Are multi fuel and woodburning stove fuels being banned?

Flamecraft • 21 February 2020

Short answer: Not all of them. Long Answer: New regulations.

The government has announced changes to the regulations concerning woodburning & multi fuel stove fuels due to the harmful level of pollutants that they produce.

The changes:

  • Traditional house coal will be phased out. By February 2021 bagged house coal will no longer be available for sale, and by 2023 loose house coal that is delivered direct will no longer be available.
  • Wet wood will be phased out from February 2021. This is only for sales below two cubic metres, for amounts above this it will still be sold with advice on how to properly dry the wood for burning.
  • Solid fuel products that remain on sale will require the manufactures to provide proof of a low sulphur content and minimal smoke emissions. Smokeless coal will remain on sale as long as it meets the new regulations.

What does this mean to owners of multi fuel or woodburning stoves?

The honest answer is not a lot.

Industry standard has been ahead of these changes for several years. Anyone that has purchased a stove in recent years will have been advised that burning wet wood, which has a moisture content above 20% and house coal will invalidate any guarantees for a woodburner, multi fuel stove and any pipework required for the installation. More often than not operating instructions provided with stoves will clearly state that only seasoned or kiln dried logs with a moisture content of below 20% or smokeless fuels can be burnt inside the units, any other fuel will invalidate guarantees.

The reasoning behind this is not just due to emissions but also because traditional house coal and wet wood produce a great deal of soot, tar, creosote and other harmful substances that can cause damage to stoves and pipework, as well as heightening the risk of a chimney fire.

Most reputable retailers avoid selling wet wood to the general public already and sell either seasoned or kiln dried logs. Most will advise if you want true ready to burn logs to purchase kiln dried as the process they go through to dry them often gets a lower moisture content that logs that have been left to season naturally for eighteen months plus.

All reputable coal merchants and HETAS engineers who are qualified installers of multi fuel stoves will advise not to burn traditional house coal in stoves, and heavily stress that only smokeless fuels can be burnt.

Who will these changes actually effect?

These changes will primarily affect open fire owners who will no longer be able to purchase house coal and those who are not aware that they should not be burning these fuels in woodburners or multi fuel stoves already.

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December Opening Times

by Flamecraft • 3 December 2020
We all made it through second lockdown and are pleased to be open to the general public once more. We welcome customers to come visit us, but kindly ask they adhere to the government guidelines regarding social distancing. While we understand lockdown was frustrating, we are in a tier 3 area and therefore we also ask that our customers shop responsibly and only come into the showroom for essential purposes when possible. We are still able to take orders for stove spares over phone and email and in many cases out manufacturers will deliver these directly to our customers to help us to reduce the need for people to put themselves at risk of Covid-19. We know we sound like we are lecturing, however we want to ensure all our customers have a very happy and healthy Christmas. With all this in mind, we have reduced the hours the showroom will be open. We will review these regularly and open for longer if needed, we are also able to arrange appointments to visit the showroom at Baytree outside these hours, Our December opening hours are as follows: Monday: CLOSED (Pre-booked appointments available) Tuesday: CLOSED (Pre-booked appointments available) Wednesday: CLOSED (Pre-booked appointments available) Thursday: 10am - 2pm (Pre-booked appointments available till 5pm) Friday: 10am - 2pm (Pre-booked appointments available till 5pm) Saturday: 10am - 5pm Sunday: 10am - 4pm We kindly ask when pre-booking appointments Monday - Wednesday that customers give 24 hours notice and Pre-booked appointments are available between 10am - 5pm. On Thursdays and Fridays appointments can be pre-booked on the day before 1:30pm via calling 01406 373600. We are available via emailing flamecraftuk@aol.com outside our opening hours and will try to reply to customers as quickly as possible.

Call & Collect Available during Second Lockdown

by Flamecraft • 3 November 2020
With second lockdown looming many of our customers are concerned about being able to purchase fuel and spare parts during second lockdown. We completely understand this and whilst our showroom wont be open to the general public we are running a 'Call & Collect' service.

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Our range of wood burners & multi fuel stoves is about to get bigger!

by Flamecraft • 16 October 2020
It is the season for hot chocolate, fluffy blankets, hot water bottles and curling up in front of a roaring fire. With the days getting sorter and the nights getting longer it means we are busy installing wood burning and multi fuel stoves in homes. Like for many this year has been challenging, and we have worked tirelessly to ensure our customers will still receive the best service possible from us. We also understand that with the challenges of the past year many of us we are looking for more affordable heating options for this winter. Over the summer we have had many discussions about the issues we are all facing, and we knew we wanted to do everything we could to ensure our customers can still enjoy owning a wood burner or multi fuel stove. On top of the challenges this year has brought us all we are also very aware that since the announcement of the incoming Ecodesign regulations more and more of our customers are coming to us looking for Ecodesign 2022 Approved wood burners and multi fuel stoves. While we had Ecodesign stoves available, we wanted to give our customers more options to choose from. So, we knew we had two targets: 1. Have wood burning and multi fuels stove options available for a range of different budgets. 2. Expand our range of Ecodesign Approved stoves. We went through many different ideas until we finally realised the solution was in front of us (literally in a pile of brochures we had from a trade show we visited last year). A manufacturer that had a huge range of Ecodesign 2022 approved wood burning and multi fuel stoves that meet our own guidelines for quality and design (as well as being manufactured in the UK), and to top that off offering a range of price points that would allow us to offer more affordable stoves. So of course we gave them a call.