Wood smoke making kids ill

May be of interest: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55330945.amp

Why do you bet that?

Reading this makes me wonder if our neighbours might have installed a wood burner. The rooms that attach to their house - the living room and our bedroom) - have smelled smoky for the last few weeks, mainly at night. DD is complaining of a sore throat.

I’m not going to get an air purifier as the last time we had one it killed some of our house plants, and we have loads of them now.

I’ll have to go round and ask.

Def get a hepa filter but it’s illegal for them to burn unseasoned wood. I am a wood stove owner (sorry, but our heating doesn’t touch the sides of the freezingness of our Victorian house) but I wouldn’t dream of burning anything but professionally dried wood. And we got the most efficient and low pollution stove there was. You can somewhat responsibly own a stove. Another problem is diy installations that don’t use the proper materials again leading to inefficient burning and higher pollutants. What a shame about the kids room being adjacent to the neighbours chimney. I’d feel horribly guilty if I were your neighbours. Surely that’s not allowed.

Keep complaining. Be conscientious and persistent. Check which local authority / agency has responsibility for enforcing regulations e.g. Council, Environment Agency. Keep a diary of times, effects and, if you can, where the smoke is coming from.

Laws on clean air exist to protect public health and save lives - true scientifically and legally.

Good luck OP.

definitely agree. We have a wood burner rurally too, only burn kiln dried wood but I can smell the smoke outside when we're clouded in/ wind goes certain directions.

Loving all the doubters who can’t / won’t possibly understand/ care about the impact of their actions on others.

The research tells us it’s bad, the anecdotal evidence tells us the impact it has on people but that’s hard to hear when you love your atmospheric and homely fire and can get free wood. The cognitive dissonance is real so the response is to deny it completely or take the piss. 👍👍👍👍👍

A smokeless zone doesnt mean you can’t have a wood burner.
https://www.gov.uk/smoke-control-area-rules

I do, but I don’t live in a built up area. I only burn kiln dried timber, have the fire serviced every year, drive an electric car and try to avoid flying. I have an air quality monitor in the house. When I come home from work and pull up outside the house, I cannot tell if DH has made a fire or not from smelling smoke in the air, I only know once I go in the house and feel the warmth.
The problem isn’t the fires themselves, it’s people burning the wrong wood and not having their fires serviced regularly. If I saw a house that was using a fire that was producing smoke from the chimney, I would certainly report them to the Council as we live in a smokeless zone.
Banning something that, when used correctly, is pretty much harmless is just plain daft.

Is it reading or comprehension you have a problem with, or both?

I emphasise completely. My neighbour has a wood burner and uses it from 8am - 10pm from around Sept/October to April/May. Completely ridiculous and anti social but they don’t care. They installed it as the only source of heating for their ground floor extension and are home all day. Also means that the flue is window height as emerges from ground floor. All completely within regulations would you believe (those need to be revisited and changed in my opinion!)

We have to keep all windows shut (and sealant on) during these months and bought really powerful air purifiers and dehumidifiers.

Unfortunately, some people are very selfish and don’t consider others. It’s hard to imagine unless you are unfortunate enough to live near one!

Ironically, these neighbours posted a rant on the local Facebook pages complaining about a one off bonfire nearby in the summer and saying how selfish it was with the smoke?!!! Insane!

They also haven’t twigged that their permanent, winter hacking coughs could be attributed to their burner!

If you approach the council then they will send out a letter advising them of rules and consequences of non compliance. In my experience, this makes the issue a bit better … for a while.

@Sallybun. Are you in Bath? It stinks walking down residential streets at this time of year, I think all the houses must have them. We go to a weekly activity in a suburban neighbourhood and from October the stench is pretty bad. Where I live we get nothing at all because we aren’t allowed to install them (new eco houses)

No, she expects them not to burn anything because it’s illegal.

People with fires in smoke free areas are selfish twats.

Do Environmental Enforcement Officers work on your council?

My dad had a lung disease all his life and this kind of stuff would affect him. I don’t think people think about the health implications (of them, their kids or anyone else) when getting these.

They're also extremely ugly. I hate them.

@Superhansrantowindsor there has certainly been a lot of talk about possible banning, or greater restrictions to try and clean up the air.

I think a wood burner can be a good way of heating, they can look stunning and have a cosy vibe BUT at what cost health wise to the householder who has one AND to the local neighbourhood?

I believe you, this happened to us. Neighbour has an extension and the flue to the stove was level with our bedroom window. You can complain to the council, they will advise you to keep a diary. We realised that some of our windows were not great and needed replacing. In the interim we bought some draft excluder tape to put round the edges of the windows to seal the gaps- you can still open them in the day. We also got an air purifier and don’t open the doors and windows in the evening. Neighbour also got a fan type thing for the top of the flue and a device to test the wood before he burns it. It’s very rare we smell it now.

@opencecilgee lots of people have their windows open all year round including overnight. I must say it’s not for me, if nothing else I don’t want to be disturbed by any sounds outside, but I can’t tolerate the cold air coming in and cooling down the room either. My windows are open on a morning for a short period of time to air the house, but that is it (other than dogs being let out multiple times a day which also lets air in).

They will probably be banned in a few years given how polluting they are. They look lovely and can be a cheap source of heat but it’s proven they are big pollutants. I really sympathise op. Hopefully an air filter will help in your home.

Where do you live where you have your windows open at night in December?

Councils can’t easily monitor things, but they can investigate complaints. So speak to them in the first instance.

Some burners can be really quite noxious if the right stuff is not being burnt. It can be very noticeable when out walking the dogs and enough for me to start coughing. I can well imagine how it feels in your home if you have a close neighbour using one and burning the right stuff. One of our neighbours has one and on occasion burns what the shouldn’t. Despite them being over the road, we have been able to smell the smoke in our property even though the windows and vents are shut.

in the meantime if its affordable, its worth doing some research about air purifiers.

If this is Bath they're bound to clamp down, all that lovely bath stone to keep clean if nothing else.

Complain to the council.

there is a man round the corner who goes out and collects branches
it doesnt come in my house but i am affected when i walk my dog near to where he lives

I’m with you OP and people saying you’re lying are very lucky to have not experienced this. Our neighbours have a wood burner and also happily burn painted wood, wet wood, anything they find.

The smoke gets in through our vents above the windows. I have asthma which is affected by smoke but also need air circulation so we leave our vents open. As they only use it once a week or so it’s usually fine but by the time we smell it it’s too late.

Even on days where our vents are closed it still gets in one way or another. It doesn’t take much, such as popping out the back door to put something in the bin, to let the dog out etc.