Older people who heat their homes with an open fire are far more likely to suffer from respiratory diseases, according to a new study.

The study finds a ‘strong association’ between the use of open fires and respiratory diseases – even after taking things like smoking behaviour, socio-demographic characteristics and childhood health history into account.

It finds that older adults who use an open fire are more than twice as likely to have had respiratory disease than those who use a closed solid fuel appliance.

It also found that ‘perhaps surprisingly’ people who use central heating are more likely to suffer respiratory diseases than those who use closed solid fuel appliances like stoves.

The researchers said this could be because households with central heating are more likely to use open fires as a secondary source of heating.

Heating

The study, carried out by ESRI researchers and due to be published in the journal Energy Research & Social Science in April, notes that Ireland is an ‘outlier in the context of rich countries’ in that a large proportion of homes still use solid fuels for heating.

Meanwhile, it says older people over the age of 50 are more likely to use solid fuels and tend to spend more time at home.

Using data from the Irish Household Budget Survey (HBS), they were able to analyse the characteristics of dwellings and occupants that are associated with solid fuel use among older adults.

They found that older buildings and homes outside of Dublin were more likely to use solid fuels.

Meanwhile, households where the reference person was a farmer or someone with less than secondary education were also more likely to use solid fuels.

Respiratory

Using data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), the researchers then analyse the relationship between solid fuel heating and respiratory and circulatory diseases.

They found a “strong association” between open fire use and respiratory disease and found no such association for circulatory disease.

The researchers said policies aimed at promoting a switch to cleaner energy sources should be targeted at particular groups – but warned that they would “not be successful if households are not provided with viable alternatives to their existing heating systems”.

The researchers said the expansion of gas networks, heat pumps, district heating and renewable energy could all play an important role in the transition away from solid fuels.