The start of 2025 has continued to be incredibly busy at HETAS, and I’ve no doubt the heating season has kept your diaries full, too. Whilst February may be a shorter month, we have still seen a number of developments and updates across industry – notably Defra’s annual emissions report. 

The ‘Emissions of air pollutants’ is an annually released report from Defra, containing information on accredited official statistics. These reports contain few in-depth details on what has caused the change (or lack of change) in figures across industries, instead focusing on displaying annual statistics. As data takes time to collate, these annual reports are published a year and two months following the dataset – so this year’s report details 2023’s statistics. 

Key statistics for our industry show that, in 2023, domestic combustion made up: 

• 20% of total PM2.5 emissions 

• 10% of total PM10 emissions 

This is a significant improvement from 2022’s data. This report could also be seen as a milestone for our industry, highlighting positive progress. Although they are not directly comparable, domestic combustion particulate matter emissions have fallen below road transport emissions. 

Find out more about how domestic combustion also covers unregulated practices such as bonfires and firepits, the UK’s emission reduction commitments, and our thoughts on how the UK has achieved this reduction in our latest article. 

These reports cover a lot of sectors and a wide array of data. Not everyone has the time to read these long documents and would rather be presented with their areas of interest alone.  We want to make sure all our registrants can stay informed without getting bogged down by statistics, so the team strive to give you the information you need in the most accessible way possible. We welcome feedback on how these articles help you to understand what matters to you, and we will also be exploring such reports in more detail in the future – exclusively for HETAS registrants. 

Earlier this month, government provided an interim statement on their ‘rapid review’ of the Environmental Improvement Plan. Details were scarce, so we will await the publication of the review later this year, but the aims of the review have revealed that coordinated, clear action is at the top of the agenda. Domestic combustion is likely to come under scrutiny when the rapid review is published; HETAS will continue to work with government and devolved administrations to continue improving the UK’s air quality whilst maintaining just, reasoned solutions for industry. 

A recent report from the EU Product Safety Forum provides the results of assessments of a range of products, including local space heaters, revealing some alarming results regarding their compliance with EU ecodesign and energy labelling requirements. Document checks of solid fuel, gas, liquid fuel, and electric heaters found that over three-quarters of assessed products failed to adhere to requirements through missing information or other required elements. Lab tests of solid fuel heaters also found that 5 of 14 tested models had suspected non-compliances, raising concerns – although the report does not contain further details on the areas these solid fuel heaters failed in.  

Reports like this are important and remind industries, including the solid fuel and biomass industry, that clear, accessible product information is essential to enable consumers to make an educated decision. HETAS understands the importance of compliance – for both trade and consumers – and our Cleaner Choice certification scheme highlights the attributes of appliances that have been independently verified to meet all the requirements that a number of these assessed products did not. Read more about the report’s findings in our news article. 

The HETAS Technical Team is looking to hear from you. Revisions to BS8303, the stove installation standard, are currently underway and, as a committee member, we are looking to help steer these revisions using real-life experiences of our registrants. A new subclause regarding ceiling and wall-hung appliances is due to be added following the review. If you have experience on the installation or supply of such appliances, your thoughts would be greatly valued. Please complete this short survey to provide us with further insights into how this revision should look.