DEFRA Launches Cleaner Fuel Campaign

It’s impossible to be unaware of the many environmental concerns we need to face these days, whether it’s the effects of climate change, chemicals and raw sewage in our rivers, streams and seas, or air pollution as a result of certain industrial and other processes.

With the latter of these issues in mind, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has recently launched a campaign designed to make us more careful about what we burn and reduce the negative impact of using a multi-fuel stove or open fire.

The campaign is called ‘Burn Better, Breathe Better’, and in this article, the KG Smith & Son team is taking a close look at it to discover its aims and how our fuels can help meet its goals.

Burn Better, Breathe Better

One of the things that the campaign is highlighting is that small changes can make a big difference. No one is suggesting that we abandon solid fuel as a means of heating our homes, but being smarter in how we use it can bring numerous benefits we should all want to see. These are:

• Improved air quality 
• Fewer chimney fires
• More efficient heating

So what is the Burn Better, Breathe Better campaign suggesting we do to reach these goals?

Check it regularly

A well maintained stove or fire burns its fuel more efficiently, meaning less needs to be used to heat a home and less pollution reaches the atmosphere as a result. Apart from having your appliance or system professionally installed and maintained, you also need to be diligent about cleaning out ash, checking for cracks in firebricks, cleaning the glass in your stove, checking the seal on your stove door and cleaning the outside of your stove or open fire.

Sweep it professionally

Having your chimney swept at least once a year is one of the most important things you need to do to keep your fire or stove working efficiently and reduce the risk of a chimney fire. Our previous article on How to Keep Your Fire and Chimney Safe featured regular sweeping as its first and most important element.

Feed it the right fuel

Here at KG Smith & Son, apart from offering expert advice on the best way to look after your appliances and equipment, we’re also a leading supplier of the kinds of fuel that the DEFRA campaign is seeking to promote in its campaign.

Whether you’re burning briquettes, wood or smokeless coal, one of the key things you need to look for is the Ready to Burn logo. 

In the case of firewood, it indicates that the fuel has a moisture content of 20% or less – we looked at the problems associated with burning wet wood in this earlier article. These included environmental and health issues along with an increased danger of chimney blockages and fires.

In the case of other solid fuels, the Ready to Burn logo indicates that the fuel meets both sulphur and smoke emission limits. This includes all the smokeless coals, briquettes and manufactured fire logs available from us. There are some exceptions to the requirement for the Ready to Burn logo, including some manufactured fuels made from recycled materials.

Here at KG Smith, we’ve been supplying coal and other solid fuels to customers across the UK for over 75 years. Of course, we’re in a very different world to the one in which Kenneth Smith established the business in 1947, and we understand the importance of making sure we move with the times.

Today, that means supplying clean burning fuels that meet all the necessary environmental regulations that have been introduced to keep our air and homes cleaner and healthier.

If you’d like to know more about how KG Smith can help you to burn and breathe better by using clean solid fuels for your home heating, please get in touch with our friendly and helpful team today.