[SallyintNorth]

I'm picking up on something said on another thread about Rayburns being green :

If you want to be even the vaguest bit green, don't have either [Aga or Rayburn]. Just get a lamb warming box and an energy efficient cooker.

as a 'green' option they [Rayburns] are a good choice, the wood you burn is carbon neutral  even better if you are using fallen wood from your land,and they use reclaimed iron and its 70% recyclable!

I'm not an expert but I think I had understood that burning wood was only carbon neutral if the tree was replaced with a new one?  The carbon released by burning the dead wood is countered by that consumed by the new tree growing, is that right?  And if that is right, then is burning fallen wood green?  Or is it greener to let the fallen wood provide habitat and food to woodland creatures, while chopping down a newly-grown tree to burn and replacing it with a new seedling?

[Sandy]

I can see that chopping a growing tree down that is producing carbon, oxygeon etc is neutral if relaced by another growing one rather than a tree or bits of trees that are spent  BUT, one thing that gets me, so many people are touchy about being carbon neutral and they have houses full of energy burning stuff, have countless holidays where air travel is envolved and big cars that take loads of fuel. Its modern times I suppose. Strangly, the poorer I get the less energy I use!!!! Cutting down on heating and wearing more, filling the oven when its on with batch baking, buying used stuff and making do.....I too would use more carbon if I had more money, I used to buy new items all the time, travel loads and leave heating and lights on etc.....maybe the recession is doing more for our planet than any thing else!!! We also collect fallen wood when we can but currently awaiting a permit!!!

[Coley]

Carbon neutral is a bit of a misnomer it should be referred to as carbon offsetting, you are offsetting your carbon footprint by burning wood but planting trees however how many saplings would I have to plant to replace the beech I burnt over the winter? its a confusing area but I dont intend to worry myself sick ower it when the great and good create thousands of tons of carbon jetting to 'carbon conferences'

[Frieslandfilly]

It was my comment about burning fallen wood being carbon neutral and I am not good at explaining it myself so have taken this quote:

Carbon dioxide released from burning wood is equal to the carbon wood releases as it rots.  One might increase carbon emissions using gas powered saws and spliters in the production of firewood, but when wood heat replaces carbon-producing fuels such as propane, heating oil or electricity from a coal-burning plant, then wood burning has a positive impact on the carbon footprint.

So that is the angle I was coming from and only in reply to a question about Aga's or Rayburn, I picked up on the quote about them not being green, because when you take into account that even an A rated electric cooker only has a shelf life of about 5 years, and that you can replace a toaster, kettle, grill, dry yours clothes over a Rayburn it becomes a viable option if you have fallen wood that you can use.

I agree with Coley when it comes to carbon offsetting, you would have to delve into every minute area of your life to achieve this and it would be far better to think about reducing, reusing and recycling, not just think oh I will have this thing/item/purchase that I don't really need and offset it elsewhere.

[Sandy]

Thats so true, if we had a different smaller home idealy we would live in the country and collect fallen wood for our large kitchen with a multi fueled burner that can heat a small rad and hot water and toast stuff on the top, roast stuff in the oven and dry and even iron stuff. We go through toasters and kettles and mircowaves due to the B&B, one bigger outlay and the effort/energy used to make a solid stove should offset, all the wast in the broken bits that would no longer be needed. A small point, when we moved in there was a range cooker with a solid top that I kept a kettle on, one sleepy morning I put a match under a similar electric one and left it on the hot plate while I went for a shower!!!!! My ex still has the AGA and heats the bathroom rad and of course the room he sits in all the time where the aga is, far better than heating a whole big house if only one lives in it!!!!

[Fleecewife]

Better than planting another sapling is to coppice.  With a big healthy root, the new wood grows much more quickly than waiting for the sapling to grow, not to mention all the energy used to clear land for re-planting.  You can't coppice all types of tree, but surely we should be growing more coppicewood. We have planted some, but it will be years before it is croppable.
I am not totally clear on how carbon offsetting works but I have a feeling that no savings are made, just shifting the weight elsewhere - is that right?. 
We collected fallen wood when we first came here but now there isn't any more, and every tree that comes down in a storm is snapped up by the big boys selling their logs, or supplying the big wood-chip makers.
As someone else said, the poorer we get the less we spend or need to spend, and I am repeatedly surprised at how much others spend and how wasteful they are with resources, with the attitude that if they have the money why not spend it.
My biggest bugbear - nothing to do with agas and rayburns - is the office lights left burning all night when no-one is there.  This not only uses up fuel but causes light pollution which amongst other things is not good for birds and other animals.

[Sandy]

WHen going around the house I notice how many things these days are on stand by!! Why do we need that? I usualy go into rooms that are not in use and turn the plugs all off, not a problem re doing the clocks, what a waste stand by is!

[hughesy]

All these buzzwords (s**t, buzzword is a feckin buzzword!) are a lot of bullshit dreamed up to make people feel better about themselves by doing their bit to save the planet.  Take for instance you buy a new car and the manufacturer adds £xxx on to the price for carbon offsetting? WTF? What happened to common sense and considerate use of the resourses we have.

[bazzais]

Even sky is supposed to be carbon neutral and they have a satellite and the results are watched on TVs over the world - the 'carbon neutral' buzz phrase is a farce when it comes to is modern use in industry.  How can you 'buy' carbon neutrality?

I got a mate whos business is kayaking - he couldnt qualify for carbon reduction grants as he produces no carbon footprint in the first place - he should have burnt his boats the first year and sold them the second - he would have qualified then.

Mmmm wood fires - f*** the ethics, they are nice, warm and reasonably cheap if you have a good supply of wood.

Baz