Simon Bower of Percy Doughty discusses how the stove and fireplace industry has worked tirelessly to reduce emissions and improve sustainability
On 1 January 2022, only wood burning stoves that comply with the Ecodesign Regulations were able to enter the UK market. This regulation (welcomed by all stove manufacturers), meant that all stoves placed on the market after this date must be compliant with the regulation. If you purchased a stove before this date, the regulation did not apply.
The Ecodesign provision for local space heaters came into effect in 2022 on a national basis, while replacing existing provisions under the Clean Air Act 1993, which applied only in smoke control areas. The regulation derived from the European Union’s broader efforts to update their standards to improve air quality and reduce emissions through more environmentally friendly products that we use and rely on every day, covering a wide range of products including boilers, space heating appliances and wood burning stoves.
In 1993 the EC Directive 2009/125/EC on energy-related products or ErP (which replaced the Energy using Products or EuP directive at the time) provided a mechanism for setting minimum criteria including air quality pollutant emission limits. The focus was energy efficiency/carbon reduction, included several products with combustion emissions and the process aimed to set minimum standards for air quality pollutant emissions. The EC Regulations included emission limits for NOx from gas and oil-fired appliances initially but laid the foundation to include small solid fuel appliances and non-solid fuel room heaters.
Defra’s Clean Air Strategy 2019 (section 6.3.2 on page 59), published on 14 January 2019, promised that in 2022 the new EU Ecodesign regulations would come into force, and meant that all new stoves would need to meet agreed emission standards, regardless of where they are used. The aim of this was to raise the standard of appliances across the whole country, and not just in smoke-controlled areas.
These new emission limit requirements for solid fuel appliances would be coupled with an effective approach to testing. Measuring emissions of particulate matter from wood stoves was a recognised challenge and Defra set about working with industry sectors to review different methods for testing stove emissions to determine which test methods are most reliable and most importantly, effective.
The industry in anticipation had already made several advances in testing and in collaboration with the Stove Industry Association, it introduced its Ecodesign Ready brand ahead of the implementation of the Ecodesign provisions due to be introduced in 2022.
This showed consumers which stoves were already compliant with the key components of the new legislation. This information was crucial for consumers and subsequently it demonstrated that you could achieve up to 90% lower emissions than an open fire or old stove when purchasing an Ecodesign ready stove.
Education was also a focus and part of the key delivery strategy, to show how the new limits were met. In some cases, manufacturers such as ourselves went a step further and exceeded the set emission levels.
Manufacturers also worked with chimney sweep organisations to provide advice to chimney sweeps and householders. The industry came together to relay a consistent message, developing informative websites and various guides to provide clear advice on how to save money and reduce pollution by following certain simple rules. Doing so also improved the energy efficiency and enhanced the durability and recyclability of the stove.
Manufacturers have worked tirelessly with industry bodies such as HETAS and the Stove Industry Association supporting their dedicated campaigns and Defra Government campaigns to inform retailers of the Ready to Burn and Ecodesign Ready branding, providing free point of sale information for consumers and technical bulletins for the industry and trade.
This is alongside updated training requirements for teams in direct liaison with the consumers and working with education providers to ensure that stove retailers and installers understand their role in educating the consumer on the benefits of buying the right stove and using an accredited installer, using the correct fuels, and ensuring regular servicing/chimney sweeping.
The goal throughout was to safeguard consumers, which is the best way to impact positively on the level of emissions from domestic burning. This education on how to use and operate wood burning stoves also had a positive impact on air quality, and gave the consumer some confidence, knowing that the chimney and stove would last longer.
The impact on stoves means that they must be designed to burn wood more completely, resulting in a higher heat output and improving their efficiency, with less waste. It also sees cleaner operating stoves meeting stringent emission standards, significantly reducing the amount of particulates released into the air.
The emissions are measured and broken down into four contributors and measured in milligrams per cubic metre.
- Particulate matter (PMs)
- Organic gaseous compounds (OGC)
- Carbon monoxide (CO)
- Nitrogen oxides (NOx)
- Milligram per cubic metre (mg/m3) is a unit of measurement for concentration. It is generally used in measurement of pollutants in the air.
In comparison to traditional non-Ecodesign wood burning stoves, studies show a reduction of 80-94% in emissions when comparing a direct replacement with an Ecodesign stove, and a whopping 90% reduction if swapping to a stove from an open fire. The fuel consumption is also greatly reduced giving the consumer a sound economic benefit too. This cemented our existing approach to designing stoves with the environment in mind.
We all have an environmental responsibility, and the importance isn’t to be underestimated. By reducing our emissions we can help improve the air quality, mitigate the effects of climate change through positive contribution of efforts against it, and in the reduction of wood needed, thus promoting better sustainable forestry practices. All of which represents a significant step forward in making home heating more sustainable and environmentally friendly, making an Ecodesign stove a great choice for your home and the planet.
Simon Bower is technical director at Percy Doughty