wood burner ban Iowa

[trouba]

It's coming to a county near you, and whats best is no grandfather clause.

http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090317/NEWS/703179938

 

[AOD]

Well it seems like more common sense than paranoia. A lot of boilers burn dirty and thats just they way they're designed. I would imagine that "converter" types like the Wood Gun and Garn will still be allowed.

 

[046]

OWB that meet EPA reg are exempt ... that's saying they are trying to clean up ... not blindly ban OWB's

 

[AOD]

OWB that meet EPA reg are exempt ... that's saying they are trying to clean up ... not blindly ban OWB's

I think the new OWB's are a good thing, they are far more efficient and mae much less smoke. I think a lot of idiots with OWB's are bringing this legislation upon themselves by throwing trash, tires and other crap in them and then letting it smolder. Burning trash isn't so bad if the fire is hot and it burns right up but having it smolder is really nasty. I only burn nasty stuff at like 3am.

 

[willsaw4beer]

It sounds to me it's a case of a few people ruining it for everybody else. There are plenty of responsible owb owners and operators, and the irresponsible ones make them all look bad.

 

[rob206]

I think a lot of idiots with OWB's are bringing this legislation upon themselves by throwing trash, tires and other crap in them and then letting it smolder. .

So where are all these people that burn tires in their OWB's? I see that allegation all of the time, yet I have never witnessed an OWB belching the type of smoke that would indicate tires burning. This is nothing more than wanting to control people. Sure, it doesn't affect people with EPA stoves or gassifier type boilers, so who cares if old technology outdoor boilers are banned..... right? Well, this is divide and conquer strategy and it happens to be very effective. The people that are proposing these infringments on liberty do not like ANY type of wood burning heat source, it's just that they will settle for the banning of OWB's........for now!

Don't believe me? Look at enough information(if you can stomach it) provided by the EPA that is on the web and you will see their true intentions.

 

[oneoldbanjo]

Most of my neighbors are 400 - 1,500 feet away from my OWB and I only put enough seasoned wood to burn 12 hours at a time, and all my wood is covered and kept dry and I get very little smoke.

Over the weekend the temperatures got up to 70 and I let the fire go out on Friday night and just raked the coals around on Saturday morning until they were gone, then I shoveled out the ashes. I put a couple of cardboard pieces from the bottom of a large cardboard box in the bottom so I could start my next fire with it.

I got out the tractor and starting picking up all the sticks and branches that had dropped from the trees and into my yard over the winter. The branches were dead wood and appeared to be well seasoned and I just cut them up into 2 foot long lengths I could jam into the OWB so I could get rid of them and get some heat in the process. I filled up the OWB with as many of the branches as I could fit in and then took the extra and put them on a brush pile that I have been building while I pick up stick and branches in the hayfield. On Saturday evening as the sun went down and the temperature started to drop I put in some extra paper and then started the fire in the OWB which had cooled down to about 115 during the day. As the small branches started to burn......a huge cloud of smoke started belching from the OWB. This smoke belching incident lasted about 30 minutes while the OWB got back up to temperature. The small branches were burning very quickly and there was just not enough air coming into the furnace to allow the wood to burn cleanly......and I suppose that even though the branches felt pretty dry and seasoned they were probably somewhat damp as they had been laying on the ground all winter. There was not much wind and the smoke traveled out over my hay field and made a haze for several hundred feet.

My point is that you don't always have to burn a tire to make a huge cloud of smoke and make an OWB look like a really bad invention. If I had burned these branches in a brush pile they would have made very little smoke as the fire would have had an unlimited air supply and would have burned cleanly. In the OWB the branches could not get an adequate supply of air and the unburned gases were belching out the stack. This was the first (and last) time I ever clean up my yard and put the wood in the OWB - it just isn't worth the effort and smoke and I will just burn the waste wood in a brush pile from now on.

If any EPA official had seen my OWB burning those branches I would have become the poster child for those that want to ban the OWB. Most of the time my OWB is either just emitting a small wisp of smoke as it idles along waiting for the next burn cycle.....or it is emitting almost invisibly during a full burn. Luckily my OWB is not visible from anywhere off my property and the heavy smoke remained on my property during this incident as there was very little wind that day.

 

[Jon E]

banjo, I've had the same experience as you - small sticks, cardboard, newspaper and some leaves in the OWB. It's just not worth it. I keep my wood clean, short, split, dry and under cover and try not to burn anything that I wouldn't burn in an indoor fireplace or wood stove. White birch, pine and some occasionally punky stuff still go in, but it's still dry wood.

 

[John D]

Most of my neighbors are 400 - 1,500 feet away from my OWB and I only put enough seasoned wood to burn 12 hours at a time, and all my wood is covered and kept dry and I get very little smoke.

Over the weekend the temperatures got up to 70 and I let the fire go out on Friday night and just raked the coals around on Saturday morning until they were gone, then I shoveled out the ashes. I put a couple of cardboard pieces from the bottom of a large cardboard box in the bottom so I could start my next fire with it.

I got out the tractor and starting picking up all the sticks and branches that had dropped from the trees and into my yard over the winter. The branches were dead wood and appeared to be well seasoned and I just cut them up into 2 foot long lengths I could jam into the OWB so I could get rid of them and get some heat in the process. I filled up the OWB with as many of the branches as I could fit in and then took the extra and put them on a brush pile that I have been building while I pick up stick and branches in the hayfield. On Saturday evening as the sun went down and the temperature started to drop I put in some extra paper and then started the fire in the OWB which had cooled down to about 115 during the day. As the small branches started to burn......a huge cloud of smoke started belching from the OWB. This smoke belching incident lasted about 30 minutes while the OWB got back up to temperature. The small branches were burning very quickly and there was just not enough air coming into the furnace to allow the wood to burn cleanly......and I suppose that even though the branches felt pretty dry and seasoned they were probably somewhat damp as they had been laying on the ground all winter. There was not much wind and the smoke traveled out over my hay field and made a haze for several hundred feet.

My point is that you don't always have to burn a tire to make a huge cloud of smoke and make an OWB look like a really bad invention. If I had burned these branches in a brush pile they would have made very little smoke as the fire would have had an unlimited air supply and would have burned cleanly. In the OWB the branches could not get an adequate supply of air and the unburned gases were belching out the stack. This was the first (and last) time I ever clean up my yard and put the wood in the OWB - it just isn't worth the effort and smoke and I will just burn the waste wood in a brush pile from now on.

If any EPA official had seen my OWB burning those branches I would have become the poster child for those that want to ban the OWB. Most of the time my OWB is either just emitting a small wisp of smoke as it idles along waiting for the next burn cycle.....or it is emitting almost invisibly during a full burn. Luckily my OWB is not visible from anywhere off my property and the heavy smoke remained on my property during this incident as there was very little wind that day.

I never let mine cool off much .The one nice feature of the Shavers is an ash pan.I burn brush occasionally. I have huge brush pile out back,its been there for years,there is a no burn law here,si i havent torched it.I am slowly burning it,one full squeeze from the sid steers grapple will give me a good sized pile,I set it to off the side of the owb,and let the wood burn down until there are only coals,and a few pieces.I fill the owb with small limbs,and branches,up to 4 ft long cram them in.If its too smokey,I crack the door or ash pan door,this gives it the oxygen it needs to burn clean.You gotta hang around doing this,as temps get up quickly.I have burned a lot of sticks this way,I do it when im working in the yard,so i can keep an eye on it,really dont smoke any more than normal wood,you just need to match the air to the fuel,and no smoke,but a very fast temp rise.I find that after you've had a ripping fire for at least 10 minutes,shutting down most of the air at that point,it will smoke heavy for a minute or 2,than calm right down and just a light trail that dissipates quickly.

 

[olyman]

So where are all these people that burn tires in their OWB's? I see that allegation all of the time, yet I have never witnessed an OWB belching the type of smoke that would indicate tires burning. This is nothing more than wanting to control people. Sure, it doesn't affect people with EPA stoves or gassifier type boilers, so who cares if old technology outdoor boilers are banned..... right? Well, this is divide and conquer strategy and it happens to be very effective. The people that are proposing these infringments on liberty do not like ANY type of wood burning heat source, it's just that they will settle for the banning of OWB's........for now!

Don't believe me? Look at enough information(if you can stomach it) provided by the EPA that is on the web and you will see their true intentions.

and this is the true intent of stupid supervisors---leave your windows open in the winter???--typical LEFTIST strategy--divide and conquer--submission to the ceo's--and the heads of STATE--get it???? linn county is a bit screwed up!!!! allll the owb people in that county need to be at EVERY meeting--and raise h@#$% with those spastics--and vote the jerks out, or impeach them!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CrappieKeith]

I have a neighbor that has an OWB.
Whenever the wind is in my direction i get a smell of burning creosote.
Come early spring I like to open up the house.Not with his OWB running.
My house fills with that acrid smell.
I can not work in my yard either.
I know they make better cleaner burners out there ,but what can a guy do.
I burn wood.
My furnace makes smoke. Sometimes with the right wind it pushes to the ground on start ups.

We all need to live together but his OWB has got me upset.
To see regs being put out is a good thing in my book.

I walk a mile to work. There's a neighbor by work that also has an OWB.
It's unbarelable especially when he burns trash.
I've always enjoyed the smell of a campfire ,but this guy burns just about anything that will burn to make cheap heat.

There has to be a line drawn.
Regs get made to hold people accountable since they can not hold themselves accountable on their own.
These regs are not just something that a rule maker says...oh lets ban this or that.
There needs to be complaints...enough so that it becomes an issue.
Then the issue gets looked at.

Burning wood can and is a great cheap source of heat for many.
There should be some responsibility in how we burn that wood.

 

[LANNY]

My wife (and I) hate that nasty wet smoke smell of a smoldering fire, she is a stink nazi though. When I close off the air too much(it's a fine line) it can get pretty bad. All you have to do is open the door to the fire box and woosh, It's burning clean. I can not imagine IMPOSING that smell on anyone else. If that means legislation, so be it. Some people are a holes and need to be told how to be a good neighbor, thank God I don't have any....Lanny

 

[CrappieKeith]

My wife (and I) hate that nasty wet smoke smell of a smoldering fire, she is a stink nazi though. When I close off the air too much(it's a fine line) it can get pretty bad. All you have to do is open the door to the fire box and woosh, It's burning clean. I can not imagine IMPOSING that smell on anyone else. If that means legislation, so be it. Some people are a holes and need to be told how to be a good neighbor, thank God I don't have any....Lanny

Some guys are lucky or truely blessed.:greenchainsaw:

 

[Maldeney]

I think the new OWB's are a good thing, they are far more efficient and mae much less smoke. I think a lot of idiots with OWB's are bringing this legislation upon themselves by throwing trash, tires and other crap in them and then letting it smolder. Burning trash isn't so bad if the fire is hot and it burns right up but having it smolder is really nasty. I only burn nasty stuff at like 3am.

So where are all these people that burn tires in their OWB's? I see that allegation all of the time, yet I have never witnessed an OWB belching the type of smoke that would indicate tires burning. This is nothing more than wanting to control people. Sure, it doesn't affect people with EPA stoves or gassifier type boilers, so who cares if old technology outdoor boilers are banned..... right? Well, this is divide and conquer strategy and it happens to be very effective. The people that are proposing these infringments on liberty do not like ANY type of wood burning heat source, it's just that they will settle for the banning of OWB's........for now!

Don't believe me? Look at enough information(if you can stomach it) provided by the EPA that is on the web and you will see their true intentions.

I agree that the new burners are a good thing and it is generally the few that ruins it for the majority! I do find it hard to beleive that there could be no "Grandfather Clause" in the policy. The Government would have to buy out the burners in use! Mabye I am all wet on the last comment but I know where the could shove it if they told me I could not run my new system that I just installed this fall for a whole lot of $$$$!!!!!!

 

[gilraine]

the only reason they are doing this is we don't get taxed on firewood.. another layer of control.

 

[LANNY]

If you live in a rural area as I do, the burning of wood is a long honored practice born of necessity. For most of the populace, alternatives were few. In that context, the thought of regulation is as foreign as was the thought of the TVA taking our land for dams, which unfortunately became reality. Many resisted, all lost. If this is the future for us, we can only find a way to comply. The government, our government, often does ignore our rights as individuals. Always has, always will. We (AS members) as a group are more self sufficient and innovative than the norm. We will find a way to heat our homes inexpensively,but we can not say "I'll do whatever I want, and to hell with the law", get real, that does not help. Contact your government officials, let them know you're not just a cheap assed redneck. Then MAYBE someone will listen....Lanny

 

[oneoldbanjo]

It does seem that those OWB's that are installed and met the applicable laws when they were installed should be granfathered in. Your car that was manfuctured to meet the requirements when it was built is granfathered in and you are allowed to use it until it is worn out, your house that was built to the required codes applicable when it was built are grandfathered in, same for your microwave, lawn mower, chainsaw, etc. etc. It would only seem to be appropriate that if somebody is going to make you stop using it......somebody should owe you compensation for your loss.

 

[046]

yes that should be true, but with a sundown clause.
most real estate ordinances will give a grace period of 2-3 years.
have never heard of any new real estate ordinance with provisions to pay for your loss.

without question older OWB are not efficient as newer EPA compliant versions. inside wood stoves have already gone through this same process. but mostly without the forced regulation OWB's are going through.

inside wood stoves that are EPA compliant use less wood and burn cleaner. economics drove the change over to clean burning. unlike OWB's which typically burn 6-10+ cords per season (amount burnt per AS threads) vs inside wood stoves burn 2-6 cords per season. please take these numbers with generous dose of salt, because there's huge differences between what OWB's and inside wood stoves are heating.

but the bottom line is... generally OWB's go through 2x-3x wood an inside wood stove without burning nearly as clean. there's always the exception.... like the OWB that only goes through 4 cords a season. but they are in the minority.

with the huge investment already made in existing OWB's. surely someone will figure out a retro fit kit to upgrade burn efficiencies.

It does seem that those OWB's that are installed and met the applicable laws when they were installed should be granfathered in. Your car that was manfuctured to meet the requirements when it was built is granfathered in and you are allowed to use it until it is worn out, your house that was built to the required codes applicable when it was built are grandfathered in, same for your microwave, lawn mower, chainsaw, etc. etc. It would only seem to be appropriate that if somebody is going to make you stop using it......somebody should owe you compensation for your loss.

 

[dave bain]

this type of banning crap is happening in montreal canada with fireplaces and wood stoves for new construction or renovations. in canada the government likes to blame joe sixpack for all of the enviromental issues.

 

[046]

hmm.. interesting information....

loads of used wood stoves are sold on craigslist. seldom do you ever see an used EPA rated wood stove for sale. had no ideal it's illegal to sell a non EPA used wood stove.

have seen loads of non-EPA wood stoves sold at local home improvement stores in Tulsa. at the payless cashways, out of the 20 or so models on showroom floor. none were EPA rated with dampening features. none were open burn, allowing EPA exemption.

The EPA was the driving force behind the changeover. In 1989 wood stoves that did not meet EPA standards could not be sold in the USA.

It is also illegal to sell a used non EPA wood stove.