Why the wood haters?? One bad apple...

[Blowingsmokeupyourchimney]

I burn wood to heat my home and shop. I know a lot of people who do. But I have to ask about the people and groups that are against it. I have seen a few posts or forums on this topic and have been looking at Heated Up! and other sites. I still think wood burned inside a combustion chamber is still better than burning in a pile. I live in the Northeast part of South Dakota and we (what I have read) had zero trees hundreds of years ago. So, how can it be bad for us, to now burn wood? A lot of areas were harvested and clear cut for wood but I think we are so much better with burning wood now, than we were 100 years ago.

So, why all the wood heater haters or is it just the outdoor boiler owners not running their stoves right? I saw the facebook page/group "Wood Burning Neighbors say the Darndest Things", who are the stupid wood stove users that are giving us all such a bad name? We should do a door-to-door campaign to help them out if they are that bad at burning wood...

 

[Lake Girl]

Just this weekend went for a walk with the dog ... rounded the corner and saw a pile of branches in the ditch where a portion of a couple of trees were cut for fire wood. I shake my head ... green wood. It drives me crazy as another local area was cut over 2 years ago ... road access all the way along. They left a pile of birch on the ground ... not sure how long it is viable for wood heat but it was there all summer for 2 summers in a row.

Many of the "haters" are in areas where inversions occur...

 

[pen]

Lots of burners of every type that aren't doing it well and make a bad name for the folks that do it right.

The problem is, the ones doing it poorly are often the ones that are most unwilling to change their habits.

As far as a door to door to door campaign,,,,, that's just asking to get lead poisoning.

The folks who want to do better are willing to learn on their own and often find a place like this as part of the process.

 

[jatoxico]

Many of the "haters" are in areas where inversions occur...

Partly for sure. Wood smoke is a health hazard, no two ways about it. Burn clean and reduce your risk. Done properly the risk is acceptable but if I lived next to someone burning green wood in an OWB I wouldn't be happy.

 

[Riff]

Some folks I can understanding hating wood burners. There is a shop that is along a major road that has an OWB for heat. The smoke coming out of the chimney is thick, white, reeks of whatever potentially burnable material they filled it with. On a good day the smoke travels a couple hundred feet or longer, draping over the road and headed towards the local high school. Sure makes a bad impression on wood burners when you can't drive through the area without choking.

 

[Blowingsmokeupyourchimney]

Are the haters just "trolls" or people with a lot of time on their hands? But it seems like it is the loudest people who get attention. Even the federal government does not want to recognize the amount of people who use wood heat and the savings they get from it(I have seen and read articles of the lack of mention and recognition of wood heating but it is seems to be a "poor person's" form of heat). It seems you have to work in the winter to pay the heat bill or afford to live but if you burn heat you are a bad person. I heat with wood and am proud, it takes brains to do more than turn a dial.


alliance for green heat

"Biomass heating receives much less government support than wind or solar in the US. Individuals receive a 30% federal tax credit with no upper limit for wind, solar and geothermal, but biomass stoves and furnaces receive 30% with a cap of $1,500 for several years, then a $300 tax credit and as of 2014, no tax credit at all. However, states are starting to provide more incentives. Outdoor wood boilers are often undermining support for biomass heating in America, but the growth of the pellet stove industry shows that biomass heating can be very clean and efficient".

Is big oil controlling how we see biomass?

 

[Blowingsmokeupyourchimney]

Lots of burners of every type that aren't doing it well and make a bad name for the folks that do it right.

The problem is, the ones doing it poorly are often the ones that are most unwilling to change their habits.

As far as a door to door to door campaign,,,,, that's just asking to get lead poisoning.

The folks who want to do better are willing to learn on their own and often find a place like this as part of the process.

This is not on the topic but.... lead poisoning... is that how everyone reacts to people knocking on their doors? I guess we would be better off to a post card mailing or a PSA on tv and radio....

 

[pen]

Are the haters just "trolls" or people with a lot of time on their hands? s?

Not at all. Reasonable folks, especially wood burners should be aggravated when folks abuse all of us with their poor habits.

Much of the problem comes from people not having properly seasoned wood and not running their equipment properly,,, this is especially true of setups that are not epa compliant.

It's many bad wood burners that end up being the enemy of the good ones.

 

[Lake Girl]

seems to be a "poor person's" form of heat

If you do a search of the forum, you will come up with mentions of community groups that provide wood for folks to use to heat their homes...

 

[jatoxico]

It's many bad wood burners that end up being the enemy of the good ones.

There's a lot of "I've always done it that way" in wood burning. Lot in other things too I guess. Many people need to be dragged into change.

 

[pen]

This is not on the topic but.... lead poisoning... is that how everyone reacts to people knocking on their doors? I guess we would be better off to a post card mailing or a PSA on tv and radio....

Knocking on a door and telling a homeowner they are doing something wrong that they have been doing for years in many cases, just doesn't generally garner an invitation for coffee and further conversation.

 

[barmstrong2]

There's a lot of "I've always done it that way" in wood burning. Lot in other things too I guess. Many people need to be dragged into change.

I know someone who burns 20+ cord a year in an OWB, all of it green, much of it split and thrown into the chamber. Smokes up the whole village. He doesn't care. Not one little bit.

 

[Blowingsmokeupyourchimney]

I know someone who burns 20+ cord a year in an OWB, all of it green, much of it split and thrown into the chamber. Smokes up the whole village. He doesn't care. Not one little bit.

Should the courts get involved or is it simply their right to burn that way?

 

[Wood Duck]

There are lots of wood burners in my neighborhood, and a few of them manage to produce a constant stream of dark smoke from their chimneys. If I lived downwind from one of those guys I might be a wood heat hater too. A few people doing wood heat improperly makes a much stronger impression than the majority doing it right. The guys who burn clean go completely unnoticed.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I know someone who burns 20+ cord a year in an OWB, all of it green, much of it split and thrown into the chamber. Smokes up the whole village. He doesn't care. Not one little bit.

Must be the same guy i know ,but this guy doesnt know better,when i try to explain what dry wood is, all i get is "it burns fine the way it is" .Usually you can tell within 5 minutes of talking to these guys if you can get through or not.

 

[Blowingsmokeupyourchimney]

I think with the American flag, people burning wood should fly a wood heater flag so people realize all the people who do burn wood correctly!

 

[jatoxico]

The guys who burn clean go completely unnoticed.

Walked the neighborhood with my wife the other day and it was cold enough for any burners to have their stoves on. I was pointing out the stacks to her. Some better, some worse.

One guy in particular had his wood dumped into his driveway. Clearly green and fully tarped. Steady stream of smoke pouring out of his stack. When we got back and looked at ours you couldn't even tell I was burning but it was blazing away. Who do you think people will think of when they think of wood heat?

 

[Ashful]

As far as a door to door to door campaign,,,,, that's just asking to get lead poisoning.

lol... not everyone lives in eastern PA.

 

[rwilly]

Don't forget what people read in the media.
I saw an article that was saying that people who burn wood for heat are too cheap to buy real heat supply.
The article put wood burners in a real bad light. Made us out to be a bunch of Hillbillys.

 

[Blowingsmokeupyourchimney]

I can burn about a quart of gas in my chain saw and get half a cord of firewood. How can that be compared to burning only fossil fuels to heat my home? I know I am not including bar oil and the half a gallon of diesel for my loader but still... I am saving a lot of money burning wood.

How many people heat their home or shop to 75 degrees (or warmer) with wood and keep their homes at 68 degrees if heating with propane or fuel oil?

 

[Jay106n]

Misconceptions, bad practices, green outdoor wood burners smoking up the town, wet wood, chimney problems, and the real work that goes into doing it right. Mix it all up and its a cluster

 

[drz1050]

Firewood sellers definitely don't help this matter. Up here, just about everyone knows that you're supposed to burn "seasoned" wood. Now define seasoned.

I only know of one seller that sells legitimately dry wood.. and it goes for ~800/ cord. He advertises it as "gourmet," I chit you not. All of the others split it in November and sell in December.

Have asked a few people about this. Since the trees were felled last year, that makes them seasoned in their book.

 

[Blowingsmokeupyourchimney]

Firewood sellers definitely don't help this matter. Up here, just about everyone knows that you're supposed to burn "seasoned" wood.

I only know of one seller that sells legitimately dry wood.. and it goes for ~800/ cord. All of the others split it in November and sell in December.

Have asked a few people about this. Since the trees were felled last year, that makes them seasoned in their book.

Forget the door to door... and forget trusting firewood sellers.. we should just get/give out moisture meters and show people what they are burning. Knowledge is the most powerful weapon... not lead(a jab at Pen).

 

[LocustPocust]

Many wood haters have legitimate beef, they hate the smoke and the stench.

I'm not claiming to be the perfect neighbor, yeah my chimney smokes sometimes, but I'd say 95% of the time my stove is burning hot and clean with no smoke. I don't like the risk of a chimney fire and I don't like seeing half of my wood go up the chimney so I don't like smoking it.

Besides me, there's another person on my street that burns wood. He smokes it almost 100% of the time. The next street over there are 2. They both smoke it almost 100% of the time. On the other street there's 4 or 5 that smoke it 100% of the time, one has what I suspect is a humongous wood furnace and the smoke that belches out of that some nights is unbelievable. There's one guy that I know burns wood and his chimney smokes very rarely. Where we live is kind of low and the smoke just lays in here some nights, especially when it's stormy and the air is heavy.

I never smell my wood stove in my house, but my house always smells like a wood stove.. thanks to everyone in the neighborhood.

 

[Firefighter938]

I have a friend with an owb and he will only burn green wood. I offered to give him some dry stuff and he said no because it doesn't last long enough.

I have an old "smoke dragon" but when I'm burning you really have to look at the chimney to notice. All you can see is the heat coming out of it with the occasional whisp of white smoke.