Wood as an alternative to expensive gas: ‘It’s bizarre, just extremely busy’

The high gas price makes many consumers think. How can I reduce the energy bill? Burning wood is seen as a cheaper alternative, although it is not very efficient: most of the heat disappears through the chimney. Nevertheless: firewood sellers, dealers in fireplaces and wood stoves, and stone sweepers are now so busy that they sometimes don’t know what hit them.

“It’s bizarre, just extremely busy,” says chimney sweep Rob Kakes from Alphen aan den Rijn. “People who have not fired for years now suddenly start using the fireplace or wood stove again. And yes, then the chimney must of course be swept, otherwise you will have problems,” says Kakes, who has also been a firefighter for years.

“I know how it goes, going out for a chimney fire. If it’s not swept or swept badly, all the dirt and soot on the inside of the chimney catches fire. That’s not convenient.”

Distribute more fairly

At Haardhout Bunnik they also see an enormous influx of customers. The website reads: “Unfortunately, due to the smooth sale, we currently have no wood in stock in bins or in bulk. At the moment we only have dry wood in mesh or jute bags.” A spokesperson adds: “We still have some stock, but we now only sell smaller packaging. To distribute it more fairly among the people, I’ll just say.”

Marketplace is also a popular search for energy-saving products. In particular, the demand for wood for burning is very high. In the first half of October, more than 450,000 searches for firewood were made on the trade site. That is almost a doubling compared to the entire month of October last year with almost 257,000 searches.

The search term ‘wood stove’ is also popular.

Harmful substances

The independent information organization Milieu Centraal says that burning wood is very inefficient. “90 percent of the heat from an open fire disappears through the chimney. With a wood-burning stove this is 20 to 40 percent,” says Paulien van der Geest. “And you emit all kinds of harmful substances such as particulate matter, carcinogenic hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide.”

Milieu Centraal recommends that you only use heating in exceptional circumstances. Van der Geest: “Research shows that one in three people suffers from wood burning. It feels very cosy, but you do not make lung and asthma patients happy with it. Especially if you are heating in windless weather or fog. that hang smoke around the houses.”

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