Chimney questions

[warno]

I'm running a homemade OWB that's about 10 feet from my garage in its own shed. the chimney is pretty much at that 10 feet mark from the garage. and is about 10 feet off the ground at the top. well when I light the boiler for a batch burn it takes about 30-45 minutes to start burning more clean and getting less smoke out of the chimney.

My problem is while I'm waiting for the smoke to clear up it gets driven back down to the ground and drifts across the yard into the neighbors property. so it's my understanding that "smoke" is naturally heavy and falls to the ground anyway but will adding 6 more feet of chimney help my situation, or will the smoke still hit the ground and drift to my neighbors?

So my garage is in red. boiler shed blue, chimney black.

Peak of the garage is about 15 feet high. the chimney is about 10 from the ground now. if you draw a line to the garage roof at 10 feet is about 12 feet from the opening of the chimney. so will 6 more feet help me get the problem smoke up and out of the yards?

Hopefully all this makes sense.

 

[huffdawg]

My chimney is around 26 ft high . It seems to depend on the wind and out side temps which way the smoke goes . But the smoke from mine only seems to last a few mins. till it starts gasification

 

[warno]

Mines pretty heavy smoke because the "traditional" style boiler I'm running. it does clear up though, it just takes awhile.

Does your smoke ever drop or does it start at the level it exits the chimney?

 

[huffdawg]

Ya it drops when it's cold out and no wind.. sometimes from other neighbours it gets really smoggy .. neighbors with wood stove don't seem to know how to run them.. they load them up and dampen them down

 

[warno]

I would hate to see their chimneys inside.

 

[stee6043]

I think you're probably going to struggle to find a solid solution here. Another 6' of chimney probably isn't going to change much of anything. Another 20'? Maybe.

Where I live they require OWB's to be quite a long distance from homes and lot lines to prevent this.

Regardless of the type of wood burner being used I'd be pretty upset if I were your neighbor. I've been smoked out by leaf burning/bonfires before and it can be highly unpleasant. It's not just their yard you're filling with smoke...

 

[warno]

Regardless of the type of wood burner being used I'd be pretty upset if I were your neighbor. I've been smoked out by leaf burning/bonfires before and it can be highly unpleasant. It's not just their yard you're filling with smoke...

I understand where you're coming from. I wish I would have built a gasifier. I was quite embarrassed last year by the amount of smoke I was putting out. but this year I'm batch burning to charge storage tanks in my garage. so after the intial smoke starts clearing then it's clear for the rest of the burn. but I understand what you're saying about the smoke in general.


This is my back yard from inside the house. you can see the proximity of the boiler shed to the garage. you can also see the proximity to the neighbors house across the alley. so would any extra chimney height help keep the smoke going upwards? also the boiler is running in this picture. so it does clean up, it just takes a little bit.

 

[Bad LP]

I'm a guy that is really for many personal freedoms including wood burning and doing what you want on your property. You're in what looks like a pretty tight lot with neighbors all around you.

Sorry but I'm not a fan of that arrangement in such close proximity to others. A little wood stove smoke is one thing. Wood boiler smoke is another. I've seen some pretty nasty smoke coming out of some of them in areas much less populated and I was glad I was not a neighbor to it.

If you were my neighbor we would have a serious problem after what you are describing going on. Your stink doesn't belong inside my house and vise versa.

IMO 6 more feet of stack isn't going to do a damn thing.

 

[warno]

So if it takes a gasifier 5 minutes or so to clear I guess I'm not hating what mine is doing too much. Apparently I need to focus more on how I load the fire box. when I was questioning my smoke output I had loaded the firebox pretty tight. and since I'm burning up the split oak timbers I have it will obviously stack in there with little room for air movement. tonight I tried to seperate the splits and get good air flow through the box.

well 10 minutes after lighting the newspaper here's what I have coming from the chimney. you can see the slight smoke column rising outlined in red.

And as I'm typing this is only getting less and less. now it appears to be more vapor in the air from the chill rolling in tonight.

 

[brenndatomu]

stack in there with little room for air movement. tonight I tried to seperate the splits and get good air flow through the box.

This is how you are supposed to load a modern "EPA" style stove too...gotta give the secondary air tubes a lil room to breath...

 

[huffdawg]

Don't look to bad to me.. can u post a vid in the daylight?

 

[warno]

I'll try to get one tomorrow for you.

 

[mike van]

Even with a gasser, long after the smoke has cleared there is still a strong smell of something being burnt. People have been forced to take these out, you can't ruin someones life, home, property, etc. because you choose to burn wood. You sound like you want to be a good neighbor, i'd look into moving it if you can? 50 ft of chimney would help [remember the 100+ ft brick smokestacks] You're at a croosroad for sure.

 

[woodsmaster]

Couple of things that may help. When your fire is getting towards the end of a burn shut it down so that you have some charcoal left to start the next fire.
It may get going quicker and smoke less. also be selective when you start your fire. Do it when they are gone , when they are sleeping. or when the wind isn't blowing towards them.

 

[woodsmaster]

Could also try making a small fire at first to get boiler warmed up then add more wood after its going good.

 

[woodsmaster]

i would definitely add some more chimney too.

 

[Bootstrap]

That stack is not tall enough. More chimney would be a good thing for sure. I would add at least 15 more feet, which would need some kind of support as well. Some towns have ordinances that require the chimney to be taller than surrounding structures. That wouldn't count structures that are erected on a variance, but does include normal structures in the immediate area.
At the very least, it might help the smoke from clearing your direct neighbors. It'll also give stronger draft. If your fire is that smokey for that long then your wood is too wet.
I encourage you to reduce smoke before the town gets on you.

 

[warno]

All good advice. I do believe when I started this thread that I packed the fire box to tight and it simply couldn't get air moving inside.

I know there's at least 2 others in my area that have wood stoves and that burn all winter long. I grew up with a wood stove that dad always ran every winter so I know the smell. I for one love the smell of burning wood. I don't like the smoke but once it's cleared up the smell is almost nonexistent. and if my stack isn't smoking the neighbors in the area couldn't tell if it's me or the other 2 people.

I can assure everyone the wood I'm burning is not wet by any means. it's oak timbers cut to 30" long that were sitting in a pile for over 5 years then I split them and they say for another year. they are testing well below 20%. my boiler is forced induction so draft isn't a huge concern but I know more draft helps.

When I built this boiler I asked our fire chief of our town had any ordinances against them and he said no because we dont have the man power to enforce it. so with that being said I don't want to be the guy that gets them banned in my town. last year I smoked everyone out with my idling and was embarrassed as hell about it. but this year I added 750 gallon of storage to start running batch burns which I've already noticed helps with efficiency. I'm just going to get it burning cleaner quicker.

I do try to light my fires as early in the morning as possible that way its cleared up before the neighbors get up and running. I seem to be the early bird in the area so that helps. if its not really morning I light up, it's right before bed when everyone elses lights are out.

So I will try to get some more chimney and I have adobe other ideas to modify my firebox a bit to hopefully help combustion.

 

[Bootstrap]

When I built this boiler I asked our fire chief of our town had any ordinances against them and he said no because we dont have the man power to enforce it. so with that being said I don't want to be the guy that gets them banned in my town.
I do try to light my fires as early in the morning as possible that way its cleared up before the neighbors get up and running. I seem to be the early bird in the area so that helps. if its not really morning I light up, it's right before bed when everyone elses lights are out.

So I will try to get some more chimney and I have adobe other ideas to modify my firebox a bit to hopefully help combustion.

Yea it would suck if you were the reason for more regulations.

You like wood smell but not everyone does. I don't mind the hint of wood burning but I cant stand a strong odor in the house. On the other hand I love burning wood.
I catch my furnace smoking once in a while and I immediately go down stairs and open it up. It almost always has some smoke coming out, but rarely belches tons of smoke. I have good neighbors(except for one), and I want to keep it that way.

A few years back I had a huge fire pit outside. I used to burn pallets and the fire would be 10' high or bigger at times. Neighbors never said a thing. Well a few years go by, and the neighbors across the street started getting up there in age. They still didn't say anything....that is until one day my dad had a great idea to burn leaves in the pit. The smoke could probably be seen in the next town before I realized what was going on. Well it was too late. Even though the smoke was going over their house, they threw a fit over it and called the fire department. They didn't seem to care much about the fire, it was the smoke that they couldn't stand.
From that point forward, they called the fire department every time I lit a fire. We still don't talk, years later. I decided to dismantle the pit and made an outside fireplace with a chimney in a different spot. I don't think they can even see the fireplace and it doesn't smoke anyways.
So point in case, once you piss someone off, they will be all over you every time after that initial issue. So try to avoid the initial issue. I'm a huge believer in your yard is your yard. But there are costs of living near people.

 

[warno]

Yes I am in the same boat. all my neighbors but one are very nice. so I want to try my best to keep it that way.

My neighbor across the alley is the one I worry about. she wife in the house saw me wrong the front of my truck through the edge of the alley easement grass while banking a trailer into my drive. will from that day forward, which was in 2010, I haven't liked them. in fact she put a pile of bricks, chunks of concrete, and landscaping timbers in that area I swing the front tires through. now keep in mind this is on city property. I in no way shape or form went through their actual yard. so I'm trying to avoid pissing them off for any reason with my smoke.

 

[Fred61]

One look at the barometer and you will know is the smoke is going to go up or linger at ground level. That is, once the smoke is warm and lighter than the atmosphere. Cold clear (sunny) days it will rise. Rainey overcast days (heavy moist air) will cause it to drop.
I believe that adding height to your chimney will help by giving you additional draft. The cold smoke generated when you first start your fire will tend to sink so hopefully you'll develop a technique to heat the firebox as quickly as possible.

Hopefully your design is such that you will be able to burn hot and get the smoke burned in the firebox on your batch burns and not lose half your heat up the stack.

If I start my EKO the conventional way that most folks do here which is "up burning" with all dampers open including the lower door it will easily smoke up a radius of a quarter mile. Luckily NO NEIGHBORS. The technique I developed is to save a good amount of charcoal from the last burn, rake it over the nozzle, add 5 or 6 small splits, light charcoal from below with torch and when it is glowing start fan,shut the door, and shut the bypass. I usually open the lower door within 10 or so seconds and usually, without fail will see it gassing. It will be very wimpy gassing but that's all I need. I can go away and come back 30 minutes later to find a nice fire with just about all the pieces on fire and fill the fire box. Using this technique, I don't get any smoke at all coming from the stack.

One thing more: I have forgotten what your firebox is like. Could you add more firebrick to keep the fire from cooling due to contact with the cold inner wall and concentrate the heat. Smoke coming out of the stack means you're not burning it up in the firebox because the fire is too cold.

 

[warno]

One thing more: I have forgotten what your firebox is like. Could you add more firebrick to keep the fire from cooling due to contact with the cold inner wall and concentrate the heat. Smoke coming out of the stack means you're not burning it up in the firebox because the fire is too cold.

My firebox is only half, the upper half, submerged in water. I have a heat exchanger that is a 6" X 10" rectangular box that is about 7 feet long above the firebox that is also under water. my fire box bottom is filled with refractory cement, about 175 pounds, and refractory brick. the lining goes up just over the water line in the box. my air flows in the ash pan back then up under the fire.

 

[Fred61]

my air flows in the ash pan back then up under the fire.

That question arose after I posted.

Any way you can experiment with air flow directing some to the middle or top of the fire?

 

[warno]

I was thinking about that tonight actually. I had a system to get preheated air over top of the fire in attempt to have secondary flames happen above the fire. But I don't think with a water jacket directly above the fire I can get it hot enough. I've been thinking about adding a plate at the top of my fire box to insulate from the water jacket and try the secondary air again.


I did get some videos but the sun was going down so it's not very good. I'll try again tomorrow morning.

This is about 18 hours after the last burn. my flue temp sensor shuts everything down at 240F. this is a pretty good temp for the fuel to be burnt and my storage not stealing alot of great from the boiler water. Here's what I am left with.

my storage was down around 125F and here's my boiler. the A419 is my water and the other is my flue. this is before startup .

Here's my fuel load. Some newspaper, kindling, and the oak timbers.

And in case the question of dryness is there still

So I lite the fire and this is right after lighting

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And here's 10 minutes after lighting

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[Fred61]

Boilers designed to burn wood only have the air supply directed at the base of the fire and not below. Boilers designed to burn both wood and coal have air coming from below but they don't work well with either fuel. Coal needs combustion air below the fire but not wood.