Woodfire heaters and air quality

Woodfires are an economic and efficient way to heat your home during winter but they can pollute the air by releasing very small particles and gases into the atmosphere. 

Air quality can be impacted by:

• Excessively smoky chimneys
• Unpleasant odours caused by burning inappropriate materials

These two issues are both connected to the use of inappropriate fuels and/or poorly run and maintained heaters.

When the air quality is affected, it can be harmful to our health so it is important to follow the below simple tips to ensure your woodfire is warming your house effectively and healthily and not polluting the air for you, your neighbours and the wider community:

What to do

• Only use dry, seasoned, untreated wood. Hard wood is best.
• Maintain your wood heater with regular services
• Make sure your baffle plate is clear of ash
• Regularly clean your flue before and during winter
• Keep about two centimetres of ash at the base of your wood heater for easier lighting.
• When first lighting your fire, open up the air control to let it burn on high for the first 20-30 minutes
• Always burn with a flame
• After reloading, open the air control to burn on High for 20 minutes

• Only reduce air flow when there’s a hot bed of charcoal.

What not to do

• Burn treated wood
• Burn timber from building materials or furniture
• Burn household rubbish
• Burn damp, unseasoned wood
• Ever shut off the air control completely
• Let your fire smoulder, especially overnight (this produces little heat but a lot of pollution)