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A stove which is improperly used and maintained can lead to increased pollution and increased risk of fire, as well as costing more due to inefficiency.

Follow these tips to make your wood-burning stove safer, less polluting and more efficient

Only burn seasoned wood with a moisture content of 20% or below, or use lower-polluting wood pellets, looking for the Ready To Burn logo on any purchases. If you buy wood in larger quantities to season at home, follow the manufacturers’ instructions to do this.

Freshly-cut wood and that with a higher moisture content can cause greater heavy particle pollution and lead to the formation of tar, an extremely flammable substance which can start chimney fires. Treated wood can release carcinogenic fumes.

While it can be tempting to pick up wood from the garden o

It’s not only the energy crisis that is creating unprecedented demand for log-burners: clean-burn technology, app-based controls and new designs fuelled by alternatives to wood are also transforming possibilities.

According to the Stove Industry Alliance, seasoned logs are now the least expensive domestic heating fuel, costing 74% less per kWh than electric and 21% less than gas. The Nottingham Energy Partnership has also found that using a modern Ecodesign wood-burning stove costs 29% less to run than an air-source heat pump.

Leaps and bounds in stove technology are also fuelling demand, but how clean are they, given the concerns about particulate levels? The current generation of wood-burning stoves are so much more efficient, consuming less fuel to generate more heat, and they are much cleaner.

The key move in this area has been the introduction of E

Regardless of how diligent you are in keeping your home clean, it is easy to overlook maintenance in certain areas of your home, including the roof!

So, if you haven’t already prepared for the winter, now is the time to add the often-neglected chimney stack to your cleaning list!

A ventilation structure designed to carry off smoke should always be swept regularly.