Open fire or log burner

Reminds me of the early 1950's when I started school in what were no better than Nissen huts with the big stove in the corner. I think they used coke rather than coal. My gripe was that they always staked the crates of milk next to the stove and I hate warm milk!

On a more serious note are they not thinking of banning wood burning stoves?

David 

Banning of wood burning stoves?, it is being considered due to the pollution increase in citys & urban areas generally. A lot of the problems are down to burning damp & unseasoned wood. The efficient use of wood & it’s burning is a skill rarely considered I’m afraid☹️

On a more serious note are they not thinking of banning wood burning stoves?

Something from the Mayor of London and shouldn't effect householders. Although you can never trust the weasel words of politicians 

Khan’s proposed ban on wood-burning stoves in the most-polluted areas of London will not be enforced against householders and will only be in operation at certain times of the year.

Under the mayor of London’s plans, the stoves would be occasionally banned from use in zones in the capital from 2025 and UK-wide laws blocking the sale of all but the newest, cleanest stoves from 2022 would be brought in earlier.

 In an attempt to reassure the thousands of Londoners who bought the stoves in good faith, the focus will be on educating owners not to burn wood during bad air quality episodes. Authorities will reserve enforcement for commercial users such as hotels.

There are about 1.5m stoves in the UK and 200,000 are sold annually, with the appliances often marketed as a green form of home heating.

That's a lot of votes Mr. Mayor so tread carefully

Choosing, installing and using a stove isn't as easy as it sounds to get it right. By all means ban them in London, if they are not compliant with Defra regulations. London's problems are way beyond banning stoves and Emission Zones. Seriously overcrowded. But hopefully they won't foist regulations dealing with London onto other areas that have no such problems. We have enough to contend with up here with plans to frack/undermine our local National Parks, and HS2! 

Whatever you do, be quick. The 'Save the Worm' brigade will be having them banned if they can. Either that or another rip-off 'Environmental Tax' will be put on logs.

I read somewhere (was probably on a stove manufacturer's website!) that leaving timber to rot in the ground actually produces twice as much carbon dioxide as burning it.

We buy logs in bulk from our coal merchant.  We try to get them a year in advance and make sure they're well dried and seasoned before being used.  They produce very little ash.

We have a multi-fuel stove and can burn both smokeless fuel and hardwood logs.  Note that for wood burning, you need a larger double-walled flue liner.  If you have an older house, you should have no trouble..  The other thing is to check the requirements for ventilation.

Here is our fire and the surround (being installed). Spid, our pet spider has already moved in.  Note that the stove sits within the thickness of the wall which is 27inches thick!

For the aesthetics and 'multi' sensory experience it has to be an open dog grate for me! For a more controlled, economical burn then a boring log burner is better. 

My log burner has glass doors which enable me a ‘multi’ sensory experience & the economical burn. . . .Win/win Micky Boy👍🏻😊

Ah, but that thrill isn't there anymore, tamed, no more sparks burns on that fireside rug. Muted spits and crackles as the logs burns. The beast is behind the glass, can get electric or gas fires which now provide that effect but they too don't cut the mustard! 

We lived dangerously with a dog grate for 20 odd years then changed to a log burner, so much safer I guess. it was great in many ways but just didn't quiet have the same cosy fireside appeal for us.