DEFRA has recently launched a UK-wide consultation to get feedback from anyone who wants to give it. on three potential policies they are considering to reduce air pollution from domestic wood burning.
Here's everything you need to know, and how to have your say.
What's included in this article?
Are log burners being banned?
We still get asked this all the time, and luckily the answer is no - there are still no plans to ban log burners. The consultation lays out proposals to reduce emissions from wood burning but none of them are at even close to banning log burners.
For more detail on why we get this question so often, have a read of what we've written before.
Why are DEFRA focusing on domestic wood burning and not other forms of pollution?
It’s a good question!
It is easier to target consumers than businesses but we do find it strange that they make laws to reduce domestic wood burning whilst paying businesses to burn wood!
Since 2011, businesses have been offered financial incentives to use renewable heat sources, including biomass boilers, which burn wood instead of gas or oil. As of March 2025, £6.95 billion has been paid out to companies who are registered for the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive programme.
However, whether we think the government approach is fair or not, air pollution is a really important issue and as people who love fire and burning wood, we do think we have a responsibility to make sure our emissions are as low as possible.
What have DEFRA already done to reduce emissions from domestic wood burning?
DEFRA have been working on reducing air pollution from wood burning for a while now
- For the last 20 years, more and more cities have become ‘Smoke Control Areas’ where there are rules on the type of fuel you can burn in specific stoves.
- In May 2021, DEFRA created a UK-wide law that said all wood sold in quantities of less than 2m3 had to be dried to below 20% moisture and certified ‘Ready to Burn’.
- In January 2022, it was made law that all new stove installations had to be Ecodesign models, with maximum smoke emissions of 5 grams per hour.
What impact have these laws had on pollution levels?
A really positive one - PM10 levels in the UK have fallen 74% since 1990!
A lot of progress has been made in just the past few years - since 2021, we have seen PM10 and PM2.5 emissions from domestic wood burning fall by almost 20% each, despite nearly 400,000 new wood burning stoves being installed during that time period.
This is incredible progress and shows that more people are reaping the benefits of burning properly dry wood.
PM10 and PM2.5 are types of particulate matter released when wood is burned. The article below explains it more detail.
What are the proposals in the Government Wood Burning Consultation?
DEFRA have included three proposals in the consultation, and anyone in the UK can respond to these and give their views.
The three proposals are:
1. Stricter emission limits for new stoves
What is the proposal?
DEFRA are considering reducing the permitted smoke emissions rate per wood burning stove from 5 grams per hour to 1 gram per hour. This will only be applicable to new stoves being installed – you won’t be forced to upgrade your existing log burner!
What do we think of it?
70% of stoves tested since 2018 already meet the proposed standard so the change would only affect 30% of new stoves installed.
Based on stove installation data and some rough assumptions on how often people use their wood burner, we’ve calculated that this would save less than 40 tonnes of PM10 per year, which is less than 0.4% of the total PM10 emitted in 2024.
Our conclusion is that it’s not worth the time or effort - both to stove manufacturers and to whichever body has to enforce the new rules - for the saving in air pollution.
2. Mandatory labelling
What is the proposal?
- A mandatory label on each wood burning stove sold with an A- C scale to show how polluting that appliance is and a statement about the health impacts of wood burning
- A mandatory label on fuel packaging advising that the product can have a negative effect on health
What do we think of it?
It needs to be done properly to avoid misinformation!
There is a huge difference in emissions between someone with an EcoDesign stove burning properly kiln-dried wood a few times a week and someone burning coal or wet wood in an open fireplace every day.
Emissions are also impacted by how you manage your fire. For example, closing the air vents fully and letting your fire smoulder is a lot more polluting than maximising airflow to burn it as hot as possible.
We believe that the messaging should be positive and advise consumers how to reduce their emissions and get the most from their fuel.
We worry that slapping a blanket ‘harmful’ label on every type of fuel is confusing as it suggests all fuel is equally polluting which doesn’t help you make the best choice – why would you choose to pay more for kiln-dried hardwood over wet softwood or coal if both have a label on that says ‘harmful’.
It’s also another area where we feel that DEFRA are unfairly demonising wood burning over other forms of air pollution because they see us as an easy target - there are no labels about petrol/diesel emissions when you fill up your car!
3. Increased enforcement penalties
What is the proposal?
An increase in the penalty for suppliers selling wet wood from £300 to £2,000 with increased penalties for repeat offenders. There is no proposal to increase penalties for consumers, only suppliers.
What do we think about it?
We’re all for it! We know that there are still companies selling wood over 20% moisture (and have reported some of them to Ready to Burn ourselves!) and we would love to see a crack down so that consumers know they are buying good quality wood and comparing like for like.
A summary of our thoughts on the Government Wood Burning Consultation
We think that DEFRA have done some great work so far, and that the past four years have proven that burning only properly dry wood massively reduces pollution.
However, we know that the message hasn't reached everyone yet, and that there are still suppliers out there who aren't following the rules.
Our opinion is that DEFRA's focus should be on educating customers on the importance of dry wood, the importance of looking after your stove and regularly getting your chimney swept, and encouraging them to upgrade to an Ecodesign stove when they are ready.
We don't think that bringing in new and stricter regulations is the right call until everyone is following the old regulations!
How to have your say on the consultation
Want to give your opinion on the government proposals?
The consultation can be found on the government website here
We'd also love to hear your views! Send us an email on info@love-logs.com or leave us a comment below.