Smoke and emissions from burning

Is it necessary to light your fire? Burning less is the easiest way to reduce the impact on air quality and may save money too.

We strongly advise giving up wood burning at home and not lighting your fire at all during medium and high levels of pollution. Sign up to a pollution alert service. We also send out Twitter alerts via @hackneycouncil.

If you’re interested in reducing your emissions produced by your wood-burning stove and would like to find out more, sign up to Zero Emissions Network for free advice and support.

When buying wood look for the ready to burn logo as a guarantee of good quality dry wood.

This will burn more efficiently than unseasoned, green wood and reduce environmental impact.

Freshly cut wood, often sold in nets, has a high moisture content that creates much more particulate pollution.

This wood needs to be seasoned (dried for 2 years) before burning.

Smokeless fuels produce less carbon and particulate matter and are more efficient, so they cost you less to heat your home.

Treated wood, like old furniture, can emit harmful fumes and household rubbish may include plastics that can release toxic pollutants, such as arsenic, into your home when burned.

A well-maintained stove will work more efficiently and means you will need to burn less fuel.

Particles of soot build up in your chimney over time and reduce the efficiency of your fire.

Contact an approved chimney sweep for further advice.

Wood burning stoves burn much more efficiently than open fires and they produce less particulate pollution.

There are Defra approved standards for stoves (Ecodesign Ready Stove) so check with your manufacturer before purchasing. Remember, it is an offence to use a non-exempt stove in your home unless authorised fuel is used.

When using a stove, make sure you are burning at the optimum temperature. Burnright‘s Getting It Right video shows you how to get the most out of your stove.

Hackney is a designated smoke control area, so it’s an offence to use charcoal grills inside restaurants without using approved solid fuels.

It’s important to make sure the fuel is suitable for use in a smoke control area.

Search ‘charcoal’ on Defra’s website for a list of their authorised charcoal fuel brands you can use in smoke control areas.

It’s essential to clean appliance filters regularly to make sure particulate matter from cooking and burning solid fuel doesn’t get released into the outside environment. It’s best to remove grease from the canopy and to also clean the vent outside.

Eliminating grease and carbon build-up reduces fire risk, plus a regularly cleaned canopy will last longer and is cheaper to maintain. Efficient canopies also stop the build up of smoke in the ventilation system, preventing smoke from overflowing, which is healthier for restaurant staff.

The minimal requirements or specifications for the air cleaning system involved are:

• daily or weekly cleaning of the canopy in accordance with manufacturer’s recommendation – with soap and warm water
• running the filters through a pot wash – at least weekly
• regularly cleaning the outlet vent at the final discharge point

Appliances that burn gas from the mains supply are permitted in smoke control areas. Electric chargrills are also allowed.

There are several benefits of using gas or electric instead of charcoal:

• it’s easier to clean, so there’s less time spent cleaning
• it reaches cooking temperature quicker and it’s easier to maintain a consistent temperature
• it’s simple to turn and off, so reduces the risk of sparks or hot debris