fair ordinances 100'- 300' from neighbors???

[Jon E]

Occasionally I get some really ugly/smelly smoke when loading the OWB with wet or punky wood, or having to start a fire cold with no coal bed. Most of the time though, I have to look carefully at the stack from the house to make sure it's running. Generally ranges from wisps of smoke to almost nothing.

The best thing to do is make sure your wood is dry and clean. My woodshed has already made a big difference in the smoke output of my OWB since I built it, a month ago. I also try to load it at the top of its' cycle - when the set temp has been reached and the damper is either about to close or has just cloed. That way a full load of wood has anywhere from 4-10 hours, depending on demand, to "bake" and cook off steam. I'd take a wild guess that 60-80% of the moisture left in the wood is gone by the time the fire starts back up again. There have been times at full burn that alll I see are heat waves coming out of the stack - almost no color to the smoke.

My chimney is two sections - about 13' above the ground. Local regulations state that you CAN be closer to a neighbor as long as your stack is above the roofline of THEIR house. I'm glad I don't have close neighbors - I'd need a 90' high stack.

 

[John D]

I'm up and burning a week now,as of this afternoon,and I must say,the smoke has dimished greatly with my Shaver.As the coal bed is forming,and i am learning the curve of operationg,and loading it,I am able to load when its hottest,and the new wood quickly lights off,with minimal smoke.My neighbor commented about how he hasnt even seen smoke from ot in a few days now.I do smell the smell of burning wood outside,but i like that smell,and its not offensive, IMO.

 

[Mike Van]

Something I want to pass on, for anyone that doesnt know - You get really, really black smoke from the bark on softwoods. Pine, spruce, hemlock - I burn all the ones from my mill to make syrup in an evaporator, mine are tinder dry, but boy they'll smoke for about a minute when they first are thrown in the fire. If you want to cut down on smoke, stay away from them if you can - I go through about 2 full cords of them every spring. They go fast, but hot.

 

[AOD]

Do forced draft OWB's smoke less than natural draft ones? I would have to think a forced draft boiler or furnace will burn hotter and cleaner and have greater control.

 

[laynes69]

Around here, we have quite a few in small villages. I go through there often, and for the most part can't tell they are there. One person had an OWB, and for some reason tore his out after a few months and went to a wood stove, or furnace in the house. Nice fresh cut green logs with nicely fresh split wood that he is burning indoors. I see more smoke from his chimney in the air than those OWBs. That nice stainless chimney is black, and its a few months old. My buddy also has one in the middle of town. No issues, short stack. I think that small fires in the spring and fall, and burning seasoned wood minimizes the smoke. Its when you have them idled and full of green wood when its a problem.

 

[jetskiman]

They are dirty/hungry smoke dragons. I'd be pissed if one was within 500' of me. In fact I wouldn't lose any sleep if it became the norm for them to be banned. In general I think they give wood burners a bad name...

+1....wast of wood