Smoke Control
Burning Wood
Many solid fuel appliances are now multi-fuel and can burn both wood and coal. These include open fires, stoves, room heaters, coolers and freestanding boilers. The manufacturers’ specification will tell you what you can burn; and especially important if the appliance has a boiler, the average output that you can expect by burning the different fuels.
Some appliances are manufactured solely for burning wood, they will have no bottom grate. However, some can be converted to burn coal by fitting a grate, A grate must be used when you are burning coal because these fuels produce more ash than wood fuel. The grate allows
the ash to fall away from the fire bed.
Smoke Control Areas
If you wish to burn any type of wood fuel and you live in a smoke control area, you may only do so if you burn wood on an ‘exempt’ appliance. An ‘exempt’ appliance is one which is exempted to burn unauthorised fuels in smoke control areas, under regulations published under the Clean Air Act. At the moment there are only a limited number of appliances that have received exemption, although many of the stoves for sale in the UK would undoubtedly meet the standard required because they use a system of secondary combustion. Wood pellet stoves are subject to the same exemption requirements.
www.uksmokecontrolareas.co.uk
Logs
The most common form of wood fuel at the moment is logs. These will usually come from local sources and can be brought from a variety of outlets, e.g., coal merchants, farmers, tree surgeons. It is important the logs are dry and well seasoned. Burning wet or unseasoned
wood is less efficient and can cause harmful built up of deposits in the chimney over a very short time. Thick coatings of creosote or resinous material can cause chimney fires, or prevent the chimney functioning properly. This can allow harmful fumes to escape into the
dwelling . Efficient burning is achieved by setting the appliance to burn fast after stoking. This will ensure that all the gases are fully burned. Only set to low burn when all wood has been reduced to charcoal and ash. Newly added wood set to burn slowly creates smoke and
creosote in the chimney. The stove should not be banked up with logs for overnight burning. A bright fire which has turned the wood into charcoal should be left with the day’s ash, no secondary air and minimal primary air.
If you buy logs which have not been seasoned, you should store them under cover but open to allow free air circulation for at least a year. Some logs may take 3 to 4 years to fully season. Bring the fuel into the house a few days before you want to use it to get it as dry as possible. Wood from different trees has different heat values. Wood fuel has typically less than half the calorific value of coal and smokeless fuel, so you must be prepared to use a greater volume of wood to heat your home or room, unless you use both wood and mineral solid fuel.
If you burn wood, you should have your chimney swept at least twice a year. Do not Burn
any painted or treated wood. Treated or painted wood will emit chemicals which are
potentially damaging to health and the environment. This also applies to MDF and
chipboard.
Many solid fuel appliances are now multi-fuel and can burn both wood and coal. These include open fires, stoves, room heaters, coolers and freestanding boilers. The manufacturers’ specification will tell you what you can burn; and especially important if the appliance has a boiler, the average output that you can expect by burning the different fuels.
Some appliances are manufactured solely for burning wood, they will have no bottom grate. However, some can be converted to burn coal by fitting a grate, A grate must be used when you are burning coal because these fuels produce more ash than wood fuel. The grate allows
the ash to fall away from the fire bed.
Smoke Control Areas
If you wish to burn any type of wood fuel and you live in a smoke control area, you may only do so if you burn wood on an ‘exempt’ appliance. An ‘exempt’ appliance is one which is exempted to burn unauthorised fuels in smoke control areas, under regulations published under the Clean Air Act. At the moment there are only a limited number of appliances that have received exemption, although many of the stoves for sale in the UK would undoubtedly meet the standard required because they use a system of secondary combustion. Wood pellet stoves are subject to the same exemption requirements.
www.uksmokecontrolareas.co.uk
Logs
The most common form of wood fuel at the moment is logs. These will usually come from local sources and can be brought from a variety of outlets, e.g., coal merchants, farmers, tree surgeons. It is important the logs are dry and well seasoned. Burning wet or unseasoned
wood is less efficient and can cause harmful built up of deposits in the chimney over a very short time. Thick coatings of creosote or resinous material can cause chimney fires, or prevent the chimney functioning properly. This can allow harmful fumes to escape into the
dwelling . Efficient burning is achieved by setting the appliance to burn fast after stoking. This will ensure that all the gases are fully burned. Only set to low burn when all wood has been reduced to charcoal and ash. Newly added wood set to burn slowly creates smoke and
creosote in the chimney. The stove should not be banked up with logs for overnight burning. A bright fire which has turned the wood into charcoal should be left with the day’s ash, no secondary air and minimal primary air.
If you buy logs which have not been seasoned, you should store them under cover but open to allow free air circulation for at least a year. Some logs may take 3 to 4 years to fully season. Bring the fuel into the house a few days before you want to use it to get it as dry as possible. Wood from different trees has different heat values. Wood fuel has typically less than half the calorific value of coal and smokeless fuel, so you must be prepared to use a greater volume of wood to heat your home or room, unless you use both wood and mineral solid fuel.
If you burn wood, you should have your chimney swept at least twice a year. Do not Burn
any painted or treated wood. Treated or painted wood will emit chemicals which are
potentially damaging to health and the environment. This also applies to MDF and
chipboard.
