Wood stoves - Ban them?!

[dr wogz]

Here's an interesting story brewing..

Up here, Montreal Quebec, it gets kinda cold in the winter. yeah, snow, ice, daily negative digits in the weather, etc..

Montreal is a large city (large by Canadian standards! ) And, with the price of oil, electricity, many have reverted back to the warmth & charm of either a fireplace or wood stove.

Problem is, is that we seem to be getting more & more 'wintertime' smog alerts, from all the CO & other pollutants being tossed into the air.

So, there is a call for a ban on fireplaces & wood stoves.. despite modern 'cleaner burning' technology. Basically, and outright ban.

True, many are old, and are just a pipe from the stove / firepalce to the chimney.. No filters, scrubbers, or the like..

And this would also include "wood burning" pizza joints, bagel bakeries, etc..

 

[DAllen]

IMHO you just can't have wood burning stoves in densely populated areas. That just isn't going to work. Out in the country where there is a house every 1/2 to 1 km that's alright but I've been around enough wood stoves used for heating to know they generate lots of smoke and I would be seriously annoyed if half my current neighborhood started using them. I don't know about scrubbers and filters on more modern stoves but I doubt that would help a lot. To keep Montreal and other cities like that livable I have to imagine some sort of restriction has to be in place with exceptions for non-heating uses. Gotta have that wood fired oven pizza!

-Dave

 

[dr wogz]

https://www.montrealgazette.com/Technology/Montreal+wood+stove+debate+about+down/1321427/story.html

NEWS LINK..

 

[dave carver]

...ummmm, my primary heat source. Not gonna happen. Some of us still live in the stone age, partially

 

[JRThro]

...ummmm, my primary heat source. Not gonna happen. Some of us still live in the stone age, partially

Do you live out in the country, Dave?

 

[Thrustline]

I have been burning wood and wood pellets for about 17 years. We burn about 5-6 cords of wood, and 1-2 tons of pellets per year. We live in the sticks so we don't see the impact from here. But less than 3 miles from here, down the hill you're in "the valley". In no wind conditions, when it's really cold, you can see the smog when you go to town. I couldn't afford the propane if I heated solely with it. Pellets do offer a somewhat cleaner alternative but are getting cost prohibitive as well.

 

[m85476585]

They're not going to make an exception for bagels? Montreal bagels are the best bagels I have had, ever.

 

[dr wogz]

https://www.fairmountbagel.com/eng/index.htm

I used to live down the street from these guys. Possibly the best in town.. err, N. America!!

Oi, I tell ya, nothing beats a Yiddish / Jewish bagel..

24/7! And always a line. Those 'in the know' would let people pass in line, and wait.. wait till a fresh batch came out!

Piping hot, gooey, melt in your mouth heaven!

 

[dave carver]

Do you live out in the country, Dave?

Actually, over the years the city(Boise) has moved out to us. For most of my life city limits was 1 mile away then they annexed so now it's across the street. We're far enough from the center of town that our burning doesn't affect what happens downtown due to prevailing winds although Boise is notorious for having inversions that last for long periods in the winter. But out here where we live when we're not burning you can still smell wood smoke from the neighbours so it's not just us.

 

[FlyBoy]

California is talking about banning fireplaces in new construction.

 

[RocketT.Coyote]

OMG I own a USGI Military Surplus potbelly tent stove and a Yukon stove with oil burner conversion. Have friends in rural N. MI with wood stove heating. I heat with Natural Gas however. Driving about my locale, I can tell when someone's heating with wood. The scent of a hardwood fire is unmistakeable.

Likes his bagels toasted with salmon-flavor cream cheese.

 

[Rocket Al]

Had one before i moved to California 20 years ago. Installed one when i got back to Ohio 4 years ago. An airtight is the primary heat source for my house, and it does a darn fine job. Fortunately, one of the guys from the studio i work at has 400 acres of land with mucho downed trees, and happily has me come to clear out those trees all year long....

My gas bills are small, and my family is warm. You can pry my wood stove out of my cold, dead hands....


Alan

 

[RocketT.Coyote]

A wood stove requires that either one be handy with a chainsaw, or be on very good terms with a chainsaw owner. A log-splitter is also a must-have.

 

[dpower]

A wood stove requires that either one be handy with a chainsaw, or be on very good terms with a chainsaw owner. A log-splitter is also a must-have.

Agreed on the chainsaw, though instead of a splitter I prefer an 8 lb splitting maul. Warms me up even before I start the wood stove

 

[evil ed]

Still, there's something satisfying about splitting with a sledge and a wedge.

Agreed on the chainsaw, though instead of a splitter I prefer an 8 lb splitting maul. Warms me up even before I start the wood stove

 

[RimfireJim]

Do you live out in the country, Dave?

I (Jim, not Dave) live "out in the country" by many Californian's definition - a few miles from any city limit, 100+ acres of undeveloped land behind my house, etc. - but, some of the houses in the neighborhood are as close together as some in town. My house is close to the north edge of our property, and my neighbor's is close to the south edge of theirs, and there are some days in the winter (yeah, I know, but we still call it that here!) that I can't stand to be in my driveway because of the smoke coming out of their chimney. They have a fireplace insert and will have it damped down, so the smoke is this thick, sickening "ooze" from the smoldering, very-incomplete combustion, that settles into by garage/driveway area because there is no breeze. They dang well better be enjoying their low heating bills, because I sure ain't enjoying their pollution.

 

[CharlaineC]

i own both styles of us surplus potbellys. I foget the newer ones name its more squareish. but we still called it a potbelly. they both heat well with wood, coal, oil, jp8, k9, and used motor oil. and theirs a few others they can handle as well with the right burners. they all have filters and heat reclamers on them but their for winter camping.

Filters for wood stoves are not that coastly but thet require a vacu-stack, a heat reclamer and extra hight in the flue.

The people across from me still burn coal. really coal. and others burn wood. we have never had any issues with smog though it might be the size of our state too.

 

[roadkill]

'They' can pry the firelog from
my cold, dead, fingers.....

 

[Trident]

'They' can pry the firelog from
my cold, dead, fingers.....

If you're by the fire when they get you, it'll be "toasty warm, dead, fingers" ...

Our home was built in 1983, when real fireplaces were standard on every home in our neighborhood. Nothing like a real fire on a cold, snowy night. And it's a selling feature on the older homes now that real fireplaces are not permitted on new construction. (Well, maybe nothing is a selling feature today ...)

 

[Peartree]

Our previous house had a two fireplaces and both had inserts (one we installed) and we cut our fuel bills in half or better. Saved thousands of $$ a year. My father-in-law and I spent a lot of time together (they heated that way as well) cutting trees and splitting wood. I don't miss the work, but sometimes I miss being warm.

I once was working on a project with some subcontractors from Berkeley, CA and the subject of chimneys came up. All the engineers from California laughed saying "Who in their right minds would build a masonry chimney?" Apparently thinking they were making a great joke. A guy from Arkansas and I looked at each other and then at them (we weren't laughing) and we both said "Umm, everybody?"