The public is understandably confused by advertising campaigns which portray wood-burning stoves as better for the environment. But on a planet experiencing catastrophic heating, what place does fire have as a source of heating? Although our building regulations do not explicitly rule out chimneys, the heating source – heat pump, oil or gas heating – in a well-insulated and airtight building will be much more efficient and cost less to run if there is no chimney. According to the 2022 census, while just over 30,000 households reported using wood fuel as their primary heating source, 245,000 households indicated that they burned wood as a supplementary heating source, and 450,000 homes have a stove or range for burning solid fuel. Biomass will likely play a minor role in home heating scenarios across Europe, so it would be foolish to design policies that assume Irish homes will have wood-burning stoves.
