How Wood Fires and Ducted Heating are Bad for your Health and Why Hydronic Heating can assist in Healing
Hydrotherm Heating where instrumental in building an allergy-free, eco-friendly home, especially when what I needed most was a literal breath of fresh air!
Cost can be a huge consideration; however, so can health, especially when good health has been missing from your life for the good part of a decade and a half.
In my last post I discussed how using hydronic heating is the only sure way to have a dust-free home. A dust-free home can be a mould-free home (providing you don’t allow for water damage!).
Before I show the installation of the Build an Eco-friendly, Allergy-free House project’s hydronic heating ‘fit out’, by Hydrotherm, let’s look at some of the most unsuitable heating systems for people with respiratory illness, asthma, CIRS (also known as mould illness) and illness related to chemical sensitivity:
How can Wood-smoke Fires Still be Popular?
Woodsmoke, I’ve written about it before, but unless someone has an illness like myself and many other readers here, some ‘other’ (not caring about our Earth!) type of people still find wood-fires romantic, tribal or ambient or… burn-old-furniture type of cheap. Not only does storing the wood create a haven for dust and mould but you’re likely to get PM2.5 particles in your house dust after each burn… and your lungs. Plus what you dump into your neighbours’ lungs. Dear chimney and FirePit smokers: Let’s hope your neighbours don’t have asthma or chemical sensitivity, CIRS, or respiratory illness! Especially the children, pregnant mothers, the chronically ill and our precious elderly.
More on wood-smoke from Australian Air Quality Group:
‘There are no safe PM2.5 Levels’.
“PM2.5 are a pollutant with no safe level, that (in Europe) cause 20 times as many premature deaths as the next worst pollutant (ozone). The sensible strategy would be to spend substantially more resources reducing PM2.5 than other pollutants.
Sadly, the approach in “Action for Air” is based on politics, not logic. For example, a single new woodheater installed in Sydney has estimated health costs of $4,000 per year. Although this is only half the costs of an existing woodheater (see right column), it is hard to understand why anyone who knows and understand the true health costs, or the amount of pollution emitted by a new woodheater, would want to use one.”
So while some people are practing ignorance, or romance (or both), and the Australian Government are ignoring health statistics, others, like us are practising how to seal our houses up from woodsmoke sneaking in: through door cracks, loose windows, exhaust flues in kitchens and bathrooms and even cracks in the floorboards—we’re running around with painters’ masking tape and cotton wool trying to seal up the cracks in our (Environmental Pollution Authority) EPA’s system. Running air purifiers. Wearing masks. In our own homes. Anything to avoid symptoms bought on by inhaling woodsmoke night after cold, painful night.
Not much longer I tell myself. Drooling over Hydrotherm images of the heating panels on Instagram, lol.
Now, think, if everyone had hydronic systems connected to gas, electric or solar? The air quality could be far better. If the Australian government bought in kickbacks for replacing wood-fire heating systems for hydronic systems, it would show they care about the environment and the true cost of health! “4 k a year in health costs from wood fire heating!” Seriously?
Why ducted heating systems can be bad for People with Respiratory Illness, MCS, Lung Disease and CIRS patients
Other heating I instinctively stayed away from were the ducted versions. Even before I was sick they felt dry and, in many rentals, just blew dust around until the air felt parched, devoid of oxygen, dust, caked into my eyes and nostrils.
One rental, I had to move out after dust and fragrance (and possibly mould) were stirred up by having the ducted heating system professionally cleaned.
And, as it happens: ducted heating systems will spread mould around your house if you have an area that’s water damaged and growing mould. They are notorious for it.
If your house is relatively new and mould free, a ducted heating system is an expensive yet adequate heater if kept clean and turned off at the slightest water leak or need for damage control if mould is found.
For a ducted system not to spread mould, you’d need to know about the leak as, or just after, it happens, dry it within 24-48 hours, and! turn all fans, ducted heating systems, HVACs and exhaust fans off until the mould is taken care of. Again: If this doesn’t happen the ducted heating just spreads it throughout the whole house.
Fact: A ducted heating system uses 3 times the gas than a hydronic system.
Hydrotherm Hydronic Heating is like a breath of fresh air because they don’t pollute the indoor airspace. They allow for a pristine environment, free from allergens such as dust and mould.
Hydrotherm Part I: Radiant Heat Fights Allergies with Hydrotherm Hydronic Heating
Hydrotherm Part II: Why Hydrotherm Hydronic Heating is a Breath of Fresh Air
Hydrotherm Part III: Hydrotherm Hydronic heating for our Eco-friendly, Allergy Free House
Hydrotherm Contact Details
Hydrotherm: Hydronic Heating
Greenheat: Hydronic Heating
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How are you coping with the smoke haze? Are you okay?
On and off. Only had one terribly bad day. There was something in the smoke, fire-retardants friends say; but the rain that came later was even worse. All up, I lost 10 days. Have you got a good bushfire plan? I see you’re in the bush too
I’m sorry to hear that. You might want to look into ‘draught sealing strips’. I think that’s what they’re called. You can fix them to your external doors to stop draughts, or smoke, from getting in. I have them on my house and they kept the worst of the smoke out.
I’m a ‘stay and defend’. My house has roof sprinklers, pumps, shutters, the lot, but passive landscaping [and keeping it clear] is almost as important. No trees or plants directly abutting the house.
If you can manage it, put metal flywire on ALL your windows, even ones that don’t open. They’ll protect the windows and stop embers from going inside if the glass breaks from the heat.
God I wish this summer were over already.
Thank you but we have a brand new sliding door and are waiting on the window company to fix it. They come from overseas and are high BAL rated. New building standards have been a right bloody hassle but worth it if there is a fire. I have a good bushfire emergency plan I will share. I’d love to hear yours if you’d like to share 🙂
yes, thank you, we plan to get fly wire as it didn’t come with the European windows if you can believe.
We have sealed the door with masking tape. For now. I have done better indoors during crappy outdoor weather for the first time in ages; and it HAS been very smokey outside. I did find that keeping the house closed up for such a long time (two weeks) from my usual early morning/late afternoon airing was getting to me. We have had days where we have used the Hydrotherm Hydronic Heating heating, which is rare this time of year, but has worked lovely 🙂
Cheers, to Summer being over. Don’t be surprised if we get frosts soon, seriously!
lol – I don’t really have a bushfire plan coz I’m staying.
I know for a fact that Hungary has heaps of mosquitoes so it’s weird that your windows don’t have mesh on them.
Glad the hydronic heating is working so well. I wouldn’t mind some frost at all!