Air quality
Burning wood at home
The law has recently changed about the type of wood you can buy and burn at home. The new law restricts the use of wet wood as opposed to dry wood for burning in fireplaces and wood burners.
Wet wood, why the fuss?
Apart from wet wood not providing as much heat for your stove or fire, burning wet wood also contributes to reduced air quality in our area. When wet wood is burned, the lower temperatures lead to an incomplete combustion process which means more polluting particles and more smoke. Some of these particles (known as PM2.5) can have major health effects, such as exacerbating lung and heart conditions. Whilst we all tend to think of traffic and heavy industry as the major contributors to bad air quality, in fact domestic burning is the leading offender when it comes to man-made PM2.5.
What’s changed?
With the introduction of the Air Quality (Domestic Solid Fuels Standards) (England) Regulations 2020, it is now unlawful to buy or sell wet firewood in quantities less than two cubic meters. For larger quantities, wet wood can still be sold (but this should be dried out prior to burning).
How can I be sure the wood I buy is dry?
Fortunately, there is an easy way to check that the wood you’re buying complies with the legislation, simply look for the 'ready to burn' logo on the packaging or at the place of purchase. 'Woodsure', the government appointed certification scheme provider, issues 'ready to burn' status for suppliers who demonstrate wood moisture levels below 20%.
For more information of the 'ready to burn' scheme, please follow the link below.