House coal and damp wood to be banned from 2021 - the headline was a shock to many.

With tens of thousands of people across the UK regularly using open fires, wood burners and other solid fuel appliances, the latest news headlines may be both worrying and confusing for some.

Two of Frome's local chimney sweeps, Lee Waldron of the Sweeping Company based in Nunney, and Guy Lucas of G Lucas chimney sweep based in Frome, want to put local residents minds at rest, whilst encouraging responsible burning habits so we can all continue enjoying our fires for many years to come.

Firstly we would like to confirm, contrary to what some headlines have said.... They are not banning open fires and wood burning stoves. In fact all new appliances being manufactured have to conform to new guidelines that make them more efficient, which is only a good thing.

Being a chimney sweep, isn't just about cleaning chimneys, but educating people too. There is already a national campaign called burnright.co.uk. Which explains how to use your appliance and fuel correctly, take a look it's very good.

The ban of selling house coal and damp wood hasn't come as a surprise, as there have been murmurs of this for some time.

Lee and Guy both welcome the ban, as house coal is a very dirty and polluting fuel and is no longer needed, as solid fuel appliances can run on much better fuels.

As chimney sweeps, we see first hand the results of burning damp wood. The high moisture contents create tar in chimneys, which if left can contribute towards a chimney fire. Damp wood, never really gets hot enough to fully combust so you never get much heat from it. It creates a lot of smoke and emits a lot of un-burnt particles into the atmosphere.

So the fact there will soon be restrictions on being able to burn these fuels, is only a positive.

You will still be able to burn smokeless coal and of course dry well seasoned wood.

What do we mean by seasoned wood.... Seasoning is the process which allows the drying out of the sap content of the wood and not just water. Different woods need different amounts of time to season and need to be stacked correctly amongst other things. Once the wood is seasoned, a little rain water isn't the end of the world and if stored correctly will quickly dry out.

So when is it ready to burn? Current guidelines say only wood of a moisture content of less than 20 percent should be burnt, but in reality somewhere between 10 and 15 is much better. You can buy kiln dried logs already around 10 - 13 percent, but if you get your logs in plenty of time and store correctly then you won't need to pay the premium for kiln dried, but can achieve a similar moisture content.

An invaluable tool to check your wood, is a moisture meter. This is an inexpensive gadget of around £20 and means you can monitor the wood you burn. If you don't own one definitely get one.

It is said by many, that burning locally sourced, dry wood is considered as carbon neutral.

We could write about wood for a long time, but in short here are some simple guidelines to follow.......

- only burn wood with a moisture content of less than 20 percent. Ideally 10 - 15

- don't slumber (run at a constant low temperature) the fire, wood starts to fully combust at around 300 degrees, so make sure you get your fire hot enough.

- don't burn skirting boards, fence posts or anything treated. It's bad for the chimney, the stove and terrible for the environment.

- don't burn plastics, batteries, nappies, CD's.... yes we've seen it all! It's not an incinerator.

It's obviously very important to have your chimney swept and the appliance serviced regularly. At this time your chimney sweep will be able to offer good advice and guidance.

We are lucky to have some good chimney sweeps in our area, so be sure to talk to your sweep about suitable fuels and responsible burning. .

Lee and Guy are both members of Sweep Safe an accredited Chimney sweeping association and follow their code of practice, issuing safety certificates and highlighting any safety concerns.

Lee and Guys details are below, so any questions or concerns please do get in touch with either of them and they will be happy to help.

Lee Waldron of the sweeping company Tel. 07508 907 892

Tel. 07887770340