Smoke Control and Wood Burning Stoves
There are a number of smoke control areas in Lincoln which effectively cover the whole city. These were declared between 1962 and 1989 under Clean Air legislation.
You can burn and emit smoke from a chimney within a Smoke Control area as long as you use authorised smokeless fuel. Or you can use solid fuel, such as wood, if you are using an exempt appliance.
Exempt approved appliances are stoves, boilers, cookers and fires which have been listed under the Clean Air Act 1993. These appliances are constructed to burn fuels without emitting excessive smoke. To ensure that you are not committing an offence you should only burn the designated fuels in these appliances. You can check if your appliance is on the approved list on DEFRA's website.
If you do not use the correct smokeless fuel or an approved appliance you will be committing an offence.
If someone is burning the incorrect fuel or you are being affected by someone burning solid fuel contact the Public Protection and Anti-Social Behaviour Team.
Installing a new stove, fire, solid fuel burner or boiler
Before installing a solid fuel stove or fire, you should check with the manufacturer or supplier to confirm that the appliance has approval from DEFRA for use within a smoke control area.
Your new appliance should be designed and located so that smoke and fumes are well dispersed. This is particularly important if you intend to emit smoke from a ground floor where the smoke may become a nuisance to your neighbours, we are getting an increasing amount of complaints about this issue.
The installation of any solid fuel appliance should be undertaken by a HETAS approved engineer or under building regulation approval directly from us.
To ensure that you are not committing an offence you should only burn the designated fuels in these appliances.