I lived through the London smog and there were times when walking through it we couldn't see our feet. Re wooden blocks:- I remember when a lot of London roads were paved with 'tar blocks' made of creosoted wood, usually 'deal' which was a soft wood generally from pine. These started being pulled up in the early 1950's and we used to take wheelbarrows full of them back home to burn on the open fires. They produced a lot of heat and burned for a long time. We didn't have a problem with smoke in the house as it went up the chimney, creating even more pollution. It was free and worked well.
Love my stove. It’s a Clearview 500 and I burn wood and smokeless fuel but not together. My property is open plan and the smokeless fuel once it’s going well gives off heat for up-to 24 hours on a fill. The gas heating has only operated once in the last week and that was last night as I let it cool down to give it a clean out. I get a lot of free wood if needed but I prefer kiln dried for wood as it’s great at achieving a nice 550f burn and the stove is great for keeping that temp for a long time.
We love our Esse stove which has an oven and hob so heats our kitchen and all we do all our cooking on it. Best thing we ever bought.
Reminds me of the time when everyone in work was getting shiny new low emission cars - using salary sacrifice - which IMHO is a tax dodge. Anyway - someone with a new hybrid car had a go at me for driving an old diesel 307 - and the terrible impact that this was having on the environment. I looked at him and said "I shudder to think of the environmental impact of manufacturing your new car." He never had a go at me again....
Well done you. The whole global environment thing is a real problem, no doubt about it. But before anyone gets all sanctimonious and gets on their high horse preaching at everyone, they really need to have a long hard look at themselves first. It's virtually impossible for anyone to live their daily lives without having some negative impact on the whole "green" thing. The clothes you wear, the food you eat, bringing your kids up, work/leisure activities, holidays, absolutely everything has an impact, albeit small on a individual/family perspective. But when there are huge huge countries such as China, just one example of a massive polluter, who refuse point blank to even try and meet targets, then I'm afraid someone who tells me that I shouldn't be burning wood on my wood stove, or driving my 4x4 truck, is going to get a mouthful of home truths!
