Wood Smell outside

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Pertzbro

Pertzbro

Feeling the Heat
Aug 2, 2016
330
NW Iowa
Made a long drive from Steamboat Springs, CO to NW Iowa yesterday. Went through Walden, Colorado just before sunrise and it was -26 degrees F. Needless to say that area of the country and that town in particular i'd guess WAY over 50% of the town burns wood. Stopped to get coffee and the wood smell outside was very very strong.

Is that particulate matter that i'm smelling or what causes the wood burning smell?

I've noticed I dont smell it very much when i use my EPA insert, but my regular open fireplace in the basement definitely smells more woody outside when burning...
 
It really depends on the wood itself, but it is related to the unburned particulates not combusting. I know for a fact that they are burning a lot of pine in Walden, and most folks are not burning EPA stoves. The EPA stoves help burn at a more efficient rate, hence the lack of wood smoke smell.

When it is that cold outside, the air is generally so still that you can smell an ant fart, so you can definitely pick up on the wood smoke smell!
 
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IMHO, its incomplete combustion products that make the most smell. When I am charging up my storage with my boiler with 100% damper opening I get very little odor or smoke. When my neighbors OWB is at full bore in the AM when the demand is highest its not noticeable but the second that the heating demand drops and the damper closes its like someone flipped a switch and I get the smell.
 
Wood smoke is composed of many different compounds that smell. Some, but not all, of these compounds are large enough to be called particulate matter. All wood stoves emit pollution that can accumulate under certain conditions and be unhealthy.

Similar to the exhaust from cars, trucks, trains, fossil fuel furnaces, power plants, etc. even people farts.
 
What is typically defined as smoke is the particulates, which contain aromatic hydrocarbons...since they're aromatic, this is what we smell wood smoke as.

Combustion byproducts of properly burned wood is CO2, CO, H20 (vapor), other gases, and the few hydrocarbon particles that didn't oxidize. The less efficient the combustion, more bad stuff comes out as well as more particulates, and thus the more we smell it.
 
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I dont care if its unhealthy. Id rather smell smoke than farts of any kind.
 
Depending on the geography, cold air inversions can trap air near the surface where it collects pollution and keeps it there.
 
Ludlow said:
Were you on "Cheers"?
Click to expand...

the back end of my car was on the last episode of cheers...

also, Salt Lake City is notorious for inversions.

Here is a cool picture of Mesa Verde during an inversion in 2013. one of the coolest things i've seen.

5XfsaeF3oiu3vMnzr51deNzu08poVseyeyTnX5z4QjZJEhOXe1i3sjYJL5XPbzd4grI8y-LREJ9vbC42Lml=w933-h618-no.jpg
 
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Dobish said:
the back end of my car was on the last episode of cheers...

also, Salt Lake City is notorious for inversions.

Here is a cool picture of Mesa Verde during an inversion in 2013. one of the coolest things i've seen.
View attachment 237320
Click to expand...
the same spot a few hours later.
aJ60WbEChMhB62VwbFmVY8rPejClC8RsDuBmGGptbbqTrbuBdJKWREYrpCaXAQraQUm2DmvdJ6dn7ja82Uq=w933-h618-no.jpg
 
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Walden was having an inversion for sure when i went through. I could actually see the particulate matter in the air when i was a few miles out.
 
MAD MARK said:
My uncles aren't anything to shake a stick at either.
Click to expand...

This thread, containing discussion including aromatics, farts and sticks could be a bit concerting to the uninitiated. However being of the Manly Clan, I can honestly and unabashedly say there’s nothing aromatic when Manly lets loose and you won’t want to stick around, or you might find yourself crying Uncle. Stay with the wood my friends.
 
Large valleys and areas between mountain ranges often have inversions where the air is warmer aloft than at ground level. There are times here where it is warmer up on Mt. Rainier than down in Seattle. I have seen this back east in Vermont and in the Housatonic River valley. Woodsmoke, car exhaust, etc. just sink during these inversions. When you have a dense population it can get really bad. Libby, Montana finally had to start getting aggressive about stove replacements for this reason.
 
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