neiln

You both make an interesting point. It's perfectly possible to run an exempt appliance badly and smoke loads and a non exempt appliance well and very cleanly. If I understand the current legislation correctly, even with an exempt appliance you mustn't issue smoke from your chimney. Which makes enforcement a simple check. However the law I think is 'black smoke ' and more than 3 grams per hour (very recently tightened from 5). How on earth does an enforcement officer measure that?

Because enforcing is hard and there aren't the resources. So I fear the policy will be a blanket ban including a ban on the fuel sales. Sledgehammer/nut scenario.

My frustration with the analysis and conclusions presented is they seem to lump all domestic burning together when it suits, pick a figure from a subset when it suits and then conclude something else should be banned. I've they say domestic burning is the biggest source of pm2.5, old stoves and open fires burning wet wood are terrible, ban all stoves. It's a shame that policy will likely be driven by such poor papers.

A lot of the recent press interest stems from a report from Chris Whitty, government chief medical officer. I've not read in full but I understand it was a report on air pollution and that indoor sources such as products, sprays and offgassing from plastic, MDF were considered.

I've noticed one of the very common errors in the articles is describing kiln dried wood as certified smokeless 🙄. Probably lazy journalism but ...Is that part of any agenda?

My guess would be a complete ban on their use in urban environments which then takes away the market for the fuel in urban areas. Whether a ban on the sale of fuels in urban areas is workable I'm not sure, but if it is then perhaps that.

I've been thinking, 'how long?' over the last few weeks too. Complicated. There is no safe level of pm2.5, policing anything fair takes a lot of resource, policing a complete ban is not much easier perhaps,can't recall the source but fairly sure I read from somewhere reliable that a pretty high percentage of domestic burning is still in open fires -seems wrong to lump modern stoves in the same class, they won't tackle bonfires, pizza ovens and BBQ but they produce far more smoke, stopping the'middle class vanity burners' is very different to removing a cheap heat source from those that can't afford other heat, is proper education of users a better solution and is it a viable? Does the government really care about any of that when they are compelled to act on air quality by law (or we were, we are breaking European law). My guess, government will act in the next 2-5 years to outline a complete ban in urban areas, to come into place 2-5 years later. I don't think I'd spend too much on installing a stove now.... Although with current gas prices I could spend ~£1500 and get much of it back in a year. I'm also of the view that global warming is as big as issue as local pollution and locally sourced waste wood turned to quality firewood and used is better than burning fossil fuel. Oh and pretty much every article I read seems full of errors and misquotes of government reports, even the government reports I have seen more sensational article than scientific paper so it's hard for someone too work out just how bad a well operated stove is. Final random thought for now.... My neighbour burns smokeless coal, it smells and smokes much more than my 2 year seasoned wood, if they ban domestic burning it should, and likely will be, a complete ban on all, wood and coal.

Any low VOC paint like normal emulsion will be fine so go ahead and pick your favourite farrow and ball

Would you like my foxes? South London urban variety. I've a pair that are at home in my garden most days. They sunbathe mostly which u stunt mind. They sh*t everywhere too which I do mind. Have had a third fox, I guess a cub from last year, with them a few times. Unfortunately the foxes thrive round here. Probably linked to that my neighbours pet rabbits and those at my kids school and the school chickens did not thrive.

Contact your local tree surgeons directly and stop to talk to ones you see working nearby.

You're burning shit wood or have some other problem. I've a Stockton 5 and it is sufficient to heat a whole 1930s built 3 bed semi down to outside temps of about 5-6C, colder and I light a second stove. I do run it hard though.... It is suffering after 6.5 years and 45+cube through it.

I can understand that, it is a bit of a juxtaposition!

Love the look of your stove Slim, very smart. All that glass must give a great show off the flames.

If you've little space in the garden how about a small solar kiln, then transfer to the garage? If you can find a sunny spot to stack just a cube, make a cheap kiln from poly sheet and garden canes, plastic pipe or scrap timber (whatever you have). You could get the wood down to burnable or close in 4-6 weeks I'd guess, move to the garage and repeat. Solar kilns work. If it interests you then I'd suggest go to hearth.com and search for solar kiln where you'll find several threads by a guy called Poindexter and another guy that give really detailed explanations of their set ups and results.

Agree, dry in one summer

It is a bit messy, yes, but then so is rock salt, or slush for that matter.

agree, but volume still fairer and why its the legal measure for firewood in places, eg US

weather like this, ash is good for spreading on snowy and icey paths

They do contain potassium and other minerals good for plants, soft or hardwood ash that is, from sap wood, heart wood contains very little. It's got a lot of lye, calcium oxide, so it is yes very alkaline and not good for plants like this. Put it on your compost heap which is probably a bit acid, and wet so the water slaking the lye, and then over time the slaked lye reacting with co2 in the air, gets it to calcium carbonate and not so alkali. So after a month or three in the compost it's likely safe to spread on the garden. I then take the compost with ash mix and some goes on flower beds, some top dresses the lawn. The lye makes it good for cleaning oil spills, a car mechanic mate who works a few doors up gets sack fulls of sawchips and the odd sack of ash from me for this.

I'm confident the longer flue will help. The only thing I might have tried was frigging a bit of cheap enamel stove pipe up there for a few days just to ensure an extra metre is enough, but I reckon there's a good chance it will be.

I can't see how that would make any difference. Beside a taller flue, sealing the stove from the room and thus the house's stack effect is an option and possibly why you've got the outside air supply. You'll have to open the door to load logs and risk a little smoke spilling but the flue being hot should power the draw and overcome the house enough. So I suggest you look into whether your outside air is effective, the stove is properly sealed from the room, and I'd still look into raising the height of the flue.

You probably meet regs for the flue height due to distance from the main roof BUT what you've got is a fairly common problem. It's where the main house, through it's height, has a comparable chimney effect or draw as the flue. Ie, the house is trying to act as a chimney and as it's higher than the flue it's nearly a better draw. If you close doors between the extension and the main house and close all upstairs windows and doors you'll probably see the house less effective as a chimney and the stove work a bit better, that's proof. The solution is a taller flue.

Having not heard of it I can't say if it's good. It might be, although I'd have expected to have heard of it if it were. As Dan says, grunfors is excellent and hipster enough for most. Or if looks and brand are less important then fiskars or husqvarna are well liked any axe in use needs to be suited to the wood, and the axe person, to be really good.

This? Oyo Kloyvks Super Splitting Axe WWW.RECON-COMPANY.COM The Oyo Kloyvks Super is essential for the efficient splitting of firewood. The specially shaped axe head reduces friction (Friction)... not an axe or a website I know, I just found it with Google

I'm getting the feeling my 1930s semi is poorly insulated. I knew that anyway