Rural domestic heating solutions
I was invited to discuss rural domestic heating solutions on BBC Radio Scotland Good Morning Scotland this morning alongside Donna Smith from the Scottish Crofting Federation. You can hear the interview below.
…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
I was invited to discuss rural domestic heating solutions on BBC Radio Scotland Good Morning Scotland this morning alongside Donna Smith from the Scottish Crofting Federation. You can hear the interview below.
Legislation from urban dwellers, who seldom venture fully into rural settings. Not at all reasonable. In town it certainly can be a nuisance. The Government don’t seem to get much right when it comes to the countryside.
I quite agree with your position on the burning of wood for heat in rurlal areas, Andy. Personally, although I live in rural denmark and the government here has not introduced such a ban on wood burning, we rely on our own surplus wood for heating. We do the work ourselves, and so the monetary cost of our heating is low. Our stove is rated at 80% efficient. We love to see a fire on cold nights. In Denmark you cannot install or purchase an old (inefficient) wood stove, which seems a much more sensible approach to us. We certainly plant more trees than we burn too! The ash is used as fertiliser for fruit trees and bushes.
Wood that is used for construction, furniture etc is not burned, as it is too valuable and useful for that. As long as there is replacement planting and significant use of the good wood, carbon is locked up and absorbed in the forest cycle. But there is always a residue that can be burned or in some cases left as decomposing organic matter or “hotels” for insects and plants. The forest, and the forest cycle must always be seen as a long term cyclical process, which is not always the case in calculations of emissions.
To sum up, not only is wood renewable and low carbon, but using some of the residual wood for home heating in rural areas is also often a low or zero cost self-help way of surviving (and not just in “emergencies”. The focus should be on the stoves that use wood! I am totally opposed to the approach of the government in this matter.
Best wishes,
John Bryden, a rural resident whose stove bothers no one!
For well built new builds (this policy only applies to new builds), and since new builds will soon be moving to Passivhaus equivalent standards that should mean all new builds, this is a non issue. The amount of heating required by a Passivhaus is so small (I live in one) that the space, expense, dirt, indoor air pollution and hassle of a wood burning stove make no sense. Folk who do install them in Passivhaus buildings typically find they use them rarely if at all. I live somewhere that most would consider rural (Banavie) and the pollution from wood burners here is significant, especially during cold, still weather. We shouldn’t be adding to that with new builds.
Worth thinking about. A very niche solution and not in a totally dissimilar country … ?
PS I admit to using home-grown wood, mostly dead from recent epidemic diseases, in an isolated rural traditional house. We still get lengthy power cuts despite an upgraded grid. We could do better though on improving insulation, ventilation and energy use for the future. The idea of renewable long-lived building materials could be a good idea as we go down the steep fossil energy curve?
One Planet Council/Cyngor Un Blaned
@OnePlanetC
4h
To compliment this informative event we will also be visiting Parc y Rhodyn; a straw insulated self-build and the UK’s first certified Passivhaus which is entirely off-grid.
Parc Y Rhodyn was shortlisted for the 2023 UK Passivhaus Awards in the new build residential category.