One step closer to permanent wood heat ban in California?

[ultrarunner]

If someone drops 20 grand on a Harley, drops a couple more so it's so loud it can be heard 5 miles away, roar through the neighborhood at all hours of the day and night, interrupting sleep, then claim to be so poor they can't afford to heat with anything but wood, I do think that person's priorities are a little bit off.

When the smoke burns my eyes, and stings my throat, be it from cigarettes or wood stoves, your "right" to pollute has taken away my right to comfortable breathing. Has taken away my right to live actually. Which is more important? Right to pollute or right to live?

Two different things... no one condones either as far as I can tell and in my State both will result in citation.

What gets me riled is the mere presence of a fireplace, whether used or not, subjects me by law to cause it's removal... again, whether used or not or in the case of my Grandmother NEVER used...

Most of us like to be prepared for those just in case emergencies... which could be an Earthquake here in California... gas and power could be out for weeks or longer... this is why forward thinking people prepare... some have generators, saws, tools, tractors, etc... and provisions that will keep...

Having a fireplace is no different... in the event of an emergency it provides a means to keep warm and prepare food and even thaw water for drinking...

 

[PILOON]

Did the judge award your buddy anything for his legal fees?

In Quebec that never happens, Some point of law under the Napolianic code.

 

[3930dave]

Most of us like to be prepared for those just in case emergencies... which could be an Earthquake here in California... gas and power could be out for weeks or longer... this is why forward thinking people prepare... some have generators, saws, tools, tractors, etc... and provisions that will keep...

Having a fireplace is no different... in the event of an emergency it provides a means to keep warm and prepare food and even thaw water for drinking...

Independent thinking, and being willing to act ?

That type of talk will get you sent to a Group-Think Retraining Kamp. Big Goobermint knows better than you do, and will take care of everything.

Wish I was 100% joking.

Rgds, D.

 

[clemsonfor]

Yep, I noticed the German story said fire wood must be 25% or less moisture. Having lived in Germany for nine years, it is my opinion that Germans more willingly adhere to rules and regulations than is generally the case here and they reap some benefits from that national trait.

I don't know enough about the western forest issues to have an opinion regarding fires. How many trees would need to be harvested to make a difference? What would the impact of that be? I noticed a recent study published at Univ. Of CO at Boulder determined that the bark beetles don't have much impact on the number of acres burned in forest fires but the dead trees they cause results in higher intensity fires.

All my wood is below 25%MC when it goes into my stove. Preferbally between 15-20% but living here in the south thats kind of hard without going to 3 years out and i cant quite get there. I almost did but when my son was born i didnt cut for almost a year. I now am 2 years ahead as i burn more now and that keeps me around 20%MC.

Oak even cut dead Is like 35-50%MC and after a year your still only in the Low 30s upper 20s. this is measured on a fresh split face, cant go on the outside thats been exposed for a year it will be dry. but .5" in it will still be so wet you can see it.

 

[dave1949]

Independent thinking, and being willing to act ?

That type of talk will get you sent to a Group-Think Retraining Kamp. Big Goobermint knows better than you do, and will take care of everything.

Wish I was 100% joking.

Rgds, D.

Unfortunately, the more frequently and direly that limits are encountered and exceeded, the more large scale coordination is required to deal with them. It's the nature of the beast. This will become more and more frequent as population-driven competition for limited resources increases.

Two Cal. examples are water apportionment and air pollution. Market forces have a limited ability to deal correctly with such things. What is left as an alternative is some sort of ruling body that imperfectly--because there are few good answers--attempts to chose priorities.

I probably don't agree with the approach the Bay Area Air District "government" is taking with wood burning, but I can see how they got there. Big gubbermint is a symptom of the real problem.

 

[ultrarunner]

The Coastal Oak is very wet... so wet it squirts when hit with an ax and water will wring out if the splitter pushes against a knot.

That said, going 6 months without a drop of rain and temps in the 100's does speed up the process on the wood I split... mostly 6-way... makes it easier to handle.

 

[Oldpath05]

Any way someone can heat there house without oil, natural gas, coal, or electricity, IMO is a good thing. Oil heat makes big oil bigger with a lot of $$$ going to the Middle East bad lands. Then I here a lot of natural gas is produced by fracking, causing well water problem's for neighbors, and good $$$ for the land owner. Then we have electric heat powered by (clean burning) coal, no pollution there, or nuclear reactors like in Japan. Seams like there's a problem with everything to heat a house, I'll keep burning wood until I cant.

 

[ultrarunner]

I still remember when President Carter said heating with wood is Patriotic and something we should do as Americans...

and President Carter was well versed in energy as a Nuclear Engineer....

 

[ultrarunner]

I still remember when President Carter said heating with wood is Patriotic and something we should do as Americans...

and President Carter was well versed in energy as a Nuclear Engineer....

 

[dave1949]

Pres. Carter was facing an oil embargo and US oil production was not sufficient. Today there is no embargo and we export oil products.

I think more homes in Maine should be heated with wood. It pumps money into the local economy rather than sending it away to pay for oil, coal or gas. It creates jobs in rural Maine. It encourages good forestry practices due to product demand. It reduces greenhouse gas additions to the atmosphere. "About 17 percent of Maine homes heat primarily with wood, and another 25 percent use it as a supplemental heat source." Report: Maine

But Maine is not the Bay Area in size, population or local climate.

Bay Area population: 7.44 million (1,065 per sq mile). Maine 1.33 million (43 per sq mile).
Bay Area size: 6,984 sq miles. Maine: 30,843 sq miles.

San Francisco/San Jose/Oakland is the 10th worst city region nationwide for short term particle pollution. Fresno/Madera is #1--worst.

Bangor, Maine is 23rd best city region nationwide for year-round particle pollution, and also makes the cleanest cities lists for ozone and short-term particle pollution. Portland, Maine is not on any cleanest air cities list. So, even in Maine you can find poor or reduced air quality. My home county has no air quality monitoring equipment; no readings are available.

If 3-4 million of the Bay Area population moved to Maine and they burned wood, we would see similar problems. There is only so much air no matter how many people use it. It is a physical limit. The population cannot be reduced but wood can be burned cleaner or not at all. What other options are there regarding wood burning?

This Lung Association site also gives air quality data by zipcode.
http://www.stateoftheair.org/2014/city-rankings/cleanest-cities.html