New England vs Outdoor Wood Boilers

[Webwidow]

(broken link removed)

IMHO: This is one of the more accurate articles regarding outdoor boilers in my local paper today.

"Imagine the smoky particle pollution from four diesel trucks idling right next to your home - 24/7.

Or imagine the chimney output of 22 constantly operating wood stoves or 205 oil furnaces or 8,000 natural gas furnaces.

According to a recent study by the New England States for Coordinated Air Use Management, that's the typical pollution effect of an outdoor wood boiler - a largely unregulated heating device. "We think they are incredibly polluting. People who buy them don't always understand what they will do to their neighbors," said Paul J. Miller, deputy director of the study agency, which was created by the six New England states to address mutual air quality issues.

Unlike the newest models of wood stoves, which can be 80 to 85 percent efficient in turning wood to heat, the typical outdoor wood boiler is only 28 to 55 percent efficient, which leads to a higher smoke output, the study found."

"They're great for people who live in rural areas, but you can't have it spewing black smoke into your neighbor's yard. Everyone knows that is unacceptable," said Leslie G. Wheeler, a spokeswoman for the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association"

 

[iceman]

webwidow

I was driving to work the other day and saw one burning....... I thought the gigantic house it was heating was on fire.......lol But.... i did see it later and notice it was considerately less
However, I know if I put one in my neighborhood they would KILL me

 

[heydan]

Why doesn't any slap a big catalytic combuster on outdoor wood boilers?

 

[iceman]

Why doesn't any slap a big catalytic combuster on outdoor wood boilers?

Who knows what a great idea but imagine selling and telling someone there is a cat that has to be maint. lol
if I could get away with with not putting one in i guess i would to ????

 

[begreen]

That would mean that they couldn't burn green wood, waste, dead animals and who knows what else in there.

 

[Webwidow]

I liken outdoor wood boilers to SUV manufacturers, if they aren't required to have better gas mileage (cleaner burn) it is up to public to demand it. Boilers should have a big metal label on the door that reads, "this is not a trash can knucklehead."

 

[iceman]

I liken outdoor wood boilers to SUV manufacturers, if they aren't required to have better gas mileage (cleaner burn) it is up to public to demand it. Boilers should have a big metal label on the door that reads, "this is not a trash can knucklehead."

You are right!! lmao!!
No wonder towns are all the sudden charging more money for trash(here in western mass)...... everyone is burning the stuff they would have to pay to get removed

 

[wg_bent]

A guy who lives 3 houses down from me has one. I think he heats his pole barn with it. I'd guess the pole barn is about 30x40. That heater covers the road I drive down with a cloud. The boiler is about 200' from the road, but you can clearly see it. Now, I notice this year, he built a shed around it, so you can't see that it's a boiler. It just looks like a shed with a woodstove in it. Oddly I noticed this year he added a lot of extra chimney to it. Like 20' of rusty old looking chimney pipe. Again, I can see this from the road as I pass. So far I haven't seen it running this year. I think he must burn pallets since he has one heck of a pile of pallets laying on the side of the polebarn. Yeah, and Steve's neighbor complains about his wood pile? Steve's wood pile is work of art compared to a pile of busted pallets

 

[iceman]

A guy who lives 3 houses down from me has one. I think he heats his pole barn with it. I'd guess the pole barn is about 30x40. That heater covers the road I drive down with a cloud. The boiler is about 200' from the road, but you can clearly see it. Now, I notice this year, he built a shed around it, so you can't see that it's a boiler. It just looks like a shed with a woodstove in it. Oddly I noticed this year he added a lot of extra chimney to it. Like 20' of rusty old looking chimney pipe. Again, I can see this from the road as I pass. So far I haven't seen it running this year. I think he must burn pallets since he has one heck of a pile of pallets laying on the side of the polebarn. Yeah, and Steve's neighbor complains about his wood pile? Steve's wood pile is work of art compared to a pile of busted pallets

Wow I'll stick to a normal wood burning and pellet

 

[elkimmeg]

check this link out
(broken link removed)

 

[DavidV]

I don't even have a boiler but you guys are gonna turn me into a clandestine burner. Here's what I dont' get. Nowadays, people stay inside and don't do anything outside. How do they know you have a stove to complain about unless they just see smoke and then decide to complain based soley on the sight of smoke. What stupidity.

 

[begreen]

That's a pretty big generalization. I love getting outdoors. And where is the air in one's house coming from if not outside the house? You haven't lived downwind from a smudgepot I take it. The smoke can hit you like a ton of bricks the moment you open the door. Especially if a low pressure system is parked and the air isn't moving.

 

[iceman]

I don't even have a boiler but you guys are gonna turn me into a clandestine burner. Here's what I dont' get. Nowadays, people stay inside and don't do anything outside. How do they know you have a stove to complain about unless they just see smoke and then decide to complain based soley on the sight of smoke. What stupidity.

Some people stay inside yes, but if you can always smell smoke.. or see it it can cause people to be paranoid...
(some people think a house is burning)
Most of the people here in west mass ... overall DON"T have a problem in the winter time but when people KEEP using them in the spring when the air is warmer for so the smoke stays and lingers more.. and also many people throw junk in them because they can .. The biggest selling point is that you can burn just about whatever you want in them

 

[wg_bent]

Well, OWB will burn what you toss in, I'm not so sure your allowed to be throwing trash, plastics, or other things that produce noxious smoke. (as if burning green wood doesn't produce noxious smoke) That picture looks about like my neighbor's sometimes. Most of the time it's not that bad, but still always a lot of smoke and almost never a clean burn as far as I can tell.

 

[DavidV]

Around here there are several wood furnaces in use. most of them are probably old and ineficcient. You see those from time to time as you are driving by. I was talking about people who get compliants based on their wood stove. It was 38 degrees when I went to bed last night and 37 when I came downstairs this morning. The furnace never kicked on . Had a big split and two smaller splits toasting away in the stove all night. There are times like now when it appears to be nothing but steam.... and then there are times when it's a fair amount of white smoke. I suspect that if I lived in a neighborhood where we were closer to our neighbors it would be more difficult to go unnoticed.

 

[BrotherBart]

Around here there are several wood furnaces in use. most of them are probably old and ineficcient. You see those from time to time as you are driving by. I was talking about people who get compliants based on their wood stove. It was 38 degrees when I went to bed last night and 37 when I came downstairs this morning. The furnace never kicked on . Had a big split and two smaller splits toasting away in the stove all night. There are times like now when it appears to be nothing but steam.... and then there are times when it's a fair amount of white smoke. I suspect that if I lived in a neighborhood where we were closer to our neighbors it would be more difficult to go unnoticed.

On the steam thing I have been wondering about that. With the old stove it would kick along all day with clear heat waves coming out of the chimeny. At night it always looked like it smoked. Since it was supposed to be one of those "smokey old stoves" I didn't give it much thought.

With the new stoves same thing. Burn clean all day but look like they are smoking at night. I have decided that if that column coming out at night shoots straight up then I am just looking at condensation as the heat hits the moist night air.

 

[Eric Johnson]

My boiler has been burning a lot cleaner so far this year, and I suspect it has something to do with the very dry wood I'm feeding it.

Green wood does smoke more and it kicks out steam, which looks a lot like smoke. If all OWB owners burned dry wood all the time, I don't think we'd be having this discussion.