Thursday is Clear Air Night and Dave McCormick of Clear Air Barnet wants to start a conversation

A wood burning stove — Image by MegLearner from Pixabay

It’s time to talk about wood burning stoves.

This Thursday, 22nd January 2026 is Clean Air Night, when Clean Air Barnet will be helping to spark a conversation about the health harms of air pollution from wood burning in homes.

According to Global Action Plan (lead Clean Air Night organiser): “Wood burning is the most polluting way to heat your home, contributing to serious health conditions for people across the UK and cutting lives short. Even homes with newer ‘Ecodesign’ wood burners are three times more polluted than those without.

New research shows that if we stopped burning wood where another heat source is available, we could avoid more than 1500 premature deaths in the UK each year, save the NHS over £54 million in healthcare costs (which is the equivalent of 1.5 million GP appointments) and prevent £164 million wider productivity costs to the UK economy annually.

With energy prices rising, people across the UK are looking for alternative ways to heat their homes. But research shows that if your house is connected to the energy grid, it is almost always more expensive to heat your home using a wood burner or open fire rather than central heating.

Clean Air Night is an opportunity to learn the facts about wood burning and share what you’ve learned with your friends, family and community to ensure everyone can make informed decisions about how to heat their homes.”

If you want to find out more about Clean Air Night check out the website https://www.cleanairhub.org.uk/clean-air-night

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