Burning smoke-free means a warmer, cheaper fire

Winter is almost here, and we want everyone in Canterbury to be warm and cosy in their homes. A smoke-free fire means a warmer, cheaper fire – and cleaner air for us all to breathe.

There are three components to ensure a smoke-free fire:

1. Use of dry, well-seasoned wood
2. Adopting good burning technique
3. Use of a modern, well-maintained burner.

Good wood

Ensuring your wood is dry and well-seasoned is key to burning a hotter, more efficient fire with less smoke. It’ll also save you money as you’ll use less wood to achieve a better result.

See our list of Trusted Good Wood Merchants at Warmer Cheaper – we audit the merchants in this programme annually, and testing moisture content is part of this.

Remember, it’s best to buy your wood well ahead of winter, ideally in spring, storing it somewhere tucked away and dry.

Not all dry woods are equal, either. Some burn hotter and produce less smoke. Plantation pine, Douglas fir and blue gum are the best, while old-man pine can be smoky, and so is probably best for kindling or mixed with other woods.

Burning technique

Adopting good burning technique is also important to ensure a hot, smoke-free fire.

The ‘upside-down’ fire building technique can last anywhere between 30-60 minutes before reloading is required. This method involves placing larger wood at the bottom and kindling on top.

Visit Warmer Cheaper to learn this ‘upside-down’ burning method.

The wood burner

The final component for a smoke-free fire is the burner itself. A modern, well-maintained burner with a clean flue will achieve the best results.

There are subsidies and other forms of financial assistance available to those in Clean Air Zones, to help you upgrade to an ultra-low emission burner or alternative forms of heating such as an Energy Star qualified heat pump.

However, we understand that not everyone is able to invest in upgrading their home heating. If this is the case, it’s possible that you may be eligible for a temporary waiver to operate your non-compliant wood burner in winter, if certain conditions are met.

Get in touch

If you’d like to discuss your home heating situation, one of our friendly Better Burning Advisors will be happy to talk to you. We can even visit you at home if you like, to give a better burning demonstration and test your wood moisture.

• Visit Warmer Cheaper for help with your burning technique and for our list of Trusted Good Wood Merchants
• Go to our Home Heating hub for our Clean Air Zone rules, information about wood burners, and financial assistance that may be available to you
• Call us on 0800 329 276 to talk to a member of our Customer Services team.