The evidence: harm to your health

Lighting fires in our homes is one of the biggest sources of harmful fine particle air pollution in the UK. ¹

The more harmful fine particle air pollution you are exposed to, the more likely you are to die from heart or lung disease or lung cancer.² It can also significantly increase your risk of developing diabetes,³ damage your brain health and lead to dementia,^4,5 and affect unborn children.^6,7

If people in the UK only burned wood when no other heat source is available, it could avoid more than 1,500 deaths in the UK every year and save the NHS over £54 million in healthcare costs.⁸

The evidence: harm to the planet

Wood is not a carbon neutral fuel. For the same amount of heat or energy, burning wood releases more carbon dioxide (CO₂) than oil or gas.⁹ It can take decades for trees to regrow and reabsorb the carbon emitted by burning wood.^10,11,12 Cutting down trees for fuel destroys forests, damages ecosystems and leads to biodiversity loss.¹³

The evidence: harm to your wallet

Wood burners are almost always a more expensive way to heat your home than gas boilers or heat pumps (unless you collect your own wood for free).¹⁴ Scrap wood that hasn’t been properly dried or seasoned or has coatings such as varnish or paint can be extremely toxic when burned.