When the Electricity Power is cut which happens quite regularly here where we are in not so rural Devon we are so thankful for our wood stoves and wood burning cooker which means we are still keep warm and can cook. This happened again last week. Living here in the south of the country it is not so bad as we have milder winters than the  people that live in the north of England and Scotland.

It bother's me that many new builds only have electricity to supply heating, hot water and cooking which is seen as now politically correct.

In the UK where there is a plentiful supply of local, sustainable wood fuel I question why the option to install a highly efficient, complementary, and low carbon heat source is being gradually removed, especially when the aim of legislation is to reduce carbon emissions from domestic heating.

It is hugely detrimental to the local economy, consumer choice and carbon reduction targets to restrict the use of wood burning stoves in homes. 

Wood has the lowest carbon emissions factor of any domestic heating fuel, and modern stove appliances operate highly efficiently and with minimal emissions (up to 90% reduction emissions compared to an open fire.

Heat Pumps of course offer enormous benefits in our quest for net zero, but are not a panacea. Their shortfalls are they are expensive to fit, operate at a steady rate meaning that they often require top up heating sources, put increased strain on an already overstretched energy grid and they will not work when there is a power cut. 

We cannot afford to overlook the importance of being grid independent by using wood burning if only as secondary heating.