Smoke Control
Areas

In 1956 and 1968 the Clean Air Acts were introduced to deal with the smogs of the 50s and 60s which were caused by the widespread burning of coal for domestic heating and by industry. The Acts gave local authorities powers to control emissions of dark smoke, grit, dust and fumes from industrial premises and furnaces and to declare “Smoke Control
Areas” in which emissions of smoke from domestic properties are banned.

Since then, Smoke Control
Areas have been introduced across the UK. Implementation of Smoke Control
Areas and the increased popularity of natural gas as well as changes in the industrial and economic structure of the UK, lead to a substantial reduction in concentrations of smoke and associated levels of sulphur dioxide (SO2) between the 1950s and the present day.

Under the Clean Air Act local authorities may declare the whole or part of the district of the authority to be a smoke control area; meaning it is an offence to emit smoke from a chimney, furnace or fixed boiler.

It is also an offence to acquire an “unauthorised fuel” for use within a smoke control area unless it is used in an “exempt” appliance (“exempted” from the controls which generally apply in the smoke control area). The current maximum level of fine is £1,000 for each offence.

Your local authority is responsible for enforcing the legislation in Smoke Control
Areas and you can contact them for details of any Smoke Control
Areas within that area.

We cannot force you to buy a certified Smoke Approved stove - it is an informed choice you have to make. All we can do is alert you to the laws and gently warn you that we have seen a huge upturn in customers returning to solid fuel and so predict that local councils will have no choice soon but to ‘clamp’ down on residents discovered to be using a non-compliant appliance.

All it would take to be fined would be one nosey neighbour / neighbourhood group reporting you and you may find there’s a knock on the door…

We sell a wide range of smoke approved stoves - all certified for use in a smoke control area - look out for the green symbols.

The short answer is no. Often people confuse the marketing term ‘Cleanburn’ with Smoke Approved - they do not mean the same thing. A Cleanburn stove is not necessarily also a Smoke Approved stove.

It is right to say that a Cleanburn stove is designed in such a way as to minimise the smoke output and is therefore far kinder to the environment BUT there is no certificate given with a Cleanburn stove to say it is exempt from smoke control laws.

With Cleanburn technology your stove has a dual combustion system, which converts up to 90% of the gases and particles in smoke to heat. This results in the absolute minimum level of smoke emission because the fireplace uses the energy to produce heat instead of smoke.