When talk first came about of a wood burning stove ban in London, many people and businesses in the fireplace industry went into panic mode.
There wasn’t a great deal of clarity on the subject, and there were so many things up in the air, but this confusion didn’t go away for weeks, until finally some of the important questions were gradually answers.
So what do we know so far?
Well, Sadiq Khan’s proposed ban on wood-burning stoves in the most-polluted areas of London will not be enforced against homeowners and will only be in operation at certain times of the year. Under his plans, stoves, also known as log burners would be occasionally banned from use in zones in the capital from 2025 onwards and UK-wide laws blocking the sale of all but the newest, cleanest stoves from 2022 would be brought in earlier, but there has been no clarification on exactly when this will be yet. So, in an attempt to reassure the thousands of Londoners who bought their very expensive stoves in good faith, the focus, and the point of this ban, is to educate owners “not to burn wood during bad air quality episodes”. Authorities will reserve enforcement for commercial users such as hotels, but that’s the aim of the game with this ban. The thing is, people really do not realise the impact that burning wood can have, especially in urban areas, so it’s really important that changes are made, and even though we didn’t necessarily agree with this to begin with, we can understand why it’s been brought about. What’s great is that wood burning stoves are so very popular in the UK and we’re a very traditional country. Some other countries have moved on with central heating taking over, but we like to burn wood and create the cosy atmosphere on a cold winter’s day. We do this by lighting our stoves and it’s part of being British. The word ban is kind of wrong too, but it’s a word that has stuck with this story. It’s not necessarily a ban; it’s just ensuring we don’t overuse our log burners when we really don’t need to. So don’t refrain from buying from Aarrow stoves or any other leading brand because of this, you’re unlikely to be burning so frequently that you’ll be affected anyway!
All good things should be moderated, and unfortunately this means stoves and log burners too. So we’re all for this ‘ban’ but we don’t agree with it 100%.
What else do we need to know?
As you would expect, the Green party and campaigners said the mayor was right to tackle emissions from the stoves, but questions remain! Some want to know how practical it would be to enforce the proposed ban, whilst this change could affect wood-burning stove owners beyond London, too. The mayor’s office said he supported the amendment being made in a way that such powers were given to all cities, not just the capital.
So there will certainly be lots more to come on this and we’ll do our best to keep you updated as the news comes in.
