This is what people are gripping about.

I personally like PBKBC, problem between keyboard and back of chair.

 

I have yet to find the "any" key!

 

A guy down the road just put in a wood burner of some sort. I think its an OWB but its hidden in an old barn. He must have been told to burn wet wood. He gets some serious smoke out of that thing!

 

We now have two OWB. One installed last year in the middle of a town and one this year on edge of town. Had to scrounge for dry wood last year - mostly from brush piles that were up to ten years old and old hedge posts that could have been twenty plus years old. Some of the pile wood had been burned at one point but the bigger logs had survived the fire. Neighbors ask if we are using the stove as they cannot see any smoke coming out. One observation I have made is you need to size stove to your house so it does not spend extended time in idle mode. If you are burning dry wood the only time we see smoke is for a brief time when damper opens. Burning mostly one year old seasoned wood this year and working on getting two years ahead. Never tried to burn old tires but good to have options for when all the trees are burned up!

 

I spent some time on central boiler's site last night, looking to see if they mentioned burning green wood, and no mention of needing dry wood for their new epa compliant gasification boilers.

I do like their design for dual action splitters though.

 

My brother bought one a few months ago and was told it needs 20% or dryer wood when we went to go look at them. I believe the product literature said the same but I could be wrong.

 

That's good to hear. The thing is, with such a short chimney, burning of creosote buildup isn't too much of an issue.

Unfortunately, most owb's around here are always belching out dark smoke. Hopefully that changes.

 

A town or two over had troubles with two owners of OWB that spewed putrid smoke worse than that. They tried to ban OWB but couldn't. At least not easily/inexpensively with years of litigation. What ended up happening after a bunch of town meetings, lawyers, litigation, complaints of discrimination, etc. was now EVERYONE in town has to get a permit from the fire dept to have a fire. Woodstove, fireplace, chiminea, back yard bonfire. No permit the fire dept. comes and puts the fire out. The wording on the permit allows for revocation of a permit for filling a neighborhood with smoke, complaints from neighbors, etc. The two OWB owners that didn't give a rat's #$$ had their permits revoked and the fire dept doused their OWBs any time they tried to use them. Made it tough and inconvenient on everyone else that at least tried to have even a little bit of respect for their neighbors rights to breathe reasonable fresh air.
Wouldn't surprise me if there are court complaints contesting the whole permitting process by both wood burners and the opposite side of the spectrum from those that don't want anyone to be issued residential fire permits and allowed to burn anything at all.
Just raises taxes.

 

Our town banned OWBs before anyone in town purchased one. I actually support that. We are a fairly densely populated suburb w/ typical acreage of 1/4-1/2. 1 acre lots are very rare.

Not saying they don't make sense in rural areas, but I think they'd wreak havoc here.

That said, I do hope they leave my cleanly-burning fireplace insert alone!

 

As wood burners we are all on the same team. Fireplace, wood stove, or OWB. Education is the key. No different than guns. If we argue among ourselves or look to ban one particular burner we lose.

 

You're right - it's no different than guns, cars, knives, or a hundred other examples. I consider myself on the same side as those who use these things responsibly, and against those who use them irresponsibly.

 

Yep, they can't sell, or is it make the non epa compliant boilers after a certain date. Even with the epa compliance, the central boiler's are an open system. They'd be more efficient if it was a closed system.

 

We always called it a PEBKAC error, problem exists between keyboard and chair.

 

Yeah, I'm not anti-OWB -but I do think it doesn't make sense in densely populated areas -ESPECIALLY when people burn the mean green.

Not sure where it even fits on the scale (From the EPA's site):

 

I've got no problem with OWB's, I just don't like ones that are inefficient, or marketed to burning less than stellar wood, or garbage. For me, an OWB would be perfect, along with either a pellet stove, or nice insert.