My new neighbour is smokily burning green wood

[dougstove]

I know people on here are upset about local restrictions on burning, but my new neighbour is running prolonged, smokey burns
Walking by yesterday I saw them stacking green, round wood in the vapour-barrier lined enclosed garage.
I rather nosily asked 'Are you sure you should stack round wood in there' (in hindsight, rude).
They answered 'Oh yes, it is from father's woodlot.'

Now there is a prolonged pall of smoke all over the neighbourhood and they are giving wood burners a bad name.

My wife is on the provincial lung association, and poorly managed wood combustion is a health concern.

 

[Danno77]

I know people on here are upset about local restrictions on burning, but my new neighbour is running prolonged, smokey burns
Walking by yesterday I saw them stacking green, round wood in the vapour-barrier lined enclosed garage.
I rather noisily asked 'Are you sure you should stake round wood in there' (in hindsight, rude).
They answered 'Oh yes, it is from father's woodlot.'

Now there is a prolonged pall of smoke all over the neighbourhood and they are giving wood burners a bad name.

My wife is on the provincial lung association, and poorly managed wood combustion is a health concern.

You hit it right on. People who don't do it right give those who do a bad name.

 

[jatoxico]

Same here. I had to push my new neighbor to have a leaner locust tree taken down that fell during Irene from his yard into mine. If you don't want the wood I'll take it "No no, I'm gonna use it." OK cool, didn't know he meant 2 weeks later. Now the heavy smoke is hanging in the whole neighborhood. Clueless.

 

[loon]

i'd have a chat with him if it's possibly? sounds like Dumbass will just keep it going if not ;-)

loon

 

[cptoneleg]

Nearly all homes around where I live burn wood and they start c/s/stacking like now for this winter lots of smoke but it doesn't bother me, the few I have said something to about drying wood think I am crazy.
When I built my new shed I left about 3" gap between the boards for circulation and one of my neighbors a wood-burner said it was too bad I couldn't aford enough boards to make it solid.

 

[Wood Duck]

Maybe you can engage in a friendly discussion about woodburning (people love to talk about it), and invite the new neighbors in to see your setup. When they come inside they'll be amazed to see a fire despite noticing no smoke just minutes earlier when you were outside and you discussed your chimney. Perhaps you'll add a log and they can watch it immediately catch fire or something similarly demonstrative of the benefits of dry firewood. it is a lot easier to show people good woodburning than to get them to listen to criticism of their poor burning technique.

 

[fossil]

...When I built my new shed I left about 3" gap between the boards for circulation and one of my neighbors a wood-burner said it was too bad I couldn't aford enough boards to make it solid.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Danno77]

Nearly all homes around where I live burn wood and they start c/s/stacking like now for this winter lots of smoke but it doesn't bother me, the few I have said something to about drying wood think I am crazy.
When I built my new shed I left about 3" gap between the boards for circulation and one of my neighbors a wood-burner said it was too bad I couldn't aford enough boards to make it solid.

He prob saw you usin' that 170 and just figured you were poor, the gapped siding was just the last thing to solidify it in his mind. Did ya tell him that po folks just stack their wood outside, and only fancy people have woodsheds?

 

[MICHAEL H]

Sounds all to familar. My brother in-law turns the whole county into a certified fog zone every year. I swear he only burns green wood that has been rained on that day.

 

[3fordasho]

An idiot neighbor about half a block away burns green wood and yard waste in his firepit all summer long - completely fogs the neighborhood at times. The prevailing winds blow it away from me Another one, (a true idiot who signs his name with "xx") ran an home improvement business years ago, mostly roofing and vinyl siding jobs. One very calm evening he decides to throw a bunch of siding scraps in his barrel stove. Soon the whole neighborhood is smoked out with acrid thick smoke and all the neighbors are out wondering whose house is on fire... soon the firetrucks show up. My next door neighbor who was quite the hot head figures out where the smoke is coming from and goes over to the vinyl siding burner and clocks him in the face... never had a problem with that again ;-)

 

[thewoodlands]

i'd have a chat with him if it's possibly? sounds like Dumbass will just keep it going if not ;-)

loon

What do they say Loon, you can't fix dumb.


zap

 

[weatherguy]

Maybe you can engage in a friendly discussion about woodburning (people love to talk about it), and invite the new neighbors in to see your setup. When they come inside they’ll be amazed to see a fire despite noticing no smoke just minutes earlier when you were outside and you discussed your chimney. Perhaps you’ll add a log and they can watch it immediately catch fire or something similarly demonstrative of the benefits of dry firewood. it is a lot easier to show people good woodburning than to get them to listen to criticism of their poor burning technique.

Might be worth a try, I tried to talk to my neighbor in a diplomatic non confrontational way about burning seasoned wood, didnt register, he gets his wood in October/November, immediately puts it into his basement and burns it like that, hes been doing it that way his whole life and thinks its a waste of time to buy wood early and stack it outside. In fact, almost everyone I know in the real world (not here in the cyber world) burns green.
My BIL just cut and split his wood and also puts it into his basement, I tried talking to him at dinner one night when we went out and he got hostile. Hes been burning for 30+ years and his business has been selling firewood for all that time so hes an expert. He says Im falling for all these money grubbing regulations by installing correctly and getting a permit. He said I would get a much better draft without my liner connected to my insert, says my 6" liner is restricting my draft. I dont waste my time talking to anyone any more. If they burn their house down thats their problem.

 

[Danno77]

People who burn green wood aren't necessarily stupid. If they blatently disregard evidence that is respectfully and appropriately presented, then they might be!

Come here and complain about people doing it, that's what makes this forum so great, but let's all assume that they just haven't been given the proper tools (information included) to do it right.

Now, if you come here and complain about your uncle's neighbor, who you've talked to and given a full PowerPoint presentation made by Battenkiller and then demonstrated effective burning techniques using Backwoods Savage's 15 year old Ash, then let the name calling ensue

 

[red oak]

That's a good point - everyone I know in the real world does burn green wood. Before I came to this site I thought I was way ahead because my wood would be cut for 6 months before burning. It's hard for me to keep quiet because most of the people I know who burn wood are friends or family so I actually care what happens to them. Hard to decide what to do or how much to say sometimes.

 

[cptoneleg]

There are lots of folks up here in these Mtns. believe the wood is good to burn if cut after the sap is down (leaves fall off) they get them stoves burning hot they don't put out much smoke. I kept my house warm that way for over 20 yrs, 90% oak till I found this site while shopping for a new stove. Them old stoves don't have windows that get dirty, yes I have burnt Oak that has seasoned the time it takes to c/s/ and haul to the Stove. And most have the theory that you mix green with dry for best and long burn times. :zip:

 

[Nater]

There is a house down the street that just finished cutting and splitting the load of logs they received this summer. It is just sitting in a few piles in their driveway. I see no other wood on their property so I know they are planning on burning it this winter. I've thought of stopping to talk to them about it but I don't want to be the "wierd guy down the street".

I think there should be a hearth.com pamphlet, something that you could leave underneath the wipers on their car, or maybe their mailbox. It could touch on the key points of woodburning and give them the address to the site so they could come here to learn the correct way.

 

[gzecc]

Same here. I had to push my new neighbor to have a leaner locust tree taken down that fell during Irene from his yard into mine. If you don't want the wood I'll take it "No no, I'm gonna use it." OK cool, didn't know he meant 2 weeks later. Now the heavy smoke is hanging in the whole neighborhood. Clueless.

Locust smells like cat pee when burned and its seasoned, whats it like unseasoned? Is it worse?

 

[krex1010]

It is almost impossible to get people to change the way they do things. My brother in law called me yesterday asking if I could get him so wood from one of my tree service connections. He wants it for this year. He is one of these guys shrouds his whole neighborhood in smoke, has a chimney fire most years, and always makes a mad scramble every October to find wood. I simply cannot get through to him, good guy but clueless about woodburning and has no interest in changing his ways.

 

[pen]

Dealing with this is about like going up to a 400#er and telling him that second Whopper he's munching on is a bad idea.

As a general rule, people don't like having their habits questioned. It's as though being a free citizen of the US entitles folks to do as they please, right or wrong.

What's funny is that it is the same people who complain about overregulation. Reg's generally don't appear out of thin air, but rather as a reaction to people repeatedily making poor decisions.

In the meantime, those who do the right thing have to suffer the consequences.

pen

 

[Manitoulin Maples]

I was telling someone the other day how I was so happy i had seasoned wood this year and he told me all his buddies pretty much PREFER green wood....same old nonsense about long fires and mixing green with dry. and they all probably have big old stoves with no windows!

sounds like more education is needed. here's a program Environment Canada put on around Ottawa years ago called Burn it Smart - nice to see two stoves going side by side - everyone who burns woods needs to understand this. it's the first video at the top of the page called Advanced Wood Stove Technology: http://www.woodheat.org/wood-heat-videos.html

 

[cptoneleg]

Same here. I had to push my new neighbor to have a leaner locust tree taken down that fell during Irene from his yard into mine. If you don't want the wood I'll take it "No no, I'm gonna use it." OK cool, didn't know he meant 2 weeks later. Now the heavy smoke is hanging in the whole neighborhood. Clueless.

Locust smells like cat pee when burned and its seasoned, whats it like unseasoned? Is it worse?

My Black Locust doesn't smell bad it actually smells good maybe you need to kill some cats.

 

[laynes69]

I've burned a ton of locust, and it can smell horrible. It's not as noticeable with a clean burning stove.

 

[willworkforwood]

.... but I don't want to be the "wierd guy down the street".....

Good thing too, because I already have that position, and I'm not about to give it up. When asked about all the stacked wood in my yard, I politely give the brief spiel that we all do - 20%, split and stacked for a year or more - yada, yada, yada. Then comes the empty look in reply (the lights are on but nobody's home). One of these days someone is going to say, "really, tell me more about that", but then I'll realize it's only a dream and wake up.

 

[Shari]

I was telling someone the other day how I was so happy i had seasoned wood this year and he told me all his buddies pretty much PREFER green wood....same old nonsense about long fires and mixing green with dry. and they all probably have big old stoves with no windows!

sounds like more education is needed. here's a program Environment Canada put on around Ottawa years ago called Burn it Smart - nice to see two stoves going side by side - everyone who burns woods needs to understand this. it's the first video at the top of the page called Advanced Wood Stove Technology: http://www.woodheat.org/wood-heat-videos.html

Great video - thanks for sharing!

 

[mhrischuk]

Give him a link to this site.