| Those of us who heat with wood should pay attention to those who hate wood heating. They are having some success. |  |
The
Wood Heat Organization: Answers to your questions about burning wood for heat and enjoyment. |
| Those of us who heat with wood should pay attention to those who hate wood heating. They are having some success. | |
The
Wood Heat Organization: Answers to your questions about burning wood for heat and enjoyment. |
Visitors have their sayVictoria has a thoughtless neighbor and a few misconceptionsGreetings I was searching the net for statistics on heating
costs with wood VS oil and found your site. The only experience I have is that I'm still
recovering from the respiratory damage I suffered from my next door
neighbor's wood stove, which he burned 24/7 last year. Through closed windows, the putrid smoke crept into
my clean oil heated house. A few months into his burning season, I began
treatment in a pulmonologist's office (often) and was placed on an
inhaler for my lungs and a steroid nose spray to try to heal the staph
infection that developed on and inside my nose and respiratory system
due to the caustic smoke I was forced to breathe in my own home.
I had to have lung function tests and blood work done to rule out
carbon monoxide poisoning, because my meter read just below 50ppm inside
my home, and at 50 it's time to leave.
I did have to leave my home at the height of this invasion, to
stay with friends where I could inhale fresh air instead of someone's
wood smoke. I can't say enough about reasons NOT to burn wood.
I'm living proof of the damage wood smoke does to your health. Without being too lengthy - we have an OWB not too
far down the road. Their next door neighbor's smoke alarm kept going off
because of the OWB smoke, so they had to disconnect it. Their 2 ferrets
who lived in their garage died after about 6 months exposure to the
constant, noxious wood smoke. The husband spent 3 weeks in the hospital
last "SUMMER" with a lung tube to treat pneumonia - who gets
pneumonia in the summer? The
wife is now on advair. The
little girl was hospitalized during this past winter for about 8 days
with such a severe asthma attack that she almost died. So, good folks at woodheat.org-- how can you promote
information that says wood smoke is harmless? Can you in good conscience
look someone in the eye and say wood is good?
But selling wood is your livelihood, so maybe you can. The right to breathe clean, fresh air belongs to
everyone, and should not be compromised by burners. Thanks for this
opportunity to let me "vent". Victoria, New York, USA Hi Victoria, Thanks for your note. Over the years, we have
received many messages from people who have been victimized by other
people's wood smoke. In every case we have sympathized with their plight
and made recommendations on how to deal with the problem. Our mission
statement includes this: "Recognize that wood is most sustainably and
economically used as an energy source at the urban fringe and beyond,
and that one household’s woodburning activities can be considered
appropriate only if they do not interfere with another household’s
enjoyment of their home and property" http://www.woodheat.org/about/mission.htm We provide an entire article to help people decide if
wood burning would be environmentally appropriate for them. See: http://www.woodheat.org/environment/guide.htm We do not minimize the impact of high concentrations
of wood smoke: "It turns out that the human nose is almost
unbelievably sensitive to these aromatic hydrocarbons. Maybe you have
experienced this: you are cross-country skiing or snow shoeing far from
the nearest house when out of nowhere comes that wonderfully spicy scent
of wood smoke. Your nose can detect the most minute concentrations of
these compounds in the air and in most people it elicits fond memories
of hearth and home. Some say our highly developed response to the smell
of burning wood is a form of ancient homing instinct that we still carry
around in our genes. But, at what airborne concentration does wood smoke
change from being a pleasant smell to being unhealthy air pollution? The
technical answer is probably meaningless to most people, but they sure
know when they've inhaled enough, and it isn't much." http://www.woodheat.org/environment/smoke.htm You wrote: > So, good folks at woodheat.org-- how can you Did you find a place on the site where we say wood
smoke is harmless? If so, I'd like to know where. > Can you in good Like all other energy sources the appropriateness of
wood is contextual, as we state clearly in the introductory paragraphs
on our front page. So yes, we can look someone in the eye and say,
subject to a number of conditions, that wood is good. Can you look me in
the eye and tell me that nuclear electricity or fuel oil or natural gas
or coal is good without condition or reservation? I hope not. > But selling Where did you get that? Cal and I are both
essentially retired from the wood heating business and we do
woodheat.org for free, so you can't honestly make the argument that we
hold our views just because it makes us a lot of money. Money has
nothing to do with it. What we are is very experienced users who
volunteer to help other people to burn wood better. We are happy to carry on a dialogue with those who
oppose wood burning, but we find that most of them are zealots who don't
want dialogue, they want a ban. They oppose wood burning. We oppose wood
smoke. They live in a simple world of black and white, good and evil. We
live in a much more complex world in which it is acknowledged that all
energy sources cause impacts and that we all must be accountable for our
energy consumption and its impacts. We will keep trying to maintain a
dialogue, but we don't have many critics who are willing to discuss and
resolve problems. They would rather vilify those who don't share their
extreme views. I am sorry to hear about your problems with a
neighbor. I would submit that you have a very thoughtless neighbor and
that has caused you to campaign against wood heating. We campaign
against bad wood heating equipment, bad wood fuel and the bad operating
practices of thoughtless people. We campaign against wood smoke, which
we think is more responsible and productive in the long run. Regards, John, Thank you for your quick reply to my email. I want to take time and respond to the points you've brought up. I do have answers and will do so later. At this time I do want to thank you for your polite response and tell you that although I am a strong opponent of wood burning and the smoke it creates, I am not a zealot who does not want dialogue. However, I don't feel dialogue is enough, nor is it working. I've been using dialogue with my town board for over a year, yet here I am, complaining to you, because my situation has not improved. I don't mean to take my frustration out on a stranger John, but living among wood burners is making my life miserable. I've lived here 33 years - longer than anyone in this area, yet I have less rights. Clean, smoke free air is my right that should supersede their right to burn. Therefore, I naturally take any opportunity to get my point across to proponents of wood stoves and more so, OWBs. I feel we are fighting big business, politics and campaign donations. If town and federal officials were forced to exist as many of us who live with the invasion of someone's wood smoke on a daily basis, I have a strong feeling there would be a lightning-quick resolution of this problem. I live in the middle of a group of homeowners who burn wood stoves. It's horrible. It's spring - my home is stuffy inside, yet I cannot open a window for the fear of one of them lighting up. I live in constant apprehension and discomfort in the "sanctity" of my own home. This is no way to live John. We are not a third world country who must rely on wood for heat and hot water. To behave like one promotes a defeatist attitude. We are the USA and are better than that. Wood smoke particulates are a killer to humans, wildlife and our planet. You know this. There is no excuse to poison our neighbor's air. Until burners and officials realize this, some, like myself, are forced to live in a bubble of "their" noxious smoke that invades my privacy and steals my property rights. Your closing line: > We campaign against wood smoke, which we think is
more Are we both on the same side then? I'm confused. Because how can one support wood for fuel and wood burning devices when we know burning wood produces harmful smoke? From your site: http://www.woodheat.org/why/10good.htm #10 is offensive. Some people actually think the only reason we heat with wood is to save money. Poor souls, they miss so much of what is good in life. This is the main reason I wrote to you in the first place. Burning wood and breathing wood smoke is NOT the good life. It's actually shortening your life. Regards, Victoria, I don't smell wood smoke inside or outside my house. If you lived next door, you might not know I heat with wood. We maintain that responsible wood burning is not the problem. Smoke is. John Shirley is not too happy with woodheat.orgI was directed to this site, which I had never heard of before, by an
email. I am astounded that in this day and age there are still people
promoting wood burning! And, to beat all, insinuating that burning wood
does not cause health effects nor cause environmental damage. How on
earth can you explain your total lack of knowledge? And then you have the nerve to say that you go to http://BurningIssues.org for comic relief? Believe me, there is no comedy to be found there, only scientific facts and many people who are looking for help because of wood burners destroying their health and property. I can only assume that you have ulterior motives with a site such as
this. Shirley Brandie Hi Shirley, I won't try to defend our position or change your mind for obvious
reasons, but I will pass your message on to friends and colleagues as a
good example of one side of the discussion of wood burning issues in
Canada. I'll post it to our web site's feedback section so visitors get
an insight into the thinking of those who oppose wood heating. With around three million Canadian households burning wood for heat
and enjoyment, you have a very big task in convincing them all to give
it up. I don't think you are aware of it, but we could be among your
most influential allies in the effort to reduce wood smoke, having
worked at it online for over twelve years. Here is an example of our
advice: "In general, wood heating works best at the urban fringe and
beyond, but even using that criteria there are limits. For example, if
your nearby urban area has frequent air quality problems in winter, you
might want to consider other options that have less local impact. If
you're unsure about whether wood heating would be suitable where you
live, consider this: if all your neighbors also decided that wood
heating was a good idea, would it make your area a less pleasant or
healthy place to live? If so, look for other options." This is from our mission statement: "Recognize that wood is most sustainably and economically used
as an energy source at the urban fringe and beyond, and that one
household’s woodburning activities can be considered appropriate only
if they do not interfere with another household’s enjoyment of their
home and property" I think our approach will ultimately prove more effective at reducing
wood smoke impacts than attacks on the integrity of the millions of
people who choose to heat with wood, but I could be wrong. Time will
tell. Thanks for your note. Hi John, Thanks for
your response and the links that you sent. I appreciate your taking the
time to respond so quickly. My goal is to
eliminate wood burning in residential areas, having gone through a
horrid 3 years of having almost 24/7 smoky conditions which made our
life almost unbearable. If more
people would be considerate of their neighbors this whole issue probably
might never have surfaced. Here's hoping that this will come to be a
reality as people realize that they need to be aware of how and what
they are burning. Thanks again, Shirley, If you lived next door to
me you probably wouldn't know I heated with wood, except maybe for the
row of firewood standing in the yard. We are definitely
allies of yours
in the effort to stop irresponsible people from burning wood badly and
making their neighbor's lives miserable. Many afflicted neighbors have
contacted us and we have supported them in every case. You might find
our pages on outdoor boilers interesting. We have been fighting these
smoky things for many years and have had a few serious wrangles with
their manufacturers. http://www.woodheat.org/technology/outboiler.htm A dialogue with visitors http://www.woodheat.org/technology/outdialogue.htm From what you have said, it
seems that you are opposed to bad wood burning, not all wood burning,
which is exactly the position we take and have acted on for years. John Email us if you like: feedback (at) woodheat.org
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