Coal Merchants Federation
News
FUELS LEGISLATION
DEFRA’s new legislation came fully into force in England on 1st May 2023, but there is no need to change your fire or stove to comply with the new law.
The main changes are as follows:
Housecoal
House coal is now banned across the whole of England for domestic use, consumers can use up the coal that they purchased prior to May 2023 but after it is finished consumers can no longer buy it and should change to an authorised smokeless fuel (as described below).- Anyone selling house coal to a domestic consumer after 1st May 2023 is breaking the law.
- Always look for the Approved Coal Merchants Logo when buying your fuel.
Manufactured Smokeless Fuels
Since 1st May 2021 only authorised manufactured smokeless fuels are allowed for sale. They will be easily recognised by bearing the Ready to Burn logo with its relevant unique individual number (see example shown). There are a wide variety of authorised Ready to Burn manufactured smokeless fuels on the market to choose from.- If the fuel you are buying does not show the logo or MSF number, either on the packaging or on the paperwork it is not legal to burn in England.
Logs/Wood
Since 1st May 2021 wood logs sold in small quantities, i.e. less than 2m³, are required to have a moisture content of less than 20% and must always show the Woodsure, Ready to Burn logo on the packaging- Wood sold in quantities of over 2m³ should by law be accompanied by guidance on how to season the wood before use.
Anthracite
- There is no change to the sale of anthracite as it is a naturally occurring smokeless fuel.
(Content is correct at the time of publishing)
The Solid Fuel Association’s response to the Clean Air Strategy
(published 14 Jan 2019)
Why you shouldn’t be worried about using your wood burners or multi fuel stoves:
Dispelling the myths
Contrary to some newspaper reports the Government doesn’t want to stop people using their stoves, neither do they intend to ban any stoves. What they have said is they could phase out or ban the most polluting fuels. Using the correct fuel, keeping your stove maintained and using your stove at the right temperature by using the air controls will all help to reduce pollution.
We can all make a difference by the way we use our stoves whether it is by improving the maintenance of the stove and keeping your chimney clean or burning only those solid fuels which have less than 2% sulphur or wood that has less than 20% moisture usually described as seasoned or kiln dried wood. How do you know if you are burning the correct fuels? Manufactured solid fuels that contain less than 2% sulphur and anthracite are described as Authorised Smokeless Fuels and will also be approved by HETAS and will usually show the logo for the Approved Coal Merchants Scheme.
Wood that is seasoned or kiln dried will usually mention it on the packaging and there is a logo that you can look out for which is the Woodsure Ready to Burn logo. On no account should you be burning wet wood as not only will it produce many harmful particulates, if your chimney has a flexible liner over time it will probably ruin the liner as well as not producing much heat into the bargain, this is because it takes a very long time to burn off the moisture contained in wet wood.
As well as the media confusion over the Clean Air Strategy, it should be made clear, until the Government publish their response to their Domestic Burning of solid fuel and wood Consultation, we do not know what their final recommendations will be to reduce emissions from domestic burning. The Clean Air Strategy gives us a good indication of what actions they have decided will reduce emissions from the use of solid fuels and wood in the home, but nothing has been finalised until they set out their proposals for legislation which they have said should be published in early 2019.