The people who think its ok to do industrial foraging,not good

[Toddy]

You're assuming that folks are prepared to pay for the fuel.

Instead it's carrier bags and rucksacks full of snapped of branches, windfall (literally) sawn up and carted home to feed the endless maw of the 'free' heat woodfired stove.

We live surrounded by trees, but we're right in the middle of suburbia, right in the middle of the central belt of the country. The depredation since the advent of the fashion for the woodfired stoves in suburbia is really having a detrimental effect on the environment around us.

Pick, pick, pick, pick, pick .....relentelssly with no let up, and sooner or later (and they're doing it now with the smaller ones) they start to saw down the trees.

It's not a poor area, it's a fairly wealthy one, but the excuses of it's a great exercise, a good excuse for a walk, and it's 'free', aren't exactly endearing the owners to their neighbours.

 

[TLM]

heat pumps will only heat your house to a low temperature.

Hmmm ... not quite, If built by the present building code a residential house here (Finland) uses more energy heating water than the house itself. That has been measured not just calculated.

I have had an air-to-air heat pump for the last 8 years. Just works, so far has not needed even any maintenace, it is extremely efficient when outside temp is between 0-10 C, it works down to -20C but practical limit is -15. It cools in summer and also dehumidifies. Max power 800w but when in the optimum range it evens out to a continuous power of about 100W keeping the inside at about 21C.

 

[Broch]

You're assuming that folks are prepared to pay for the fuel.

Instead it's carrier bags and rucksacks full of snapped of branches, windfall (literally) sawn up and carted home to feed the endless maw of the 'free' heat woodfired stove.

We live surrounded by trees, but we're right in the middle of suburbia, right in the middle of the central belt of the country. The depredation since the advent of the fashion for the woodfired stoves in suburbia is really having a detrimental effect on the environment around us.

Pick, pick, pick, pick, pick .....relentelssly with no let up, and sooner or later (and they're doing it now with the smaller ones) they start to saw down the trees.

It's not a poor area, it's a fairly wealthy one, but the excuses of it's a great exercise, a good excuse for a walk, and it's 'free', aren't exactly endearing the owners to their neighbours.

Well, that's criminal damage and the owners should take action (I know I would). There are workable laws to prevent that. But even that activity can only last so long before there is not suitable wood to burn (without felling whole trees) so a commercial supply will develop.

We know that big organisations are buying farm land to put woodland on as investment (partly funded by grants) so I'm not really that pessimistic.

However, I do accept, that in one busy locality, it could be a real issue.

 

[Toddy]

Locally our woodlands are all public land, or surrounding the golf course....a very expensive membership fee golf course, so of course 'members' pick, pick, pick, pick....so much so that the groundsmen now cut up all fallen trees into rounds and leave them in the car park for folks to take home. Not enough fallen trees though, unless they're beech, or it's been a gale blasting through.

This is a common complaint right through the central belt. Even farmers are getting annoyed as folks 'prune' their hedgerows and tree plantations.