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Avoid using wood burning stoves if possible, warn health experts

theguardian.com

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Re: Avoid using wood burning stoves if possible, warn health experts

#21

Post by rlonn »

jeffbee wrote: post #15
spodek wrote: post #4

Low Tech Magazine, one of my favorite sites online, has written a few articles on wood and biomass: - Well-Tended Fires Outperform Modern Cooking Stoves: https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2014/06/thermal-efficiency-c... - Too Much Combustion, Too Little Fire: https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2019/12/too-much-combustion-... - How to Make Biomass Energy Sustainable Again: https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2020/09/how-to-mak…

Low Tech Magazine is pretty much bullshit from cover to cover and these articles are great examples of the genre. Read the first one with a critical eye. It doesn't make any sense. It's just a deceptive argument constructed to make performative primitivism seem competitive with modern technology, which it isn't. An electric induction cooker is superior to any kind of fire, in all aspects and ways, by large margins in…

Try roasting marshmallows on your induction cooker.

Re: Avoid using wood burning stoves if possible, warn health experts

#22

Post by ng12 »

MattGaiser wrote: post #18

I am surprised to learn that burning wood for heat/cooking is something done outside Amish type communities at any significant level in the developed world.

If you live in the rural parts of the northeastern US you'll end up with a years supply of wood just by occasionally clearing your land. It makes a lot of sense to use it for heat, many houses up there have both oil and a wood burning stove for heat.

Re: Avoid using wood burning stoves if possible, warn health experts

#23

Post by retrac »

MattGaiser wrote: post #18

I am surprised to learn that burning wood for heat/cooking is something done outside Amish type communities at any significant level in the developed world.

Wood, often industrial wood waste, is simply the cheapest heat source in many regions. It's relatively common in suburban and rural Canada, and in the cold northern parts of the USA as well. Also the Nordic countries and Hokkaido in Japan. Probably anywhere with a low population density and a lot of trees.

I know Finland has wood-fired electric power plants in the hundred-megawatt range. Just like a small coal plant but with a wood-fired burner. And while not wood, in a similar vein I believe Ireland was burning peat for electricity until recently.

Re: Avoid using wood burning stoves if possible, warn health experts

#24

Post by 14 »

Around here I can get a months worth of wood for about 100-150$. A months worth of oil is about 1000$. Also wood heat is so hot an excessive I walk around in my underwear most the day. But with oil I can barely afford to keep the temp enough. I compare oil because most homes around where I live still have oil furnaces. I know lots of people that seek out wood stoves. I can’t imagine they can afford to have a choice at that difference.

Re: Avoid using wood burning stoves if possible, warn health experts

#25

Post by gnicholas »

DoingIsLearning wrote: post #16
gnicholas wrote: post #7

I have a neighbor who burns wood every day, and I bought an air quality monitor to see what the impact is on our air. The AQI hits 150 when it’s burning, which is really unhealthy. I was surprised it was this bad, especially since he’s not that close of a neighbor (on a different street even).

This is an indoor measurement in your house or an outside street measurement?

Outside my front door. Every time we bring in a package the smell of smoke spreads through the house. And we can’t open windows to air out the baby’s room (after a diaper change) since we’d be swapping smelly air for air that is both smelly and unhealthy.

Re: Avoid using wood burning stoves if possible, warn health experts

#26

Post by rarefied_tomato »

MattGaiser wrote: post #18

I am surprised to learn that burning wood for heat/cooking is something done outside Amish type communities at any significant level in the developed world.

Among those who don't live in cookie-cutter neighborhoods or cities, this is very common in the midwest US.

Re: Avoid using wood burning stoves if possible, warn health experts

#27

Post by chrisseaton »

aqrit wrote: post #19
chrisseaton wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they're also popular because * people have wood anyway so they might as well use it for something * it often suits the design of houses here which were historically built for a central stove burner like this * many people have wood-burning stoves for cooking that are extremely large and heavy permanent fixtures in their kitchen and cannot easily be removed or adapted and are designed to permanently be burning…

Outdoor wood furnaces (boilers) became very popular over the last 15 years. They are cheaper than fuel oil. A traditional wood stove has to be refilled every 2 hours (or so), and is also a major fire hazard. "Wood burners" may also include pellet stoves which are also increasingly popular for similar reasons.

Can't say I've ever seen an outdoor boiler in a home counties garden. But maybe you're talking about something specific?

Re: Avoid using wood burning stoves if possible, warn health experts

#28

Post by irq »

gnicholas wrote: post #7

I have a neighbor who burns wood every day, and I bought an air quality monitor to see what the impact is on our air. The AQI hits 150 when it’s burning, which is really unhealthy. I was surprised it was this bad, especially since he’s not that close of a neighbor (on a different street even).

I, too, have a neighbor with a wood burner (used during the cold months only fortunately) that easily adds 75 to 100 to the outdoor AQI (using Purple Air). My indoor air quality is unaffected due to central air filtering.

Given the health impact, these burners should be seized and replaced with almost anything else, with full financial assistance. (Why? It's cheaper to replace these burners than it is to suffer the long term public health costs caused by their existence).

Re: Avoid using wood burning stoves if possible, warn health experts

#30

Post by bjelkeman-again »

ng12 wrote: post #22
MattGaiser wrote: post #18

I am surprised to learn that burning wood for heat/cooking is something done outside Amish type communities at any significant level in the developed world.

If you live in the rural parts of the northeastern US you'll end up with a years supply of wood just by occasionally clearing your land. It makes a lot of sense to use it for heat, many houses up there have both oil and a wood burning stove for heat.

And if you didn’t use the wood it would decompose and release the carbon anyway. Too much wood burning in the neighbourhood can be bad for air quality though.
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