Dealing with neighbors' wood fireplace smoke (electric, dogs, fence, better)

[jenlinhy]

I had a red maple cut down about 3 yrs ago. It was already dead standing for close to a year. This year we gave all our left over wood to the neighbor, since burning wood in our fireplace didn't seem like a good option considering the dog's allergic reaction.

The neighbor also had 2 cords delivered in July. It was some of the ugliest wood I've seen.

I'm going to find out which pile of wood he's burning from. I think I'll ask him to burn the maple I gave him for a few days and see if it burns cleaner.

I'd love to find out green wood is the culprit. I was planning of expanding my house and adding a wood burning stove, in place of the fireplace.

I am storing a gas powered wood splitter for a friend and would love to put it to work on some of the cut trees in the neighborhood.

Thanks for your opinion.

[beachmel]

Originally Posted by jenlinhy

I had a red maple cut down about 3 yrs ago. It was already dead standing for close to a year. This year we gave all our left over wood to the neighbor, since burning wood in our fireplace didn't seem like a good option considering the dog's allergic reaction.

The neighbor also had 2 cords delivered in July. It was some of the ugliest wood I've seen.

I'm going to find out which pile of wood he's burning from. I think I'll ask him to burn the maple I gave him for a few days and see if it burns cleaner.

I'd love to find out green wood is the culprit. I was planning of expanding my house and adding a wood burning stove, in place of the fireplace.

I am storing a gas powered wood splitter for a friend and would love to put it to work on some of the cut trees in the neighborhood.

Thanks for your opinion.

Green wood is likely going to put out an almost acidic smelling thick smoke which has an almost bluish coloration. You'd also be smelling quite a bit of creosote after a while. Old, wet or rotten wood is going to produce a thick white or off white smoke that actually smells wet...it seems as if the rotten wood smell lingers in the smoke and sticks to everything. Good, dry, well-seasoned wood smells like a really nice campfire and doesn't give off much smell at all. Bad wood creates a wetter smoke (if that makes sense) that settles more than good dry wood.

I really think you'd enjoy your stove. Everyone who comes to our house, whether they're regulars or not, if we've got the stove burning, steps up on the hearth right away. There's just something inviting about a big ole woodstove and a brick hearth that you can step up on to get warmed up. It's just downright cozy.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Well, aside from the idea of using USA Today as a reliable source of scientific information(!), this information ostensibly from the EPA is worth noting: "The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that wood stoves are responsible for 5% of the smallest, deadliest particles emitted in the USA." That means that 95% of them come from another source or sources.

USA Today is a very good source for woodfires.

I use it all the time to start a fire in my fireplaces

[beachmel]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

USA Today is a very good source for woodfires.

I use it all the time to start a fire in my fireplaces

LOL

[thecoalman]

Put in anthracite coal stoker, 0 smoke, easier and in most cases cheaper.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/house...ers-guide.html

[Threerun]

Anthracite is definitely not cheaper than hardwood where I live. By a wide margin.

[thecoalman]

Well the farther you get away from the Northeastern Pennsylvania area the more it costs. Locally it starts around $160 delivered in bulk. Many in far out of the way places will get it by the tractor trailer load which is good for many seasons, the one guy in Maine got it for about $250/ton last year.

1 ton of coal = 1.2 cords of wood....

Fuel Comparison Calculator for Home Heating

There's other benefits as well, minimal burn time on most coal stoves is 12 hours, stokers are automated so that really depends on the size of the hopper and ash pit but anywhere from 2 days to weeks if you went through the trouble to set ti up right.

[DreamWeavin]

my neighbors,at least the ones right next door to me-the only neighbor whose fireplace smoke pours into my backyard ; anyway-they burn some foul smelling crap. It has a weird odor to it. The neighbor behind me,on the other side of me and behind me have fireplaces and I never smell any bad smells from theirs. But neighbor to the right--OMG-it's nasty smelling stuff.
Thank goodness for double paned windows

[thecoalman]

Moderator cut: orphaned quote
I could agree with that but I think the biggest reason for the increase in asthma over the last few decades is caused by a few factors.

1. Energy efficient homes that make a home airtight.

2. Kids spend more time inside the home.

3. Higher reported diagnoses.

The common citation you'll get from many environmentalists sites is that increased air pollution from coal plants and other sources is the reason all these kids are getting asthma but the fact is and I'm sure most of the people reading this will be surprised to find the 6 most common air pollutants have been cut by more than 50% since 1980.



Now I'm not a doctor but logic tells me if air pollution has decreased and in that same time frame we have large increase in asthma the source of the problem lies elsewhere.

As far as the specifics for wood I really don't know but there is medical study here that concluded people in households using wood or coal had less asthma.

Relation of indoor heating with asthma, allergic sensitisation, and bronchial responsiveness: survey of children in South Bavaria -- von Mutius et al. 312 (7044): 1448 -- BMJ

This study shows that in a rural population children of families using wood or coal for heating and cooking had a significant lower prevalence of hay fever, atopy, and bronchial hyperresponsiveness than children living in homes with other heating systems

From the feedback of the members on my own forum that have asthma they have suggested the same thing. Either the asthma stayed the same or in some cases got better. Our own conclusion was that since a coal fired appliance is usually installed in the basement of most homes and is on 24/7 it will prevent many of the things that can aggravate asthma like mold and mildew. Essentially you're sterilizing the air with it.

[susan42]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Plus, if it were all that toxic, you wouldn't be here to complain, because all of your ancestors would have died off!

It is actually very bad for kids with asthma and can lead to chest complaints.
Health Effects | Burn Wise | US EPA