Stinking up the neighborhood

Wednesday, 3:51 pm

By Kate

Oct

22

2008

I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. Last night, around 9:30, as I sat in my comfy chair reading a scary story*, a knock came on my front door. I jumped about a mile. Peering out the front window, I saw a neighbor standing at the door.

When I opened the door, she seemed a little uncomfortable. “Are you burning wood tonight?” she asked.

I opened the door a little wider and gestured toward the stove. “No, see? The stove is cold.” She peeked around the corner at the stove and seemed relieved.

Meanwhile, smoky smelling air poured through the front door. Thick, pungent smoky smelling air. Stinky smoky air.

My neighbor admitted that I’m the only one she knows, for sure, who burns wood and the smoky air was bothering her a lot. It aggravates her asthma, makes her sick. But she was glad it wasn’t me.

I asked her to come in. It seemed like the ideal time to tell her about my stove and how it works and to listen to her concerns. Good neighbor relations required it. It was the first time she’s ever been in my house.

She came in and we shut the smoky air out. She told me that she doesn’t know that much about wood stoves, but was a little surprised that my house didn’t smell like woodsmoke. No, I told her, the newer woodstoves are air tight and are designed to burn the wood gasses and smoke so that it doesn’t go up the chimney or into the house. It’s better for the environment and the air quality and, actually, allows me to burn less wood. I told her that if she looks at other people’s chimneys (who use gas furnaces), she will see much more steam coming out of them than she’ll see coming out of mine. Most of the time she will only see heat waves emerging from the top of my chimney, but on really cold days, she would see some white wisps of steam. But the one thing she won’t see coming out of mine is smoke, which is gray and dingy looking. And I make sure of it because I don’t want my neighbors to hate me and my woodstove.

She reached out and touched the stove. Icy cold. I opened the stove’s door and gave her a tour of what’s inside and how it works. She actually was pretty interested. In fact, she remarked that aside from some ash sitting in the bottom of the stove, it didn’t look as if anything had burned in it. “It’s so clean in there,” she said. “There’s no black soot.” She asked a lot of questions and we also had a discussion about the wood I burn. I explained that my wood is seasoned for two years before I burn it and it’s pretty dry stuff. It catches flame quickly and burns cleanly. If my stove was black inside, that would mean I was burning wood improperly or using unseasoned wet wood. I make every effort to make sure that my stove and chimney are maintained and that I only burn well seasoned and dry wood so that I don’t send a blanket of smoke all over the neighborhood. That’s important to me because I don’t want to antagonize the neighbors and cause anyone to complain.

Of course, the conversation turned to the question, “Who is stinking up the neighborhood?”

Yes, I know who it is and it’s driving me nuts, too. But I’m not sure it’s my place to rat out a neighbor. On the other hand...it’s bad business for people who depend on wood heat and burn responsibly. I told her that I was pretty sure it was someone living up on the hill behind us. Could be any one of a number of houses—although I know which one. The guy who lives directly behind me. He chopped down another few hardwood trees in July and had them cut and split and stacked right on-property. It’s good wood—or will be in another year—but it’s unseasoned green wood and the smoke from it stinks terribly. Smoke from well-seasoned wood tends to be sweet smelling. This is is sour and really pungent smoke. It’s hard to burn green wood and it will smoulder more than burn. He’s not doing himself any favors either. His chimney is going to get thoroughly gunked up and increase his risks of a chimney fire. But for the rest of us...did I mention that it really stinks? And I am sure that half the neighborhood thinks that it’s me?

Well, the good thing is that this neighbor is the neighborhood telegraph. By the weekend everyone on the street will know that It’s Not Me. Which doesn’t solve the problem, but it’s nice to be off the hook anyway. When she left, she was confident that I am a good neighbor. She did remark that she thought it odd because she’s never noticed a smoky smell before and I’ve been burning my stove for a few years now. And I told her that if she ever has any questions or concerns, to come over. I’d be glad to show her how my stove burns when it’s actually burning and take a look at what’s coming out of the chimney. I’m sure she’ll be watching it for a while. And that’s fine.

Nevertheless, it doesn’t solve the problem of the guy up on the hill. That kind of smoke and stink is what makes people complain to the town and ends up getting laws enacted that prohibit wood burning within village limits. As more people turn to wood, it’s probably going to be more of a problem. There is a little learning curve to burning wood. But there are excellent resources available that teach people how to do it properly and responsibly. I highly recommend Woodheat.org for anyone thinking of buying a woodstove or, for that matter, anyone who has one. I’ve learned a ton from that site. Some really instructive videos, too.

* (riveting scary story) The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen. Not necessarily recommended for reading while alone in the house.