Can I do anything about excessive wood smoke in my neighborhood?
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Anonymous
| If your profession is related to psychiatry, you should understand that it is nearly impossible to offend a DCUM poster. |
Anonymous
| This sometimes happens with row houses. Yes, it can be annoying and pose health risks. You can see if you can do anything to seal your house better, and try to find where it is coming in. Failing that, you may need to move. I suggest to a SFH. |
Anonymous
| Op I understand. I lived in a sfh home for a couple years in upper NW. There was chimney smoke that got into our house and bothered my asthma. We had one neighbor I think who burned fires every day and I think he must not have had a good filter or something. I would imagine in a row house it would be worse. I researched it and some chimneys stoves etc are way cleaner than others. I didn't do anything about it as I was just temporarily renting, but if I owned I might have tried to come up with a solution. |
Anonymous
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Numerous scientific studies report potentially serious adverse health effects from breathing smoke emitted by residential wood combustion. Strategies for reducing residential wood smoke: http://www.epa.gov/burnwise/strategies.html
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Anonymous
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The smell of a wood fireplace or stove is second to the smell of freshly baked cookies, as far as best and most comforting smells.
This is one of my primary motivations for wanting to live in a smaller, older home - gas fireplaces provide warmth, but nowhere near the level of coziness as a real wood burning fireplace. |
Anonymous
| My neighbors must really hate me. We have a fire in our fireplace pretty much every night during the winter. |
Anonymous
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OP, if you're still upset about wood smoke, you should support these regulations proposed by the EPA:
EPA Floats New Regs To Curb Wood Stove Pollution: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday proposed new standards for the amount of air pollution that can be emitted by new woodstoves and heaters, drawing praise from officials including the New York Attorney General's Office, which sued the agency in October demanding action and citing health concerns. http://www.law360.com/publicpolicy/articles/498693/epa-floats-new-regs-to-curb-wood-stove-pollution |
Anonymous
| We have 3 fireplace in our 130 year old house. I burn them all nightly. My neighbors have at least one of theirs going every night. I grew up in this house with all my siblings and have raised children here with no ill effects. You should relax a bit. |
Anonymous
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I guess I would ask OP what her endgame is.
If you live in a rowhouse in DC, chances are that most of the people on your block have a fireplace. I am sure some even have the inserts. I do not see how you are going to stop or control your neighbors from using their fireplaces. Even if you were able to locate the proper law/ordinance, what would you do with the info? Some of your neighbors burn the fireplace to keep their energy consumption and costs down. It is a perfect example of competing interests. Frankly, if I were you and I could not move, I would figure out how the smoke is getting into your house. I live in a row house in DC (with relatively new windows and doors) and I cannot smell any smoke once I come inside. That might be something you can fix. Oh, and for the people touting Portland. Used to live there. They regulate the hell out of wood burning stoves, but your next door neighbor can have a working urban farm (including goats and chickens) as long as they do not sell the results. I would much rather smell fireplace smoke then smell the things I used to smell. LOL! GL |
Anonymous
Well, I guess me. One learns something new on DCUM everyday. The smell is cloying, nauseating, and permeates everything. It reminds me of the terrible sense of suffocation of long, cold winters growing up with two mentally ill parents. |
Anonymous
| I actually love the smell of a wood burning fireplace. However, I also have asthma and the smell can and does trigger attacks. It sucks, but it is real. |
Anonymous
| I love my three fireplaces. Deal with it. |
Anonymous
| I picked up ¼-½ a cord of wood yesterday so I'm ready for our wicked cold day tomorrow. |
Anonymous
Yup. Op, I'd see how much you can proof your house. I thought about sending polite but anonymous info packets to neighbors on techniques to make the chimneys stoves etc burn easier. Never did tho. Now I live in condo surrounded by other ugly hi rise condos with no fireplaces. No wood smoke. Ugly tho! I am nervous to buy a condo in a building with wood burning fireplaces for this reason. Anyone ever have a problem with that? I'm thinking I should steer clear of those places.... |
Anonymous
| need for regulation of wood smoke emissions-ppm 2.5 microns-violates health and safety codes of cities, counties and states as a nuisance. |