Neighbours’ woodburner

[FlySwimmer]

Our neighbours had their woodburner going last night. We live in an estate, and we’re not even the closest house, yet last night our bedroom was full of smoke from only a small window open a crack. I could feel my eyes stinging, and this morning my throat is crackly. I don’t think I can stand this for a full autumn/winter! How would you approach it with the neighbours, ideally to reduce how often they use it, and to make sure they’re only using the approved fuel (maybe they are, but maybe they aren’t). Has anyone had any success in submitting a nuisance complaint to the council?

Considering all my neighbours have one, and there isn’t an issue with any of them, I think we’ll all be fine 😂

We talked to the council, they were pretty useless. They don't monitor smoke here.

My neighbours had a right attitude but then they had paid a small fortune to build a bloody great chimney on the side of a low bungalow. If you aren't in the fume plume, you have no idea how awful it is. Made DH really ill, endangering his job & so we moved, also at great expense.

We'd moved to an area with modern houses specifically to get cleaner air than in the older estate we had previously lived in.

Now everyone has pretty much installed one & lots have attitude issues, plus burn crap. One of our current neighbours is chopping up pallets. Fence panels are really noticeable when burnt, due to the chemicals. Coal is rank.

Maybe worth checking the height of the burner it sounds like it couldn't be compliant they have to be a certain height and distance from windows. Lots of regulations in place now for them. I'd also say it would like they are not burning kiln dried logs.

The top of there flue should be well over roof height in line with building regs

report it

@Wombat27A Absolutely right about not knowing how bad it is unless you're in the fume plume.
Our neighbour's chimneys are around the height of our second storey, but it mainly comes downwards towards our front and side doors. It fills our garden too and gets in though our vents.
I hate it and wish we'd never moved here. Once we complained to the council about our neighbour's smoke he started a noise war too 🙄.

Sounds like their flue isn't high enough. We have one and so do two of our neighbours. I never get smoke inside my house from any of them, although I suspect we only light them when it's cold enough for closed windows anyway.

You could research the chimney to see if it’s non-compliant with building regs?
(especially if self-installed)
Maybe the regs might state it has to be at ridge height or higher for the smoke to disperse?
(when we purchased our house, the builder was obligated to make the chimney taller)

This is the chimney. To be fair it is taller than I thought. But I’ve no idea if it’s tall enough to meet regs.

It looks horrible, but I think it is actually taller than the regs require.

We have a log burner and it only created smoke once , we purchased the wrong coal. It was awful and very embarrassing. As soon as we knew it was creating a nuisance, we immediately extinguished the fire

You sound horrible.

They must be burning wet wood or rubbish but that doesn't help you much. You say the flue comes out of their sitting room.

At what height? You write as if it is at ground level. If it is causing an issue, you could talk to them, explain the issue and ask whether it is possible to raise the top of the flue to roof top level. I'm surprised it isn't already.

Sorry, cross post.

it's weird when it costs like £2k to install basic burner + new flue: that then some people burn weird stuff in it. Coz that just adds more hassle and potential future cost in removing sticky residue & maybe extra costs from sweep.

In rural Ireland in the 90s, the hostel hosts burnt every scrap of household rubbish no matter how plastic it was, in their burners. But it wasn't noxious for us sitting indoors. I guess that's how some people think, just burn anything. I guess no wind where OP is?

That looks tall enough for building regs, I wonder if they’re burning damp wood?

Keep your window closed 🤷🏻‍♀️

It has to be a meter above the roof for hetas regs I think

So that looks fine

Woodburners are for wood. Multi-fuel burners can be for wood or coal. Are you sure yours is suitable for coal?

I’m pretty certain that the flue should be higher than the roof!

Actually, just seeing your photo, it is high enough. There’s no way any smoke is getting into windows below the top of the flue, smoke rises.

Thanks everyone for your advice on the height.

@Soontobe60 it may be that height, but I assure you that smoke is discernible inside. It’s evidently drifting in our direction.

There's no way smoke from that flue (especially as it's not your nearest neighbour) could fill your room. As a PP said - smoke rises.

Someone close by must have had a firepit going - that could definitely get into your house and be pretty smelly.

I used to sell woodburning stoves. The rule used to be - Their chimney pipe needs to be higher than anything within 10 feet. So if they are single storey and you are double and you are within 10 feet their flue needs to go above your roof. I've left the industry a good few years so I imagine rules are even more restrictive now.

I'm guessing it s the wind currents that are the pickle, all the best op

www.woodburningstovesdirect.com/building-regulations-for-stove-and-flue-installations.htm

looks like it does meet the regs to me ?