When it comes to resilience, woodburning stoves in an energy crisis offer something the grid cannot: security. Picture this: It’s a cold January evening. Your central heating system cuts out, the electricity flickers, and the house falls silent. For many, that would spell disaster. For households with a woodburning stove, though, it’s just another evening spent infront of the fire..

This isn’t just a romantic fireside fantasy. At the start of 2025, the UK’s natural gas reserves fell to what The Guardian described as “dangerously low levels” – equivalent to just seven days of winter demand after a prolonged cold snap (Guardian, Jan 2025). This is not an isolated event. The UK is uniquely vulnerable to such shocks because of how reliant we are on natural gas: around 85% of homes use gas boilers for heating, while natural gas generates 40% of our electricity supply (National Grid ESO).

When reserves dip, we’re only a bad storm, supply interruption, or cold snap away from higher bills, unheated homes, and in extreme cases – rolling blackouts. The obvious question is: how can households protect themselves?