I am burning wood with very little smoke, but my neighbors are complaining about the smell. Is there anything I can do to control this. Thank you for any help.
Dennis Hershey
Dennis Hershey
Smell
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Dennis, welcome. Where are you located? Must be warm for the neighbors to be outside. Describe your stove, model, make, installation (chimney setup) and what you are burning.
I own a Vermont Casting Encore Non-Catalytic stove that was installed 5 months ago by a professional installer. The stove heats my entire house. The chimney is I believe 8 inches in diameter and has a chimney cap. It has been a very warm winter here and it is about 50 degrees tonight. I live in Valley Stream, New York a suburb of New York City. I try to burn dry seasoned wood, but I have been burning a lot of green or wet wood as I am running out. The chimney shows very little or no smoke and there is no smoke in the house, but there is an odor outside for about 50 feet in all directions and some odor inside the house. Thank you
Burning green wood will smoke a lot and will also coat your smoke stack with creosote pretty quickly. Your stove is capable of burning very cleanly, but needs good wood and proper burning techniques. Reread your manual on this . It's going to get very cold in your neighborhood very soon. Get some dry wood asap and see if that doesn't improve the heat output of your stove plus improve neighborhood relations.
Try to burn less wood and hotter fires, may be hard with the wet wood but might help the smell.
A key here is to also load the wood while the coals are really hot from the previous fire, this will ensure you get a hot burn quicker instead of a smolder.
robbie
A key here is to also load the wood while the coals are really hot from the previous fire, this will ensure you get a hot burn quicker instead of a smolder.
robbie
Tell us a little about the chimney height and setup. How close are the neighbors?
I would also guess that some of the problem is the very warm weather. It makes it more likely that:
1. Your neighbors have windows open, are outside and houses are not tightly buttoned.
2. Smoke tends to lie low in warm and humid weather.
It would be difficult to remove 100% of chimney smell, but in most cases it should not be entering houses nearby. Of course, there are lots of avenues for it to enter those houses - even roof and soffit vents.
Exactly what are the neighbors saying (smell inside their houses, outside, etc.?)
Yeah, do not burn green or wet wood. It can only aggravate the problem.
I would also guess that some of the problem is the very warm weather. It makes it more likely that:
1. Your neighbors have windows open, are outside and houses are not tightly buttoned.
2. Smoke tends to lie low in warm and humid weather.
It would be difficult to remove 100% of chimney smell, but in most cases it should not be entering houses nearby. Of course, there are lots of avenues for it to enter those houses - even roof and soffit vents.
Exactly what are the neighbors saying (smell inside their houses, outside, etc.?)
Yeah, do not burn green or wet wood. It can only aggravate the problem.
Check to see if the wind is coming across from Jerzy. Seems to have been a problem in Manhattan recently. LOL
The neighbor that has complained to me smells the odor outside and in his garage. He does not smell it in his house. Another neighbor that has a fireplace and an insert told me that all stoves have to smell a little as some people are telling me in their posts. I went on the roof and I cleaned the chimney yesterday and I will try to burn dry wood, but I will probably run out of wood in 3 weeks or so and then I will have to go back to oil hot water heat. Thank you Dennis Hershey
Not much you can do about a little outside smell. Just FYI, a lot of oil burners smell terrible outside (strong sulfur and chemicals). As I said before, I think it is the warm weather that had your neighbor outside more than usual.
As far as the garage, well - I would say that his car exhaust poses a lot more danger than your whiff of wood smoke! As I told my neighbor (in a nicer fashion and not during a dispute), if I want no one to see, smell or hear me I better have the money to buy a couple hundred acres and build a house in the middle of it. Other than that, we will have to put up with each other!
As far as the garage, well - I would say that his car exhaust poses a lot more danger than your whiff of wood smoke! As I told my neighbor (in a nicer fashion and not during a dispute), if I want no one to see, smell or hear me I better have the money to buy a couple hundred acres and build a house in the middle of it. Other than that, we will have to put up with each other!
bake your neighbors a cake and give it to them! I agree, you should never burn green wood in an indoor woodstove. Its just a disaster waiting to happen. you better off shutting her down and letting that wood dry out for next year.. also, get into the habit of ordering your next years wood a year in advance ( I would assume that you are ordering it)
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