‘People already can’t afford to heat their homes’: Cost-of-living-hit Britons say wood burners have ‘saved them a fortune’ and there is ‘zero chance’ they will give them up amid new rules effectively banning them

• Those who move to a new building will be banned from installing a wood burner
• This has led Britons to worry for those who are already struggling in living crisis 

Britons have praised wood burners for ‘saving them a fortune’ and are now worried for those who are already struggling in the cost-of-living crisis. 

The government is looking to crack down on misuse of the stoves and has told council chiefs to look at imposing on-the-spot civil penalties, which could be as much as £300.

And under the latest guidelines set out by Sadiq Khan, an air quality limit means large home and office developments can no longer use wood or solid fuels, meaning wood burners have effectively been banned in new and refurbished buildings in London.

But Britons have claimed they have ‘saved a fortune’ using their wood burners and are worried for those who are already struggling and need to move home as they may not have access to the same lifeline. 

One Twitter user wrote: ‘You can’t afford the electricity or gas heating, so you have a log burner and that is gone too.’

Britons have said wood burners save them a fortune and are now worried for those who are already struggling in the cost-of-living crisis amidst the rules set out by Sadiq Khan effectively ban them 

Amid the effective ban Britons claimed they have ‘saved a fortune’ and those who are already struggling and need to move home may not have access to the same lifeline 

For many struggling during the cost of living crisis log burners are their main source of energy as it helps to keep their souring energy bills down.

After seeing how much money they could save and how much fuel companies such as Shell made in profits, people have now said there is ‘zero chance’ chance of them getting rid of their heaters.

One Twitter user wrote: ‘Yup… there is zero chance I’m giving up my log burner now.’

While another wrote: ‘Get yourself a log burner, I got one and have been able to shut down my ground source heat pump and underfloor heating and have saved a fortune.’

People will not be able to install these log burners in new buildings and so will have to try to manage soaring energy prices.

Some people who live in rural areas have no other choice other than to potentially cough hundreds of pounds extra every year as they don’t have access to a gas pipe and so rely on log burners.

One Twitter user wrote: ‘We live very rural with no gas line. Our log burner keeps us warm during the deepest darkest winters as we have no central heating.’

One twitter users swears buy his log burner and does not plan on getting rid of it any time soon in response to the profits made by fuel companies 

Those who are not moving into a new building and currently own a log burner, are at risk of being slapped with a £300 fine and could be paying hundreds more a year in maintenance under the new regulations set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023.

People in designated ‘Smoke Control Areas’ – most towns and cities –could be slapped with the fine if their log burners emit more than 3 grams of smoke per hour.

This could lead to people paying hundreds of pounds extra a year as they can effectively no longer use regular wood and must use ‘seasoned’ (dry) wood which is 12% more expensive. 

Under the Department for Environment, Food and Rural affairs guidance for wood-burning stoves they advise servicing your stove annually and getting your chimney swept up to twice a year. 

This could cost homes hundreds of pounds extra every year. 

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