# Can I burn wood in a fireplace ?



## keygen (12 Jun 2009)

Hi all.

I can have large amount of wooden pallets from the place I work and I want to use them to heat up the house to save some money on heating oil. I already stocked some pallets in the backyard but the thing is that my landlord says its illegal because of the smoke and air pollution.
Is this true ? I mean what was the fireplace made for if not for burning wood ?


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## Berni (12 Jun 2009)

I don't think wood is a problem, its just the use of smokey coal and the burning of houshold rubbish that are restricted.


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## mathepac (12 Jun 2009)

If you are in any of these areas - http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/FuelAllowance/SMOG/Pages/SmokelessFuelAllowance(SMOG).aspx  you will have to burn smokeless fuel in your fireplaces (forget about the Fuel Allowance bit), and I'm not sure if broken-up pallets meet the criteria laid down.

In any case if your land-lord tells you not to burn broken up pallets in his house, then presumably you can't burn broken-up pallets.

BTW, why would anyone want a fire or central heating in June?


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## Cayne (12 Jun 2009)

Wood is a smokeless fuel Keygen so your landlord is talking rubbish. 

Now if you were setting a large fire in the back yard that would be a different story and would contravene environment rules.



mathepac said:


> BTW, why would anyone want a fire or central heating in June?


 
Any amount of reasons, baby or OAP in house, someone with flu or other sickness. Anyways why ask? Not related to OPs query.


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## keygen (12 Jun 2009)

Thanks for fast reply guys.

You know the house gets quite cold when its windy and raining outside, besides its nice to have lit fireplace while you are chilling in the living room.
I've read smokeless fuel thing you liked me.

_"The marketing, sale and distribution of bituminous (smoke causing) fuel in some parts of the Ireland has been banned since 1990. The result of this ban has been a significant improvement in air quality in these areas._"

I believe that by the bituminous fuel they mean bituminous coal which indeed produces a lot of black smoke. I would be burning just plain wood.
I'm wondering if there is a legislation act that actually forbids using plain wood as a fuel in fireplaces.


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## Tomodinhio (12 Jun 2009)

I nearly always use wood in my fire and so do a lot of people i know, never heard anyone say its illiegal sure dont they sell bags of wood in the shops for use in fires.

living in dublin i cant burn coal that produces smoke and i dont think im aloud to burn turf either.


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## jhegarty (12 Jun 2009)

Pallets are generally made of awful quality wood , so expect lots of sparks.


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## WhoAmI (12 Jun 2009)

Tomodinhio said:


> I nearly always use wood in my fire and so do a lot of people i know, never heard anyone say its illiegal sure dont they sell bags of wood in the shops for use in fires.
> 
> living in dublin i cant burn coal that produces smoke and i dont think im aloud to burn turf either.



This has been covered several times before. The law states that it is illegal to *sell* smoky coal within several areas in the country, but it is not illegal to *use* smoky coal.

So-called 'smoky' coal is usually Polish coal and burns better and is less messy than the smokeless coal.

Turf is officially classified as a smokeless fuel. Briquettes are the same.

Even though all of these do produce smoke, it is the polluting contents of smoky coal which caused it to be banned. Again, it is illegal to sell, but not to use.


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## keygen (12 Jun 2009)

I actually rang the Air Quality Section in Dublin City Council and the woman there said its not regulated by law, she said in other words its NOT illegal, just like WhoAmI stated above.
Thanks everyone.


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## Smashbox (12 Jun 2009)

I burn wood, just make sure you use a fireguard as it sparks a lot.


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## huskerdu (12 Jun 2009)

Smashbox said:


> I burn wood, just make sure you use a fireguard as it sparks a lot.


 
I agree. You also might be surprised how quickly wood like that burns. 

Many years ago, I lived in a flat with only an open fire for heating.
Someone gave us bags of wood from clearing out their shed for us
to burn.  These were not logs, but bits of wood like broken up pallets. 

We ended up going through the 20 bags in weeks, not months. 

A fire full of wood pieces would burn down in 30 minutes. 
We didn't get cold, as we were constantly moving to get wood from
the back and add to the fire. 

I would suggest mixing it with coal or proper logs to reduce the amount of fuel you ned to buy but not depend on it completely.


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