Do not burn wood
You tackle the following challenges:
That's how you do it
Many people find a wood fire cozy. Unfortunately, wood smoke is unhealthy, not only for yourself but also for your neighbors. Wood burning is one of the main sources of air pollution, and produces substances such as fine dust and soot. That's why it's better not to burn wood.
2. Tips
- Do not burn wood. Use electric (outdoor) heating instead of a stove, fireplace or fire pit. Replace your Christmas tree burning with an atmospheric light festival. Or try an electric barbecue.
- Do you want to make a wood fire? Then do it smart!
- Only use dry and untreated wood.
- Do not heat in windless or foggy weather. Follow the heating guide in the Netherlands or the heating advice in Flanders.
- Use the right technique. You can find useful tips on the websites Stook Slim (Flanders) or Milieu Centraal (Netherlands).
- Make people in your environment aware of the negative consequences of wood burning.
Knowing more
Wood combustion is responsible for an important part of the air pollution by fine dust. In Flanders, for example, 44 % of the emissions of particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) come from wood or wood pellets for domestic heating. Burning wood for two hours produces as much particulate matter as a passenger car driving from Amsterdam to Milan.
Burning wood not only releases particulate matter, but also dioxins and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Dioxins disrupt fertility and the hormone and immune system. PAHs cause DNA damage and are carcinogenic. Older people, children and people with sensitive lungs or heart complaints are extra sensitive to the effects of wood smoke.
More information
- Stook Smart (Department of Environment, Flanders)
- Heating advice (Flanders)
- How harmful is burning wood? (Flemish Environmental Agency, Flanders)
- Code of good practice for domestic wood heating (BAT knowledge centre, Flanders)
- Wood stove or fireplace: heating tips (Milieu Centraal, the Netherlands)
- Heating indicator (Netherlands)
- Preventing nuisance caused by wood burning (GGD Leefmilieu, The Netherlands)
Tips
- Do not burn wood. Use electric (outdoor) heating instead of a stove, fireplace or fire pit. Replace your Christmas tree burning with an atmospheric light festival. Or try an electric barbecue.
- Do you want to make a wood fire? Then do it smart!
- Only use dry and untreated wood.
- Do not heat in windless or foggy weather. Follow the heating guide in the Netherlands or the heating advice in Flanders.
- Use the right technique. You will find useful tips on the websites Stook Slim (Flanders) or Milieu Centraal (Netherlands).
- Make people in your area aware of the negative consequences of wood burning .
