Wood Boilers Cut Heating Bills. The Rub? Secondhand Smoke.

NY Times ^ | December 18, 2006 | ANAHAD O’CONNOR

[neverdem]

Their owners proudly proclaim that they reduce dependence on foreign oil — and save thousands of dollars on heating bills each year.

Neighbors say that they create smoke so thick that children cannot play outside, and that it seeps into homes, irritating eyes and throats and leaving a foul stench.

They have spawned a rash of lawsuits and local ordinances across the country. A report last year by the New York attorney general’s office found that they produce as much particle pollution in an hour as 45 cars or 2 heavy-duty diesel trucks.

The devices, outdoor wood-fired boilers, originally invented to heat farmhouses, are now a fast-growing alternative energy fad — and, depending on whom you ask, the latest suburban scourge. Scientists studying the boilers’ environmental fallout estimate their numbers have doubled in the last two years, to about 150,000 nationwide.

A growing body of research about the toxins spewed by the boilers — namely carcinogens and lung-clogging particulate matter — has prompted campaigns around the country to limit their use.

And next month, the Environmental Protection Agency expects to issue guidelines for states to follow in regulating the use of wood boilers. The industry, too, is working with the agency on new standards for boilers.

“These machines sound good when you buy them, but look at all the health problems you cause,” said Edward J. Nowak, who is suing his former neighbor in Chicopee, Mass., for creating a “public nuisance” by installing a boiler in his backyard.

“We taped our windows up with plastic, and we tried to be a nice neighbor, but it just got to the point where it was impossible,” said Mr. Nowak, who is retired. He said he had to move because of the constant smoke.

“People are calling up their state and federal officials...”

[neverdem]

Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times
Peter Muller of Stony Point, N.Y., swears by his boiler. “Now I have a renewable energy source,” he says, “and people are complaining.”

I guess that's the boiler in the backround with the olive drab color.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I've seen quite a few of these things here in Missouri. They can be fairly smoky...

[cripplecreek]

We need to face the fact that humans are just an evil earth raping virus in need of a good extinction. (yeah, it's sarcasm)

[Jerry Attrick]

OMG! What about the poor precious trees they are killing???
Have they no heart?

[rabidralph]

Diana, What are folks using up here besides the outside burners? I've seen some corn pellet burners advertised in log home mags and other things as well.

[Melinda in TN]

My neighbor across the street has one. Of course, across the street from me is approximately 1/4 mile. It's extremely smoky but in a rural area like mine you get used to it. Everybody here heats with wood stoves but fortunately the houses are far and few between.

[Panzerfaust]

I'm guessing that the fact that they smoke is the reason why they were designed for a farm house, where the nearest neighbor is a mile up the road. I don't think they fit into a suburban setting, where the neeres neighbor is 30 feet from your chimney.

One of the houses in my parents suburban neighborhood in Upstate NY has one of these. The top of the chimney is only about 7-8 feet off the ground. If a good breeze comes up, you are going to be pouring smoke right at your neighbor's house. At least a traditional fireplace chimney is 20-25 feet up, which helps dissipate the smoke. If you want the country farm lifestyle, I guess it's best to buy a farm........

[Kimmers]

I have been in a home in the dead of a Minnesota winter that was heated with pellet....wonderful clean heat with minimal ash....of course my experience was pretty limited however, I was impressed

[Dixie Yooper]

Those who cut their own firewood, are twice warmed!

[Professional Engineer]

“Now I have a renewable energy source,” he says, “and people are complaining.”

He doesn't understand renewable isn't the goal. BANANA is.

[tcostell]

We use a pellet stove all winter, and it barely emits any smoke at all. Just a tiny puff when it's starting up and after that nothing.

[globalwhiplash]

I love my pellet stove. A bag every few days and it keeps my oil heat from coming on. Nice warm air all over 2400 square feet. Have it in the kitchen.

[Red Badger]

Can't burn wood, can't burn oil, can't burn electricity, can't burn nukes, can't burn a damn thing without some enviro whack-job getting upset over it...........

[ASOC]

An alternate to the odious outdoor boiler is a Russian fireplace or masonry stove.

Good diagram is here.

I saw these work first hand while in the Komi Republic, on the Arctic Circle. Uses a hot, clean burning fire to heat the brickwork. This brickwork, in turn, radiates heat for hours after.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

We have the largest Lopi stove made and fire it with two-three year aged oak and ash. The stack is about 40 feet up so we don't get much more than a whiff of burning wood. Firewood is "falling out of the ground" in this part of the Ozarks.

[polymuser]

They're definitely smokey. They form condensate (creosote) on the water lines in them, as well as from throttling-down, then throttle-up and burn it off, cyclically. They're headed for trouble in many states.

A better alternative might be to use thermal mass -- a brick/rock mass that uses a hot (less smokey) fire that winds through various chambers to heat the mass from the inside, with the outside of the mass releasing its heat into the building over time. Basically a big, warm rock in your house.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

lung-clogging particulate matter

Soot?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

We got a book on "Russian Stoves" and were looking at these when we built our house in mid-Missouri about 4 years ago. Our builder suggested money would be better spent on a geothermal system and thermal-heated floor. The massive masonery and air chambers required for these things may be beyond the reach of your local stone mason...

[silver charm]

I think the pellet stoves must be a bit different from these wood fired boilers. My neighbor has a pellet stove and it is really nice. It burns very clean with almost no visible smoke coming out of the pipe. I often walk right by it and am not bothered by the exhaust.

I live in the northwest and air stagnation can be a big problem up here.

Is anyone (other than me) old enough to remember smudge pots used to keep the citrus groves from frost? Now that was some serious second hand smoke!