Well I burn Pellets so maybe not the best example but we have a few OWB's in the area and if I lived down wind from either of them, their OWB would disappear one night while they were sleeping.
So how do you handle it when somebody is burning responsibly using an EPA certified stove and just happens to have a neighbor that is not a "typical reasonable human being"? All anyone has to do is have a conversation with the man and they will quickly realize what I am dealing with.
So stay in the house in the winter? If I lived in an area and I walked into a face full of smoke I will not be a happy camper. Not sure why this seems to bring up a lot of emotions, we are on the same side ya know.
OK, which of you guys or gals is feeling called to start the woodburners education and advocacy NPO? Clearly there is a growing need for this. I can't do it, but I can give you the name: "Burning for a Cleaner America" All the tricky groups have counter-intuitive names.
A conversation is a good starting point but what if he wont listen and from what I have read many are not willing to change their ways. Why are we not more pizzsed at these people.
Not trying to be funny....just curious when you burn do put off so much smoke that someone outside your property gets a "face full of smoke"?
that's the problem, we the people that do this, work for a living and are trying to save a few bucks, while the other people are sitting home complaining about us. we are probably paying their bills too.....
No but many do. "You can thank the Outdoor Wood Burner manufacturers for this proposed regulation. They dumped thousands of their high polluting devices into residential neighborhoods basically smoldering homes with commercial incinerator levels of smoke. Even traditional indoor wood burners were disgusted with OWBs. Essentially, OWBs gave the wood burning industry a black eye. Keep in mind a typical indoor wood burning device emits approximately 7 grams an hour (GPH) of particulate matter where a first generation OWB emits well over 200 GPH. The problem exacerbated when state environmental agencies did not have the political will to respond to thousands of complaints from neighbors effected by the smoke from OWBs thereby pushing the issue to the EPA. If you want to be upset thank your state DEQ for burying their heads in the sand. That said, this problem is not going away with the current EPA testing methodology. The EPA test that will govern OWBs has been watered down to the extent that it does not compensate for over-sized units, and the weather data it uses to assess units during the test is based on averages and not actual temperatures of where the unit potentially could be installed. In other words, if the unit is correctly sized (big if) to match the building calling for heat and the temperature of that particular area is warmer than the averages used in the EPA test, the units will still smoke like hell. Keep in mind most OWBs average 180K BTU per hour while an average home only has a demand for 50K. Once the demand for heat is met, the OWB goes into what is called closed damper mode smoldering the fire and building up creosote on internal metal parts. When the building again calls for heat the fire is energized and the accumulated creosote ignites belching out harmful smoke and pollutants. Only if units are properly matched to the building calling for heat and the local temperature is factored in will there be a reduction in smoke. States and local communities do not require permitting based on this criteria so consequently the EPA test will not work as designed and this problem may even get worse because many local governing communities who once banned OWBs will now believe the problem has been solved and lift the bans. This will cause the complaint level to rise. This is what happens when the OWB lobby gets involved with the development of the EPA test."
kinda reminds me of when I go to continuing ed classes. I go to Radon CE classes and every one is concerned about radon causing lung cancer and then as soon as they give every one a break they all head outside and smoke.
