Birmingham marks #CleanAirNight
Published: 15th Jan 2026
A cosy night in front of a roaring fire is almost hard-wired into our minds as an idyllic way to spend a winter evening. The reality, however, can be chilling.
Lighting fires in our homes is a major source of harmful small particle (PM₂.₅) pollution in the UK, responsible for about one-fifth of total emissions.
The risk to health is stark. Fine particulate matter:
- affects multiple organs
- enters our lungs through the bloodstream
- increases the risk of cancer
- can even pass through the placenta in pregnant women
Wood smoke produces far more particulate pollution than cigarette smoke, underlined by alarming reality that burning for one hour, even using an eco-certified wood stove, emits the same level of harmful air pollution as running 18 diesel cars or 6 diesel HGVs for one hour.
In short, burning wood is by far the most polluting way of heating our home.
Councillor Majid Mahmood, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport at Birmingham City Council explained:
Domestic wood burning is an important issue when it comes to protecting the health of ourselves and others in communities across Birmingham, and we’re working hard to help people to make informed choices about the way they heat their homes.
Put simply, our advice to residents is not to burn wood at all. However, we’re putting measures in place to ensure that any burning that does occur is done in line with standards that prioritise public health.”
These measures take the form of Birmingham’s renewed Smoke Control Order. Launching later this year, the new order will offer the council greater powers of enforcement against those who breach the guidelines.
Delivered in line with the Environment Act 2021, this new order would enable the council to issue civil penalties for those who sell or use wood and manufactured solid fuels that are inadequately stored, as well as products that are not certified in line with the ‘Ready to Burn’ certification scheme.
Councillor Mahmood continued:
This isn’t a crackdown that aims to punish those who need to burn wood to keep warm. The fact is that a huge 92% of homes with wood burners have other main heat sources like gas central heating. Our aim, primarily, is to encourage those who have a choice to consider other ways of heating their home.
This is the central aim of national events like Clean Air Night from Global Action Plan, which this year takes place on 22 January. Now heading into its third year, this spin off of Clean Air Day (which highlights small particulate matter created by motor vehicles) has been introduced in response to the growing popularity of domestic burning. Just as Clean Air Day encourages people to explore other methods of travel, Clean Air Night urges people to find alternative ways to stay warm.
By encouraging people to make this pledge, the aim of Clean Air Night is to drive long-term and widespread beahviour change. Research from Global Action Plan shows that if people in the UK only burned wood when no other heat source is available, we could avoid more than 1,500 deaths in the UK every year and save the NHS over £54 million in healthcare costs. That’s nearly 1.5 million GP appointments each year.
This claim is supported by local research, courtesy of hypothetical modelling by WM-Air, the West Midlands Air Quality Improvement Programme based at the University of Birmingham, which has revealed the scale of the impact of wood burners across the West Midlands. This study has found that a reduction of 85% of wood burning-related emissions within the West Midlands during January could lead to a 17-25% reduction in total PM2.5 concentrations.
Councillor Mahmood concluded:
National and regional research is clear. A reduction in woodburning can make a huge difference. Eliminating it completely could be transformational. As a starting point, we encourage people to join us on Clean Air Night, and discover how small changes can make a huge difference to our health.
Woodburning is not as cheap as you think
The high costs associated with gas and electricity have led many people to use wood burners. However, according to research published by Impact on Urban Health, wood burners are more expensive to heat your home than gas boilers or heat pumps.
Research shows that in a typical urban household, the annual cost of using an existing wood burner is 15% higher than a gas boiler due to the costs of purchasing logs to burn.
When a household uses a newly installed wood burner for 20% of its heat, its yearly cost is 24% more than a gas boiler., while that cost rises to almost 50% when a household uses a newly installed wood burner for 80% of its heat.
If you have chosen a wood burner to help with your energy costs, the actual savings might not be as high as you expect.
Change your habits
If you need to reduce your energy costs, monitoring the ways you use your central heating and adjusting your habits accordingly could bring down the cost of your bills.
For example, simply turning down individual radiators or switching them off in any rooms that are not routinely used can help reduce the amount spent. Also, changing your settings so your heating does not come on at times while you are out could help save money.
Many gas providers now offer smart meters free of charge, helping you to monitor and track your usage. You could also invest in a smart thermostat, which allows you to manage your gas and electricity using your phone while providing data for optimising your usage.
Get help with your bills
We recommend that you check with your energy supplier if any offers are available to reduce your costs.
Log into your account or contact your energy supplier to check if you are paying too much for the amount of energy you use. If your balance is too high, you can request a partial refund, or change your direct debit to reduce your monthly payment.
If the high cost of energy is a worry, the council has launched its #HelpInBrum campaign to help counter the impact of rising bills.
The support available includes help and guidance on:
- improving your energy efficiency
- changing energy supplier
- finding support packages and payment plans offered by your energy provider
The council also offers crisis grants to help top-up pre-payment meters to ensure you can stay warm and safe, even if you’re struggling to pay your bills. For more information about these programmes, visit the energy bills section of the #HelpInBrum website.
Other ways to get warm
In addition to your heating, you may wish to consider other ways of staying warm at home.
Buying items such as blankets, oversized fleece hoodies, thick socks and slippers are some obvious ways that you can reduce your reliance on using more energy. If you do need extra heat, we encourage you to invest in a low-cost, environmentally friendly option, such as an electric fan heater.
If you care about how your heating looks, infrared heaters could be a good option. They are slim panels that fit discreetly into your home. Some can even look like artwork and hang on your wall.
Infrared heaters warm up nearby surfaces and objects using safe infrared heat. They are low-cost, do not affect air quality, and take up very little space.
By making little changes to our habits, we can significantly improve the air we breathe.
Source data
Read the Emissions of air pollutants in the UK - Summary - GOV.UK