My neighbours hate my wood burner.

[HollyBerryTree]

We are in a cul de sac of detached bungalows.
My wood burner was fitted last Autumn and at the moment we are using it a lot and we love it.

But the neighbours says it creating dust which lands on their cars.

Is this a possibility?

To the best of my knowledge it's all properly fitted, it came from a reputable local company. If it's dropping dust on my car I wouldn't notice. I've got an old Fiesta that's on its last legs. I work full time. The neighbours work at home and polish their lovely cars a lot.

Can you get filters?
Maybe it's just because it's been super windy?
Does your wood burner make dust?

Yes they are antisocial. I am surrounded by them. This winter has been cold and the air unusually still. SO the smoke from them just hangs in the air.

I feel like I have been transported back to Dickensian England if I open the window the air quality is so poor I can hardly breathe.

I can't wait for them to be banned tbh.

They may ban new ones being installed and they may ban house coal but I can’t imagine they will ban existing ones using smokeless fuel or kiln dried wood.

If they do then the govt can pay me the 4.5k it cost to install!

Here in France people receive about 30% of the cost back if they have a woodburner installed. It is classed as renewable energy.

I highly doubt it. I’m in Yorkshire and we go through regular cycles of dust on the cars and it’s usually picked up on the wind, usually from deserts and dumped in the rain. My car is covered at the moment and we haven’t had our stove on for weeks.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_dust

If it was fitted so recently nothing should be lamding on their cars.
The new regulation for these stoves are tight and there's not much in the way of pollution but older ones are a different matter

I'm another one who hates wood burners, very bad for air quality. I am lucky to live in an area with only a few, but I have noticed them creeping in a bit.

Burning logs is actually the most carbon neutral way to heat your home to all those saying it’s antisocial or not environmentally friendly.

Tough shit neighbours!

I hate them, they stink and you can smell them many houses away. Coming from a previous coal mining area we had to have smokeless fuels and rightly so, people near me have them & I can smell them in my bedroom over 100 yards away. What on earth do people burn in them? Vile.

That isn't true

www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/01/pollutionwatch-wood-burning-is-not-climate-friendly

Even more of concern are the particulate matter they produce which is damaging to health

www.standard.co.uk/futurelondon/theairwebreathe/wood-burners-health-impacts-a4345416.html

Carbon neutrality has nothing to do with air pollution or being environmentally friendly. The two are quite separate and the climate damage and health impacts caused by burning wood are very environmentally ‘unfriendly’.

My mates dad burns the chicken carcass from the Sunday roast on his ................ 🤣

Well at least he's not getting rid of his old car tyres... yet

I'm not surprised your neighbours don't like it. Its not just their cars, but also their lungs. Woodburning at home is now one of the biggest sources of particulate pollution in the UK, and will hopefully be made illegal.

I know its lovely within the house, but incredibly irresponsible to put in in a built up area.

I feel their pain, our NDNs have one and it absolutely stinks and I’m now thinking ahead to when we sell the house, and thinking a summer sale will be best.
I was outside weeding the garden a few weeks back and they had it on, I came back inside and my hair reeked of smoke, it was awful.

Here (Germany), they are planning to ban them because they produce particulates which are a health hazard. So yes, it’s quite possible that it’s causing dust, even when new and properly fitted.

You can’t even mow your lawn or hang washing out or do any diy on a Sunday in Germany ..........weird country. And you have to wait till the afternoon to wash your car. 🙄

I light mine in the evening, and the velux in my bedroom is always wide open enough for the cat to get through. I’ve honestly never smelled it in the house. Out of curiosity, how does it affect the air quality indoors when the door on it is closed?

It’s like dog owners - you get used to the smell.

@Chumleymouse

You can’t even mow your lawn or hang washing out or do any diy on a Sunday in Germany ..........weird country. And you have to wait till the afternoon to wash your car. 🙄

I don't really follow the reasoning behind hand washing, but having peaceful Sundays is genius! I wish we could be like Germany.

Laundry has no effect on anyone, so I'd love to know why it's banned.

Surrounded by wood burners, including my own, never noticed a dust issue and never found the smell offensive

Doing laundry is seen as working and is frowned upon by neighbours so nobody does it. Who wants to sit about doing nothing every Sunday , it would be like a day of lockdown every week. Sunday is a day to get stuff done.

We had a wood burner and never had any issues with dust from it. Might seem an odd question but are you anywhere near a building site? The only dust issue we’ve had in the past was when they were building new houses - couldn’t see the site from our house as it was a mile or so away, but when the wind was in our direction, the cars had a constant coating of dust.

@PradaBallbag I love a wood burner although I don't have one - My parents do though - and we often have bbq's ourselves so have nothing against any of it but I do have my windows open all year round and I also hang my washing out in the winter. Most people I know do as well?!

@Mary54

Here (Germany), they are planning to ban them because they produce particulates which are a health hazard. So yes, it’s quite possible that it’s causing dust, even when new and properly fitted.

Can you link to that please? For Germany I can see they are doing what the Uk is, banning single firing, burning unsuitable materials, dated stoves etc, but I can’t see anything saying they plan to make stoves illegal full stop, that would be very difficult to do as over a third of German homes have them in one sort or another.

There is a lot of confusion about air quality.

Particulates are, AFAIK, an issue close to source. Its primarily a health issue, not an environmental issue.

If people were genuinely concerned about air quality, they would look at transport. Not woodburners. Except maybe in parts of London.

Anyone remember how clear the air was in first lockdown? Nothing to do with woodburners.