Neighbours log burner

[billybeep]

NDN have an older log burner and use it all winter Oct-and it bloody stinks.
Mainly when they turn it on..so it's the opposite side of their 4 bed detached but when we open the hall window on the opposite side of our detached, it smells like something is on fire on our house.
Cant open any windows and our bathroom faces their house so it gets mouldy.
I can't cope with not hanging the washing out but am fed up of not being able to open a window for months.
Last year we kept quiet and bought a dehumidifier but it costs a fortune and makes DD 4 cough. She can't play in garden as it smells so much.
They are aware it smells as she jokingly said to me her DD gets fed up of their kids clothes smelling of smoke when they go round there/ surely that's not right as my DSis has one and you can't smell it and their bathroom windows are open all day.
AIBU to speak to them and say it's affecting us? They have gas central heating and plenty of money too so need for it.

Typo can cope with not hanging washing out..tho it costs a fortune with the bloody dryer.

It shouldn’t smell that bad surely? My ex had one and there was no smell at all.

My first thought is that something is wrong with theirs/it needs some maintenance work or they are burning stuff they shouldn’t.

I would tell them it isn’t a laughing matter and possibly report them to the council as it could be a safety risk.

What are they burning? I don't think it should do that. Can you ask them to get it serviced? I'd be concerned about Carbon Monoxide etc. I live in a very rural area, loads of log burners, not found problems like that.

First of all speak to them. If it's a properly maintained wood burner and they are burning seasoned wood it shouldn't smell.

If they won't engage then you can report smoke nuisance to your local council - worth finding out if you are in a smoke control area, as if you are then the regs are more stringent.

Sounds really odd. Another one querying what they are burning.

There are a lot of burners/open fires down our road - rare that one would stop me hanging out the washing, let alone opening the windows. If nothing else the chimney should take the smoke up and away??

When one of the neighbours gets his bonfire going however - that is a case of closing all doors, windows, vents...

We've got one of these nearby too. He burnt stuff throughout the Summer, too, and the smoke is always so toxic and comes into our house. He's a pest in numerous ways, though, and probably not very smart.

Sounds like either they are burning the wrong things or log burner is not working right. My sister has one and it doesn't smell. Talk to them and mention your concerns

Carbon monoxide is odourless but I agree that something is wrong.

Could you talk to them, presenting it as a safety concern, OP? Then if it persists for another two werks, bring it up again the same way.

Then report to council. But only if you are prepared for an escalation. If you own your home you must declare thus when you sell.

Might be one of them people that burn pallets etc. There was one on MN a few weeks ago being quite brazen and unremorseful about it.

So one day I had the bedroom windows on the latch and when I walked in the room it reeked of smoke..it absolutely doesn't seem right to me either.
My dad also has one and he says they are def doing something wrong. I hate the smell in the house

Oh really? If DD goes in the garden she comes in with her clothes smelling like a bonfire. We see them get their wood delivered and cover it up so I don't know if that's it.
It does really get me down and our electricity is so expensive anyway but to have to constantly use a dehumidifier and dryer just adds to the cost

This council are doing some right. Fines for excessive smoke.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjm9yrgjd3po

They're not using the right type of wood. It's not dry enough.

They are burning wet wood or something that shouldn’t be used in a burner,we have a log burner,it doesn’t smell an it only smokes for 5 minutes while it gets going,we also get it serviced every year with a chimney sweep.

Have they had their flue swept?

The delivered logs could be unseasoned. It takes 6 months for wood to season.

A correctly maintained log burner using properly dried wood shouldn't smell. I'd be seriously concerned about the health implications for them, and you as neighbours, if it smells that much. I'd speak to them about it, and if no improvement, speak to the council. How can they need to use a log burner already, it's still so warm!

We used to have this issue - our twat neighbours seemed to use their log burner as a rubbish disposal system. We reported them to tbe council, a lot.

There was no need for them to have one at all - we are in zone 3 London.

Definitely something wrong, either with their log burner/chimney or what they're burning.
Log burners are common where I live, terrace streets so very close together, and I've never had an issue with the smell of smoke (despite having asthma which bonfires trigger). You can smell them subtly so know they're in use, but not causing any issues and certainly not enough to make anything in the house smell of smoke!

Speak to your neighbour about it, if no luck you might want to see if your council has anyone you can contact about it (we have something locally to report about illegal fires/bonfires etc)

Something isn't right.
You dont see or smell smoke from mine when it's going.
They must be using wet wood or something.

Probably burning unseasoned wood. This makes it really smell. Possibly other unsuitable stuff.

Their flue may need sweeping too. If a neighbour came to me about ours this is the first thing I would do.

Thanks all for replying.
Good to know I'm not just being fussy.
Honestly it smells like a bonfire.
DH doesn't want to rock the boat speaking to them, they are quite pleasant enough.
They have 6 grandkids over all the time so surely must be worried about the health implications of it.
We actually thought about a wood burner when we renovated but theirs put us off as we didn't need one and I wouldn't want to inflict it on anyone

If they are bulk buying wood it doesn't have to be seasoned, so you can by it "wet" and season yourself, but you need a large store if you are burning every night, and need to store for a year ideally.
If they aren't seasoning they are burning wet wood which smokes more and smells.
Burning wood every night would also need a lot of seasoned wood. I use mine 2-3 times a week from November to February and use 4 log stores full of wood. They must be double that unless burning other stuff too.

DH doesn't want to rock the boat speaking to them, they are quite pleasant enough.

Sod that. It’s having a huge impact on your life and health. A charity them doesn’t need to be confrontational or end in an argument but you can go round next time it’s on and invite them into your garden / house to see although they are probably nose blind to it now.

id also frame it as you’re worried about them / carbon monoxide so you really couldn’t live with yourself if you didn’t speak to them about it / suggest getting it serviced.

if they stonewall you then call the council

How much money they have is not relevant, what is relevant is you speak to them face to face, in a very nice way and let them know you can smell smoke in the house.

It may be they need to get the chimney swept, it may be they are burning unseasoned wood or it could be lots of other issues with the wood burner.

It also may be none of them and the position of the chimney/flue and the wind direction blows the smoke towards your house.

You will not know any of this until you speak to them.

You cannot stop them using it, nor should you or nor should they, but hopefully following a conversation there may be improvements for you, if they can be made.

We have this problem too and it smells absolutely vile. Opened the window very briefly yesterday morning and the stench was horrendous, so toxic smelling.

Our neighbour is an absolute arse and not approachable to discuss it with. His chimneys are lower than our house and we're back to back so it all comes straight into our garden and seems to just surround the house. Can't have washing out, kids can't play out and we can't open windows.

He's previously had letters from the council about it and also for burning plastic. Nothing has changed. Interestingly, my council is the one linked above, but my DP hasn't had much joy from them about this issue.

OP if you're on good terms with your neighbour I'd speak with them politely but firmly about how it's affecting you and that they really should have a chimney inspection or you'll have to speak with the council about the problem.

I'd be devastated if I was affecting my neighbours in any way. When we spoke to our neighbour about the burning plastics he didn't give a shit. Told us he'd do what he wanted and there was nothing we could do 🤨