Smoke causing issues

[Bobbybear10]

What would you do if a neighbour complained that your log burner was causing smoke to go into their house and it was completely unbearable for them?

What if you used the log burner to save on heating bills which would otherwise nearly double?

What concessions, if any, would you make?

Oh and at my parents' house as described, all the houses are closer together than 30 metres.

Hmm odd. I'd want to experience what theyre talking about tbh as it sounds as if they're exaggerating massively given the gap between your houses is so big and you are higher up than them... Even a bonfire in the garden 30 meters away wouldn't get into a house with closed double glazed windows...

Something's odd, but of course you don't want to call your neighbor's liars or drama lamas....

log burners are incredibly unenvironmentally sound so frankly you should ditch the burner, and you certainly shouldn't use it if the smoke is getting into someone else's home.

RiverTam as long as wood is locally sourced theyre carbon neutral. The microscopic soot particles are an issue in urban areas, but it's debatable whether taken as a whole they're better or worse than fossil fuels.

RiverTam

The thing is that’s like someone telling you your oil central heating is too smelly and they want you to stop using it when you have just filled up a full tank of heating oil and budgeted to use that heating rather than putting x amount aside for a different heating source.

The problem with going round and checking how smokey it is is who am I to judge?

I might not think it’s too bad but it’s clearly affecting the neighbours however much it is.

I feel like I’m between a rock and a hard place.

What do you mean by "normal wood" OP? Different sorts of wood produce different quantities and types of smoke. Also affected by how the wood is treated, dried, stored etc

Seasoned logs.

Stored in a dry place.

Oak, beech, ash.

Untreated, just left to dry.

I get so cross with urban people saying stuff like 'log burners are so bad for the environment'.

In the countryside we don't all have gas piped to our houses. If we use oil (Obvs not good for environment) it is brought by a tanker by road- also bad environmentally.

Burning wood releases the same amount of CO2 as if it was decomposing.

Now, we could all use heat pumps - but they are not suitable for all houses, are expensive to install and the electricity to run them has to come from somewhere.

For those of us who source home grown local wood, properly dried & seasoned, why is it so awful environmentally?

I'd rather smell woodsmoke than have more nuclear power...

OP I suspect they're very sensitive to the smell. It will also entirely depend on the air pressure- how the air is moving will change where your smoke travels.

Burn dry, seasoned wood, make sure burner is being used efficiently and I can't see how they can complain.

Can you find some kind of environmental health expert who can do some kind of impartial assessment?

I don't know Bobby - if they complained that your children were too noisy and making sitting in their house unbearable, but you had one quiet child who played alone in the sandpit, never with a ball, never on a trampoline never before 10am, never after 5pm ... Would you keep your child indoors on their say so?

It's lovely that you want to be conciliatory, but if it's really only that they can smell the smoke they're barking.

It makes sense to know whether there is objectively a genuine problem before incurring serious expense to reposition or extend the flue. If they're being unreasonable that may still not make them happy.

Some kind of external arbeitrationto determine whether theres an objectively identifiable issue and advise on a solution sounds necessary, if you want to continue not to freeze to death without this becoming a full blown neighbor dispute.

Would your local environmental health officer be able to help, especially if it is affecting their health and well being.

Unfortunately there are some people who do like to complain about their neighbours but seem unable to accept that if they live near other houses they will sometimes hear/see/smell other people! We choose to live in the middle of nowhere so this is not an issue. I know someone who bought a house on a street with only two metres between each building and then complained they were too aware of their neighbours.

OP you sound very conciliatory which must be nice for your neighbours but do check there is a genuine problem before putting yourself out too much.

www.gov.uk/how-to-resolve-neighbour-disputes/use-a-mediation-service if you are in the UK

Are you new neighbours to each other? I ask as this must have happened every winter.
You need to light your fire and then go and have a look in their house to see exactly what the problem is. It does sound strange. Everyone round here has woodburners or open fires (and house coal smoke is pretty pungent) and I have never had smoke indoors. They might just be overly sensitive, it might be a real problem. Don't just take their word for it, have a nosey yourself.

What about going out to have a look at the smoke after you light your wood burner? Watch where it goes and how quickly it disperses.

If it goes up and spreads out well then there shouldn't be a problem for your neighbours, after all smoke is hot so it rises. If it cools quickly and settles down on the ground it might cause a problem for the neighbour. But I would be very surprised if it could travel 30 metres downhill.

I would suggest trying to see where the smoke goes before you start spending money trying to sort a possible problem or using a more expensive form of heating.

Also, someone in Environmental Health might have a meter to measure particulates in your neighbours house if it comes to it. They should be able to tell if there is a problem caused by an external source. And I would have thought, if there is a smoke detector in the vicinity of smoke getting in, if it was a lot it may well be enough to set one off. That is what they are for. If not it may be that your neighbours are being overly sensitive to a smell of smoke.

I'd speak to environmental health. Also I'd look into burning smokeless fuel - we're in a smoke free zone so everyone here uses it. I'd worry that if a lot of smoke is being blown to them could carbon monoxide also be blown with it?

OP, Deathy makes a good point about smoke alarms. Is it actually setting theirs off? If not, I would suggest the amount of smoke is nil inside their house, and they just object to the smell of smoke outside.

I have this issue with our next door neighbours wood burning stove thing, I’m guessing that’s what it is as the metal flue thing comes out of the kitchen roof

We are semi detached cottages, think old style farming cottages, and his kitchen is very close to our garden and bedrooms. When his log burner thing is on all the rooms at that end of the house absolutely stink including my DCs rooms, yes I do have the windows open but don’t see why I should close them and risk damp or condensation.

It also fills the garden depending on the direction of the wind so it stinks my washing out or I can’t hang it out at all. No idea what he burns but somethings it’s really dark accrid smoke. I wouldn’t be so bothered if it was just this time of year but he had it on most days in the middle of the heatwaves this year as well!

There is also a dog he keeps somewhere whether it’s in the house or outside in the barn with the cows but it barks all hours of the blooming night it was at it at 1 am this morning for half an hour and then again at 5 am

Smokeless fuel is a good suggestion in the mean time.