In 2015 a detailed survey was conducted to reveal facts and figures behind the domestic wood usage in the UK.
The purpose of this was to improve the DECC’s (Department of Energy & Climate Change) estimate of the contribution domestic wood fuel makes towards the UK’s share of the Renewable Energy Directive target.
The EU has set a 15% overall target for UK energy consumption from renewable sources in 2020.
The Results & Emerging Trends:
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- Over 90% of wood users use logs, with a small proportion using wood in the form of chips, briquettes, waste wood etc
- Wood users represent around 7.5% of the UK population
- London has the lowest proportion of wood users (users per 100,000 households) at 3.9%
- Northern Ireland had the highest proportion of wood users (users per 100,000 households) at 18%
- Over 50% of the appliances, which used wood as a heating source were wood burning stoves, and 40% were the much less efficient open fires. The remaining < 10% were other various wood derived heating sources
Below are some graphical statistics, which were revealed following the research:
(sourced from DECC Domestic Wood Survey 2015)
Further interesting results emerged from the survey, which revealed a number of points:
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- Logs accounted for over 90% of wood usage
- The second largest type of wood used was waste wood, at around 20%
- Most people who burn wood are either given the wood, or buy it from a specialist, both groups combined account for around 40% of total wood acquisition in the UK
- Only slightly over 10% of wood users acquire wood from their own land
- 80% of people who took part in the survey used the wood as a source of heating
- Only around 1.3% used wood as a cooking heat source
- Almost 90% of people have their wood fuel heating source in the reception/living room
You can read more about renewable energy sources in a recent article we created – more info. Renewable energy is a great move for not just the UK, but all countries around the world. The fact is that fossil fuels are not environmentally friendly and are not sustainable – they are not renewable, unlike wood. Some say we still have many decades of fossil fuels left, and as a result do not need to worry about renewable energy. However, even if fossil fuels will sustain everyone alive today for the rest of their lives, they will not be around forever, and we should be thinking not just about us, but for future generations.
Wood is a highly sustainable energy source, which we talk about at length on our website. Our wood burning stoves, are designed to be highly efficient, and to help you get the most from every log you burn. You are able to view our range of wood burning stoves here.
