What is Eco Design? Are Stoves Being Banned?

With misleading headlines filling the media regarding the future of the wood burning stove industry, it has become increasingly confusing for members of the public to separate the facts from the fake news. Are wood burning stoves going to be banned soon in the UK? No. In fact their continued place in an age of environmental awareness has been assured through the Eco Design 2022 Ready Initiative.

Turning Great Smogs into Clear Skies

The Eco Design 2022 Ready initiative is the latest advancement in closed heating appliances to ensure their clean and efficient operation meet the demands of today. The great smog of 1950s London saw the birth of the first Clean Air Act which led to the creation of Smokeless Zones around the UK. Only stoves approved by the Dept. for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) can be operated in these areas due to their lower emissions. Fast forward 70 years and in a bid to aid the country meet its national reduced emissions targets, the Stove Industry Alliance has led the way in creating a new age of wood burning stoves with higher efficiencies, lower harmful emissions and improved fuel sustainability.

How Does Eco Design Affect You Today?

Similar to the introduction of LOT20 to the energy market and VOC2010 to the paint industry, this new directive for a reduced impact on the environment comes in stages; for now, only stoves manufactured after January 2022 must meet the new, stricter regulations. That means non-compliant stoves are still available on the market and your existing non-compliant burner is unaffected… For now.

How Do Eco Design Stoves Differ?

Simply put, for cleaner emissions you need to burn off the nasty stuff. In a contemporary Eco Design compliant stove this can be achieved by allowing greater airflow for complete combustion of fuel and better insulation to hold the gases in the fire box for longer. The latter tends to be in the form of a double baffle plate and/or double fire bricks. This does mean on occasion we might need to teach old dogs new tricks as you become familiar with the operation of a contemporary burner, but that is the role of any responsible, HETAS approved stove retailer such as Glowing Embers.

What can be better than making a difference now and start personally contributing to a proposed reduction in UK carbon emissions by two million tonnes per year? By purchasing an Eco Design Ready stove, you unlock the full potential of a modern, highly efficient wood burner which could slash your particulate emissions by up to 84% vs your existing stove, cut fuel costs and reduce your carbon footprint on the planet. Through Eco Design (and beyond) to education and approved fuels, the stove industry is ensuring we can continue to enjoy the back to basics, cosy tradition of solid fuel heating in our cleaner, greener homes of tomorrow.

Watch our video with Richard where he explains everything you need to know such as key terms and regulations.

Media reports on emissions from wood burning stoves are frequently misleading because they often include various types of appliances under the general label of "wood burners." However, it is important to note that out of the 27.3% of UK particulate matter (PM) emissions attributed to domestic combustion, just 1.3% of total UK PM2.3 emissions can be specifically attributed to modern, EcoDesign compliant stoves.

Take a look at the Stove Industry Assosiations (SIA) diagram below for more detail.