Charlottechicken Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 If anyone has one of these can you tell me if they give out a lot of smelly smoke? I want a stove of some sort and have to have a smoke exempt one but some of my neighbours are obviously burning wood as it really stinks outside some nights, with smoke belching from several chimneys. I'm now worried about pollution and don't want to contribute to this smell, so wondered if it was smoke exempt woodburners giving out the smell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Well I think burning wood smells glorious, so maybe I'm the wrong person to ask - I can tell my fire is going from my back garden, but it smells lovely and not overpowering. Are your neighbours burning something else maybe? I don't know what coal smells like, it might be horrid. Mine is a smoke exempt woodburner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted February 19, 2010 Author Share Posted February 19, 2010 Thanks for your reply aunty e. It's definitely wood and overpowering some nights. You can't get hold of coal round here, and I burn smokeless fuel briquettes on an open fire with no smell in the room. It's bothering me that the chimneys I can see smoke coming from are thick plumes, not gentle wafts as I thought. It smells like a really bad bonfire night and when you come inside the smell is obvious on your clothes and hair. I might be caught in a chimney Bermuda triangle though, as it's two at the bottom of the garden and one two doors away Incidentally, my coal merchant won't deliver wood to me unless I have the correct certification for my woodburner, which I thought was very professional of him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 There's certainly no thick black smoke from my stove. I can only smell it faintly from my back garden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 That's what I thought it would be like Aunty e It's puzzling, but if I go ahead with a SE woodburner I am complying with all the legislation and can do no better than that I suppose. I can only imagine it is because of the close proximity of three woodburner households which is causing the smell to be magnified, although if everyone was burning wood it could be overpowering I'm sure, and not what I expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 Maybe they had theirs fitted before legislation? Or maybe they're naughty non-compliant types Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted February 23, 2010 Author Share Posted February 23, 2010 Birmingham has been smokeless since the early 1970's (unless of course you are Cadbury's then you can take as long as you like to switch over ) and the thought had crossed my mind that maybe one of the chimneys is belching out pure unadulterated wood smoke, my money is on the one at the bottom of my garden for that. Mind you, the neighbour 2 doors away (who appears to have been burning wood since December) has had a full estate car and trailer twice since mid December, and the wood is mainly black wet or black and green mouldy and wet, so probably producing a lot more smoke than necessary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenanne Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 If you burn wet wood, then it causes way more smoke and also more gunk which affects your chimney so that the stove doesn't draw as well, burns less efficiently, and therefore causes more smoke.... I'm pretty surprised that it's so overpowering though, as smoke-free zone certified stoves are generally vastly more efficeint and burn more cleanly. Certainly normal to get a waft of woodsmokey smell when outside, but it shouldn't be more than that. IMO there are two possibilities: (a) neighbours stoves are producing excessive amounts of smoke, but if you install a well-fitted efficient stove burning seasoned timber and sweep the shimney occasionally then this won't be a problem; or (b) it's a smell that you're particularly sensitive too and which you just don't like, then you might not really like having a stove in the house. Can you make a point of making a trip to country pub /other area and see how you find it? It would be awful to spend the money, have the disruption and hassle, only to discover that you don't like the smokey smell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted February 24, 2010 Author Share Posted February 24, 2010 It's funny as I burn smokeless fuel on an open fire and have no issues with it, so if a woodburner isn't going to fill my home with fumes then I should be fine with it. I've also spent a lot of time in Yorkshire with a coal fire, and didn't have an issue with the smell. Thinking about it more I am convinced the house at the bottom of the garden is burning wood on an open fire. There's a fair bit of dark smoke and lots of strong smell. My next door but one neighbours are new to fires of any sort so probably don't realise the wood has to be left for months. It looks like he is sourcing it for free, the condition it arrived in, but they have no storage facilities A couple of years ago when I first wanted a woodburner, I contacted my local Environmental Health unit and suggested they should issue guidelines regarding care of chimneys, fires etc. I was brought up with an open fire and a Parkray roomheater but generations of people using gas/electric fires and central heating haven't got a clue about the basics. By the way, I love the smell of properly seasoned wood burning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenanne Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 Aah.... I totally missed all that! We had a stove in the last place which I *think* was a type which could be used in smoke-controlled areas, and it wasn't noticeably different from any other stove in terms of smokey smell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms Marple Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Hello I would agree very much with Aunty e. We installed a Defra- approved multifuel burnung stove 18 months ago and it certainly does not smell inside or out. The wood does need to be really well seasoned though or the burner becomes very inefficient. Wood has to produce water when it burns though so you are going to see smoke coming from the chimney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshinesupernova Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 with any stove, correctly used (once it's up to temperature) - you should see no smoke at all - only a clear heat haze. It's now a requirement that all stoves have to be a minimum of 65% efficient with less than 0.02% carbon output. Some are not DEFRA certificated for smokeless zones as that certificate per model costs about £10k and would push the stove price through the roof. Saying that, many certified to being over 75% efficient. However, a stove is only efficient when used properly. Prolonged burning at a low heat will cause tar build-ups in chimneys. Burning wet wood ... welll - water doesn't burn, so it condenses and turns to tar with the resins. Stinks like no tomorrow and also does lots of damage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
