I’m cooling on my stove

OUR house is quite old and draughty, and with the cost of heating soaring, I’ve been looking at alternative ways to heat it, including installing a wood-burning stove. But this turns out to be a very bad idea.

Although wood-burning stoves (and open fires) look lovely, they actually produce huge amounts of tiny particles called PM 2.5 which are really bad for our health.

These particles can travel deep into our lungs, worsening conditions such as asthma. They’ve also been linked to an increased risk of heart disease and lung cancer. According to the British Medical Journal, woodburning stoves produce more PM 2.5 than all the UK’s cars, trucks and buses put together. And they won’t save the planet: another study found that the average wood stove causes six times more global warming than a heat pump in your home. So now I am seeing if I can improve the insulation in our house — and perhaps invest in solar panels.