The alternative being?

"Last Sunday [4 July] air quality in the Wairarapa failed to meet the national standard for the fourth time this winter.

Greater Wellington’s Masterton air quality monitoring station measured 57 micrograms per cubic metre (57 µg/m³) of fine particles (PM₁₀) in the air – that’s 7 µg/m³ over the national standard threshold of 50 µg/m³. Exposure to PM₁₀ is linked to adverse health effects including respiratory problems.

“In each of the four high pollution nights, the cause can be attributed to the combination of smoke from domestic wood burners and the weather – pollution usually builds up overnight during still and cold conditions,” says Greater Wellington’s Ted Taylor, Manager, Environmental Monitoring and Investigations..."

So frickin' what?

It's frickin' freezing and everyone who has one has the fire going.

If you want to see health problems, ban the bloody fires and watch the respiratory illness admissions take off. Far more than you get from breathing a bit of woodsmoke. This is the dishonesty of this greenie hype- they fail to mention the cost of NOT using wood to heat homes.

I use a heatpump for a few hours in the morning, but get nothing like the warmth from my logburner. I would need three heatpumps to get the same output and I'm already paying about $100 a month to run the one I have.

Also, when the 'pollution' outside is high- people are INSIDE trying to stay warm.