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?

No one where I live would say that using a wood burning stove is antisocial! I also have a fire pit, a bbq and a pizza oven so presumably I am a terrible neighbour
Yes, I'd imagine you are.

It may be a normal smell, but it is increasing your risk of lung cancer. People who wouldn’t smoke cigarettes but have a wood burner are deluded.
I also live in a rural village and have had to buy an air purifier for my bedroom for times when the wind and weather mean that all the local smoke sits around my house. We are also trying to move as the amount of smoke here has affected my chest and I am now on the edge of asthma.

@GreyhoundG1rl - my neighbours would disagree. They join me for pizzas, have their own fire pits, and their own wood burners. It's pretty chilled out here and we all get along.

Not everyone is like that

@PradaBallbag My windows are open all year round, same with washing on the line.

Someone has one round here, I quite like the smell but other neighbours don't. I'd be massively pissed off if it was dropping dust on my car, can't see that happening though.

Aren't people worried about the carcinogenic issues?

Sorry OP but yes they're kind of lovely but hugely antisocial. And really bad for you!

No one where I live would say that using a wood burning stove is antisocial

And yet it is antisocial, in the sense that it pollutes the environment we all have to live in.

Oh the irony of them complaining about dust ON THEIR CARS!!!

Some people need to get over themselves. My car is dirty because I’ve not cleaned it in months - cleaning cars is harmful for the environment because it uses water and cleaning products that are harmful. Tell them that next time they moan.

Keep the home fires burning!!!

@PattyPan

No one where I live would say that using a wood burning stove is antisocial

And yet it is antisocial, in the sense that it pollutes the environment we all have to live in.

Do you have a car? Gas central heating? A Bath? Use aeroplanes? Buy fast fashion? Use plastic? Use cleaning products?

All of the above are harmful to the environment.

I will probably get rounded on and bombarded with facts and figures but... no. I'm not bothered about the health implications of my wood burning stove. Or not enough to get rid. It's a modern, well installed burner. The wood is kin dried and properly stored. Beyond that I can't get too worked up about it. We have been heating our homes with wood forever.

I wouldn't car if my car got dusty, I'm not a car cleaner but they do throw out smoke and dust. If you can smell it it's there.
I don't think there is a place for them in a house gas and central heating, maybe in the country where I live as there is no gas.
However my stove is now mothballed as I realised it's a health hazard.

I had every window in the house open last week to freshen up and next door lit their stove. Minutes later my whole house smells of smoke.

Do you have a car? Gas central heating? A Bath? Use aeroplanes? Buy fast fashion? Use plastic? Use cleaning products?

All of the above are harmful to the environment.
What's the point of posts like this, when we're talking about wood burners? Nobody is completely green, we know this.

Also - I fly (not often) I eat meat ( couple of times a week) I drive (nearly every day outside of the pandemic) I drink alcohol (every few day) I use a smartphone (constantly) the list goes on and on..

These are all so so bad for the environment and my health. I know this. And still I do it. Humans are funny like that.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/18/wood-burners-triple-harmful-indoor-air-pollution-study-finds

Wood burners are so bad not just for the environment but for your health as well. It produces a great amount of pm 2.5. Our area is really bad and you can really smell the smoke from inside the house during cold weather, it's not pleasant and gives me migraine, we had to buy air purifiers for our house especially we have a young child.

We had to move because my neighbours installed a woodburner in a bungalow. Too low, the plume of fumes made us ill. Their attitude didn't help. The particles are really bad for you, my husband is still ill because of it.

I'd check you're burning efficiently, as there should be no ash. It does happen tho. Read up on how you should run it, dry logs, reasonably hot. Don't damp it down, very inefficient.

@Soontobe60 pointless whataboutery but actually no I don’t have a car, take baths, buy fast fashion, eat meat, I rarely fly, I avoid plastic as much as possible, compost and recycle etc. We have gas heating because we don’t have enough space for a heat pump and our house faces the wrong direction for solar panels. I know I’m not perfect but wood burners are hardly a necessity. Believe it or not some people do actually make changes to our lives to help the environment because we’re not that selfish!

God, I hate woodburners. I don't mind the smell of smoke but it gets right in my sinuses and gives me a headache for days.
They're really unpleasant: the neighbourhood-wide equivalent of smoking a pack of cigarettes in someone else's house and leaving the place stinking.
Sorry OP, I know the people who have them really love them, but they really are an anti-social item and unpleasant for a lot of people.

When neighbours are unable to put laundry outside, when they can't open the windows, these things are a social nuisance.

A small whiff of burning wood is pleasant. Your life being negatively impacted by selfish neighbours is not.

You should know which category you fall in, we can't guess!

The problem with wood burners is people put all sorts of shite in them and don't burn them hot enough. Our old neighbours used to burn tin cans on them because they supposedly 'clean' the chimney (absolute bullocks) the smell was awful. We have new neighbours now and they burn apple and cherry wood (smells lovely). Our new neighbours are really decent people though

There shouldn't be any noticeable dust from your log burner OP. Have you actually checked their cars for dust ? Only it could be they are not telling you the truth .

Wood burners are very environmentally unfriendly. Choose a different way of heating your home. Polluting the atmosphere like this just isn't on.

Burning anything (wood burner or bonfire) when you live close to others is really antisocial. You never know if neighbours have asthma or other lung conditions and the smoke is terrible for babies and pets. Who knows if your wood burner is dropping dust OP, maybe it’s your neighbours way of just saying they hate it.

[quote PattyPan]@Soontobe60 pointless whataboutery but actually no I don’t have a car, take baths, buy fast fashion, eat meat, I rarely fly, I avoid plastic as much as possible, compost and recycle etc. We have gas heating because we don’t have enough space for a heat pump and our house faces the wrong direction for solar panels. I know I’m not perfect but wood burners are hardly a necessity. Believe it or not some people do actually make changes to our lives to help the environment because we’re not that selfish![/quote]
Using a properly fitted wood burner correctly with properly seasoned wood is not damaging to the environment.
You use aeroplanes - even one short plane trip would produce massively more pollution that one wood burner ever will. As for plastic use... just because you cant smell it doesn’t mean it isn’t damaging to the environment.
My wood burner is the only heat source. I had it swept last week and the sweep could tell that I’m burning wood very efficiently as there was hardly any soot in the flue - a sure sign of a clean burn. I get my wood from a tree surgeon and store it for 1 year + to season it correctly. I don’t burn any wood that has been treated. My next door neighbour didn't even realise we had one until last summer - he certainly cant smell anything or see any smoke or dust.

There's been a lot of stuff online recently about woodburners being a cancer risk.

Every single house in my street has either a multi fuel stove or an open coal fire. In fact only the new builds don't seem to have them, and there's not many of them here.
I get a load of coal dust all over my car / roof on a regular basis, but haven't noticed any smell/burning/smoke etc and I know next door and the guy 3 doors up burns logs.