale must be certified ‘Ready to burn’.
Middle class war over, but in practice councils carry out minimal regulation of woodburning at home – with just 1 prosecution by a local authority in England in 2022, despite 10,600 complaints by residents, according to research carried out by pressure group Mums for Lungs.
Overall, the IFS report said that in most parts of the UK levels of PM2.5 pollution had fallen to below the government’s 2040 target for PM2.5 although not below the more stringent limit set out by the World Health Organisation.
‘The share of the English population exposed to levels of PM2.5 above England’s 2040 target fell from 99 per cent in 2003 to less than 0.1 per cent in 2023.’
Air pollution fell steeply during the pandemic but has remained at lower levels since. Between 2003 and 2023, average levels of PM2.5 in England fell by 54 per cent.
A 2022 study cited by Sir Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, showed that even ‘Eco-design’ stoves generated 450 times more toxic air pollution than gas central heating, while older stoves now banned from sale produced 3,700 times more.
Bobbie Upton, Research Economist at IFS and an author of the report, said: ‘There is growing evidence that fine particulate air pollution is extremely damaging for health, particularly for children and the elderly. It is hard to fully explain the striking drop in air pollution that started in 2020, during the COVID pandemic.
‘New clean air zones in several of England’s largest cities and reduced steel production may have both played a role.
‘It is important for the nation’s health, and for reducing health inequalities, that progress continues to be made on reducing air pollution.’
The IFS report also found that ethnic minorities were now also less exposed to pollution, down to just 6 per cent more than average levels for white populations in 2023, down from 13 per cent in 2023.
The report said that this fall in the ‘ethnic pollution gap’ was initially down to ethnic minorities moving to less polluted parts of the country (largely moving out of London to a smaller city), while cities with large ethnic minority populations chiefly London and Birmingham have also experienced drops in air pollution.
But the report found that lower-income areas have persistently higher levels of air pollution than richer areas.
In 2023, individuals in the top 20 per cent most deprived areas experienced 8 per cent higher average PM2.5 concentrations than those in the bottom 20 per cent.
Speaking about the new rules in Oxford – where there is an exemption for moored vessels, including canal boats – the city council’s deputy leader Anna Railton said: ‘Fine particulate pollution from smoke poses serious health risks, and tackling it is crucial for public health.
‘Until now, Oxford’s Smoke Control Areas covered only 48 per cent of the city, leaving gaps in protection. From December 1, we’re unifying the city under a single Smoke Control Area, ensuring every part of Oxford benefits from improved safeguards against harmful pollution.
‘This expansion targets the reduction of both indoor and outdoor fine particulate emissions by restricting the use of high-polluting and inefficient solid fuels. I am proud that we’re taking this key public health intervention to protect our residents and reduce pollution across the city.’
In February this year, official figures showed increases in wood burners in homes and the use of biomass in industry had offset drops in pollution from cars and electricity generation.
Statistics revealed that pollutants known as particulate matter (PM) fell significantly since the 1970s but emissions have been relatively steady in recent years.
PMs are small particles made up of a variety of materials, some of which can be toxic, and some of which can enter the bloodstream and be transported round the body with serious impact on health.
And in July 2023, Sir Chris Whitty told MPs that air fresheners and wood burners contribute to air pollution despite many people believing the reverse to be true.
The Chief Medical Officer for England said he would have ‘no problem’ telling someone with an asthmatic child not to use air freshener.
He also said people who use wood burners should only do so ‘when it really matters to them for aesthetic reasons’ rather than as the main way of heating their home.
Sir Chris said the risks from indoor air pollution are sometimes underappreciated because substantial progress has been made improving outdoor air quality in recent decades.
The Commons Environmental Audit Committee was told products that can raise the risk inside include air freshener as well as candles and joss sticks.