wood stoves

[ultrarunner]

I apologize in advance for taking this thread on a tangent. Seems a shame that my parents have seasoned Oak from their property that they can't even give away.

So far the 7 million people that live in the greater San Francisco Bay area have had 30 no-burn nights this season. These no burn nights are always when the weather is coldest.

This is what the Air District has to say: Spare the Air Tonight advisories are issued when violations of national health standards are predicted by the Air District during the winter Spare the Air Tonight season. In 2006-07 this extends from November 20 through February 16.

About 15 years ago, when this program started, no burn nights were very rare. Over the 15 years, the No Burn threshold has been lowered several times. One of the district managers said eventually we will be able to regulate an end to all wood burning.

In Santa Clara County, the district is offering a $300 bounty for every wood stove removed. Another example of your tax dollars at work.

 

[HomeBrew2]

...

Just in the slim chance that your mom is actually exempt: Those same regulations as you posted are in effect in my area. If, however, a property is not serviced by natural gas, it is exempt from the regs ... (That's the only thing I like about not having NG). This exemption is NEVER reported, but is in the law. Sometimes the exemption for those above 3000' elev is reported, but not very often.

 

[Highbeam]

Our burn bans are put on by the pugest sound clean air agency and are 99% of the time stage one which means you can still burn pellet and certified stoves. Stage 2 is very rare and means no solid fuel appliances including pellets. You are exempt if the wood heat is your only adequate heat source.

They are pretty good about removing the bans right away when the pollution blows away and the weather changes.

 

[dmccarty]

How are they measureing the pollution? Is it visible smoke, particulate matter, or something else?

When our stove is running it smokes very little. The smoke comes out when starting up a fire. Running hot the only thing I can see coming out the stack is heat shimmer. Those outdoor wood boilers put out some smoke.

Later,
Dan

 

[Highbeam]

There are rules for smoking chimneys that are in effect at all times. You can't smoke out your neighbor and the measurement is based on clarity of the smoke, 20% blocked as I recall. During start up and reloading you are allowed to smoke for a short time, 20 minutes as I recall. Really though if your woodstove has any visible smoke while running along then you either have unseasoned wood or you are burning too cold.

The burn bans have little to do with individual stoves, there is some sort of regional air quality station(s) that measure things such as particulate matter, clarity, and other pollutants in the air. There are many sources of these pollutants such as cars, trains, powerplants, factories, etc. but they choose to go after the outdoor slash burners, and uncertified woodstove burners first. Apparently the land clearing burns contribute a large percentage to the winter air pollution.

Even pellet stoves puff a little smoke at startup.

 

[Oleozz]

The outdoor wood burning furnaces are becoming a problem in this area. They put out a tremendous amount of smoke so some of the small towns are starting to ban them. It's a shame that wood is such a labor intensive fuel and if not burned properly can create a fair amount of pollution.

 

[CurlyDave]

We just removed the wood stove from the plans for our new home.

We have lots of free wood, but I have had wood heat for 20 years and the old house was always dusty and dirty from it.

It seems a shame to burn trees in a burn pile, but if we can afford other heat, I would rather keep the ash outside.

A lot of people have asked about taking firewood off our property, but every time I point them at a stack of 12" - 16" diameter downed trees and say they are free for the taking, just clean up after yourself, those folks disappear. I have 3 stacks like that with 8+ cords in each stack.

I am thinking they want me to cut, split & stack it for them. Then they will take it away.

 

[slowrev]

We just removed the wood stove from the plans for our new home.

We have lots of free wood, but I have had wood heat for 20 years and the old house was always dusty and dirty from it.

It seems a shame to burn trees in a burn pile, but if we can afford other heat, I would rather keep the ash outside.

A lot of people have asked about taking firewood off our property, but every time I point them at a stack of 12" - 16" diameter downed trees and say they are free for the taking, just clean up after yourself, those folks disappear. I have 3 stacks like that with 8+ cords in each stack.

I am thinking they want me to cut, split & stack it for them. Then they will take it away.

you might have to load and haul as well

 

[BTDT]

This is similar to the stove we had in our 1400 sf house. It was an Earthstove, but the door opened from the top and leaned back out into the room, rather that swing open on a hinge. It would burn all night on a filling of wood, they offered (still do) an electric blower attatchment, but we never needed it. Put out plenty of heat.

Earth Stove 1003C

 

[dmccarty]

I was kinda thinking of outdoor stoves when I asked Highbeam about how the government determines the need for a burn ban. I drive by a few of those things and they seem to produce ALOT of smoke. What I read is that they cannot burn efficiently since the burn box is surrounded by water which decreases the temp which does make sense.

One house is near one end of a lake. I drove by a few weeks ago right at dawn and the lake was full of smoke from his fire. It looked like a fog. On the other hand some of the other houses that have the stoves don't always have smoke. I can't tell if they are burning or if the are burning dry wood or just more efficiently. But I have seen them really smoking out their neighbors. I think our stove would take a month of two of start ups to produce the amount of white smoke those outdoor stoves seem to put out.

CurlyDave, do you have or need heat the does not require power? Its real nice not worrying about how we are going to heat the house when an ice storm is on the way. We do get some dirt next to the stove but it not bad. The only ash I see is right around the stove. I do keep a brush at the stove, an sweep up pretty much everytime I load the stove up. But I don't notice wood ash/dust anywhere else in the house. Course with a German Shedder Dog and two kids a little ash/dust is just not going to get noticed.

I love our stove. I really love the cheap heating bill.

I have had been told from a guy that clears land that the people only want free wood that has been cut and split. He has offered free wood, I think it was already cut into rounds but could not find a taker. I have seen wood rounds stacked with a sign saying take the wood for free. The wood sat for months before it disappeared. Go Figure.

Later,
Dan