Tenerife Weather

[Delderek]

maybe open fires ... ours is a "stove" so not open.

That's what we now call log burners, yup closed in, but its the acrid stuff that goes up the flu and into the atmosphere, that is now causing concern.

Why logs are twice as dirty as diesel

Walk round many suburbs on a winter's night and your nose will tell you that wood burning is being used for home heating. A recent UK government survey found that 7.5% of UK homes now burn wood. The vast majority use it for supplementary heating or decoration. Wood burning is most popular in the south-east where it is used by around 16% of households and it is least popular in northern England and Scotland where it is used by less than 5%.
We think of wood burning as being natural and therefore less harmful to the environment when compared with fossil fuels. However, particle pollution from UK wood burning is now estimated to be more than double diesel exhaust.

Swiss scientists have been investigating what happens to wood smoke once it leaves your chimney. They burnt logs in a stove and collected the smoke in a chamber. UV lights were used to simulate sunlight and they waited. Slowly the particle pollution in the chamber increased, in some cases by up to three times. If this laboratory experiment reflects what happens in our cities; then pollution from wood burning is even greater than we thought.

[macdonald5]

Don't know about open fires but I definitely think central heating, fitted carpets, double/ triple glazing have some impact on health as no fresh air
Sorry @TOTO 99 !!

[Janet]

That's what we now call log burners, yup closed in, but its the acrid stuff that goes up the flu and into the atmosphere, that is now causing concern.

Why logs are twice as dirty as diesel

Walk round many suburbs on a winter's night and your nose will tell you that wood burning is being used for home heating. A recent UK government survey found that 7.5% of UK homes now burn wood. The vast majority use it for supplementary heating or decoration. Wood burning is most popular in the south-east where it is used by around 16% of households and it is least popular in northern England and Scotland where it is used by less than 5%.
We think of wood burning as being natural and therefore less harmful to the environment when compared with fossil fuels. However, particle pollution from UK wood burning is now estimated to be more than double diesel exhaust.

Swiss scientists have been investigating what happens to wood smoke once it leaves your chimney. They burnt logs in a stove and collected the smoke in a chamber. UV lights were used to simulate sunlight and they waited. Slowly the particle pollution in the chamber increased, in some cases by up to three times. If this laboratory experiment reflects what happens in our cities; then pollution from wood burning is even greater than we thought.

sorry but we don't get diesel for domestic use here, and our air quality is world renowned, whatever might be the case in London through all the cars!   

And as for diesel being "better" than anything, get outta here! It's getting banned in many places round Europe, and Spain has itself committed to a diesel ban within the next decade. It's filthy fuel!

[TOTO 99]

Don't know about open fires but I definitely think central heating, fitted carpets, double/ triple glazing have some impact on health as no fresh air
Sorry @TOTO 99 !!

They will if you keep talking like that....

[macdonald5]

They will if you keep talking like that....

Can I just say @TOTO 99 , we have fitted carpets in most areas at home , try not to buy too expensive as I like to change colour scheme frequently
We have a smashing local carpet supplier so I do keep the carpet economy afloat  !!!!

[Delderek]

Think what they are saying Janet is that wood burners are more polluting than diesel cars.

[TOTO 99]

Think what they are saying Janet is that wood burners are more polluting than diesel cars.

I'm prepared to bow to your superior knowledge on this one Del as I've never once tried to set fire to a diesel car....

[Delderek]

I'm prepared to bow to your superior knowledge on this one Del as I've never once tried to set fire to a diesel car....

And I've never lit a log fire since I was a boy scout.

[Janet]

just for the record ...

Prof Grigg said: "It is true to say that if you burn anything, it will produce little particles of soot. It doesn't matter if that soot comes from fossil fuel or wood-burning, those particles are going to get deep down into your lung. And this has a potential to cause a harmful effect."

After an hour of mine burning brightly, the dial settled between 41ug/m³ and 43ug/m³ in my sitting room. This is still within "moderate", but Prof Grigg said you might want to start worrying if you exposed yourselves to long, sustained periods at this level.

Hugh Wells, from the Stove Industry Alliance, says manufacturers have just agreed on a new standard that will reduce emissions from new stoves. And how about owners, such as me, who have old ones? "Everything has a moderate degree of risk," he says. "If you are really concerned, change your diesel car first."

As the Wallop stove is only fired up at weekends, I'm not going to lose too much sleep.

[Myrtle Hogan-Lance]

The foregoing discussion has inspired me to have another glass of wine.