Third of Dutch burned more wood for heat due to high gas price; Dangerous, GGD's warn

Last year, 30 percent of Netherlands residents used the fireplace or woodstove more often than the year before, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported on Wednesday. The main reason for turning to wood burning for heat was the high gas price. Only last week, the GGD health services warned that wood smoke can be very dangerous to your health.

The main reason for using the fireplace or woodstove more often last year was due to the high gas price - 84 percent gave this as the reason. Less frequently mentioned reasons were that wood or wood pellets were easy to get, people were home more often, and it was cold more often than the year before.

Last year, 28 percent of low-income households couldn’t heat their homes sufficiently, compared to 7 percent of households with high prosperity. A total of 15 percent indicated that their homes were too cold on cold days. This mainly affected people living in rental properties and less-well-insulated homes.

Only 19 percent said they burned less wood in 2023 than in 2022, mostly due to the consequences of the climate (44 percent). About a quarter said they burned less wood because it was expensive or bad for their health.

The 25 GGD municipal health services definitely agree with that last point. Last week, they told investigative journalism platform Pointer that smoke from wood burning is “worrying to very worrying” for public health and the government should take more measures against it. They suggested a large-scale information campaign specifically about the health risks of wood smoke.

Wood stoves and fireplaces account for almost a quarter of all particulate matter emissions in the Netherlands, according to Pointer. This smoke contains harmful substances. A previous study by Utrecht University, TNO, RIVM, and GGD Amsterdam showed that people were more likely to feel short of breath or experience cold symptoms on days with a lot of woodsmoke in the air.