Any issues with smoke and the neighbors?

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Wet1

Wet1

Minister of Fire
Apr 27, 2008
2,528
USA
As I'm both physically and mentally getting ready to burn wood for the first time since we've owned our current house, I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to piss-off some of my neighbors with the smoke. I've burned pellets on and off for about six or seven years (not that anyone would even notice this), but I've never burned wood at this location. We live right along the shore, so we do have houses all around us (our house only sits on .4 acres). I almost want to check with the town first to make sure there are no issues with burning wood as it seems like it could be a major annoyance for some people, but I'm sure it has to be perfectly legal. We do have about the tallest house/chimney around us, so hopefully that will reduce the impact to my direct neighbors. My next door neighbor lights a fire in his fireplace every so often and we can occasionally tell when he does, but his chimney exits below our roof line. Then again, the fat lesbian on the other side of us runs her AC (which is right next to our bedroom windows) 24/7 from April to Oct., so I guess I won't feel too bad if a little smoke heads her way! :D



Have you guys had any complaints about smoke?
 
If someone next to me was running their A/C that much next to my window–albeit wasting energy to do so–I wouldn't have a problem sending some smoke their way.
 
Are you going to use a woodstove? If you are and it is an EPA stove, the smoke should not be much of an issue. If you are going to buy a stove, lood at the specs and what there particle output is in the specs.
 
Risser09 said:
If someone next to me was running their A/C that much next to my window–albeit wasting energy to do so–I wouldn't have a problem sending some smoke their way.
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That's the thing that disturbs me. She runs that thing nonstop, it doesn't matter if it's 60* out during the day and 45* at night, it's pretty much always running. Not only is it annoying, it's a huge waste. I guess it shouldn't surprise me as she's about 275+ lbs and lazy as the day is long...

Unfortunelly, while I'm pretty close, my house is a lot taller than hers so I doubt she'll catch much smoke. :(
 
pinewoodburner said:
Are you going to use a woodstove? If you are and it is an EPA stove, the smoke should not be much of an issue. If you are going to buy a stove, lood at the specs and what there particle output is in the specs.
Click to expand...

Yes, a stove. I've made an offer on a used wood/coal stove, I'm going to pick it up this weekend. I think it is an early EPA stove, but I'm not 100% sure.
 
Wet1 said:
Yes, a stove. I've made an offer on a used wood/coal stove, I'm going to pick it up this weekend. I think it is an early EPA stove, but I'm not 100% sure.
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What stove is it? There may be an EPA certified wood/coal stove out there but I have never heard of one. If it isn't a certified clean burner then you are headed for grief living that close to other houses.
 
Wet1 said:
I think it is an early EPA stove, but I'm not 100% sure.
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That's the sort of thing you should prooooobably be aware of before installing....

An EPA stove would be about as clean as the pellet one.
 
I live near the shore and there's enough predominant wind blowing so much of the time that if I hadn't gone for a walk or slow drive up the street I wouldn't know those that do burn were. I have one neighbor that burns trash, but that's a different story.
Guy next door has one of the last mobile homes (added onto) allowed in town (no repair permits, they want these things gone) and he has short little burns. I'll see his stove smoke white for about a minute and a half, then he clears right out.
 
Yes, I live down hill from a neighbor that runs an old smoke dragon and believes in the choke it down and smolder method of burning. On some low pressure days I have trouble with this neighbor as does my next door neighbor. She's getting better with some education, but is a stubborn one.
 
Read the threads here on EPA stoves and dry wood. They burn clean. An old non-EPA stove will almost definitely cause neighborly strife.

That AC sounds worse than my neighbor's need to have a bright light on ALL DAY AND NIGHT at his house that we can see from our bedroom window. At least there's some distance and trees between us.
 
BrotherBart said:
Wet1 said:
Yes, a stove. I've made an offer on a used wood/coal stove, I'm going to pick it up this weekend. I think it is an early EPA stove, but I'm not 100% sure.
Click to expand...

What stove is it? There may be an EPA certified wood/coal stove out there but I have never heard of one. If it isn't a certified clean burner then you are headed for grief living that close to other houses.
Click to expand...

Hi Bart,

I picked the stove up yesterday, it's a Harman "E" CW30. It's in excellent shape and even came with an unused blower, new gaskets, and a spare set of new fire bricks. The seller (a nice guy) really took care of his stuff, had all documentation, etc. Oh, and the price was more than fair.

Anyway, from what I've read of Corrie's posts, this appears to be about the only combo stove ever produced that burns both coal and wood efficiently and cleanly. After seeing how the stove was built, I'm really impressed with the design and engineering.

Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to line my 35' unlined interior chimney with, and pick up some seasoned wood....


Edited for spelling....
 
Burn truly dry wood & burn hot and you won't have much of a smoke problem for the neighbor to groan about.
 
I live in a neighborhood so this issue was big when I started burning 3 years ago. I had an option to use my parents old wood stove(the one I grew up with as a kid) But I ultimately decided to go with a new EPA woodstove to avoid problems. I`m glad I did. My chimney is 25 feet from my neibors house and there have been zero problems. A Modern EPA woodstove is the only way to go. Spend money up front, install it properly, appreciate it for years to come without any hassles .
 
What smoke? Unless you happen to look up in the first minute or two of a cold start, you won't see any. And even that is far less than what my neighbor's recreational fireplace emits.
 
With a catalytic stove, there's only smoke when starting up, or if it was shut down too soon before the cat lights off.
The smoke is hard to see or smell when it's running right.
 
Trust me, you don't want to know any more about her... she's nothing to look at (and therefore gets little action worth mentioning). :)
 
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