Wood Heater Smoke & Telescopes

[glend (Glen)]

My crazy neighbor fires up her wood heater come early May and keeps feeding that pollution box all winter long. She must go through a small fortune in cut logs that get delivered regularly. I think a single box trailer load is something like $140 each. I would not spend that much running my split system on electricity during the winter.
More concerning is what it might be doing to the optics in my scope which is sitting on its pier in the observatory, maybe 20 metres from her smoke stack.
I bring the scope inside in wet weather, but on clear cold nights when the breeze blows from her direction it sits out there being smoked like a Christmas ham. What can i do to protect the scope, or should i not be worried about it? Can't afford to move at my age, unless its to an astro retirement home.

[Wavytone]

Glen... life is a compromise, take a chill pill. To most people you are firmly in the same camp as mad dogs and Englishmen.

Having lived in Canberra for 13 years I know this problem well.

Basically:

1. She is being politically correct (and possibly a greenie) by using a renewable fuel (wood) instead of oil or gas. Points to her for being environmental friendly.

2. Burning wood can be very dirty re air pollution, if she hasn't got the darned thing set up right. Many don't have clue, or are using open fireplaces that have no adjustments. In some cities burning wood was banned - literally - because of the smog it caused at night which tended to collect in valleys where there was no wind to shift it. By morning the air quality was shockingly bad.

This happened in Canberra - in the 1970's the contractors responsible for delivering oil and gas regularly went on strike in June every year demanding more pay. Residents responded by installing fireplaces and wood-burning stoves of one kind or another, in large numbers. The result was air pollution at night in winter got so bad wood was banned as a fuel for heating mainly because many were using open fireplaces with no controls whatsoever. Very fashionable, but environmentally dreadful. To the extent people with asthma or for breathing were in real trouble most mornings.

So she loses points for all the air pollution caused.

3. You're part of the 0.01% of the population that persist in this weird hobby that entails going outside in cold nights. See above re mad dogs and englishmen. Most would query why you are are outside at all.

4. Yes its is not good for your optics. Smoke is hideously aggressive chemically. I would definitely pack it up ASAP if you are in her smoke plume. Mirror coatings will be the worst affected.

[casstony]

Perhaps you could explain to the neighbour that breathing in the smoke causes you discomfort and offer to contribute to the cost of installing a different heating source in her house?

[dannat (Daniel)]

i think in most [not all] neighbour disputes -the neighbour who causes the problem digs their heels in; check the reels on ACA & today tonight in the last 20yrs.
call it aussie boganism, redneckishness
most people are quite reasonale but when you request they alter something they are doing the hairs on their body ride up

Tony's suggestion is a good one--hlth is one of the few things getting people to have a think about what they do. she may just tell you to stay inside, or get an face mask like poeple in nth'ern asian countries wear

[AussieTrooper (Ben)]

Nothing wrong with wood stoves if they are done right. Open fireplaces are terrible for heating, but coonara type stoves are excellent. If adjusted correctly you will barely see any smoke at all.
Might be worth a quick chat with your neighbour to see what the situation is.
Agree with the suggestion to help them out fixing their stove if necessary.
Avoid getting too whiny about it or they will probably tell you to sod off.

[Nikolas (Nik)]

Wood stoves set up right should not be smoky, and are in reality extremely efficient. The fact she goes through so much wood is an indicator that it is not efficient.
We had a wood heater when we lived at Carrum and it was super efficient, with very little smoke if any that would be a problem for anyone.

[5ash (Philip)]

Hi Glen,
The Lake Macquarie council should come out and inspect her fire and fuel if you make a complaint .
Regards philip

[raymo]

The trouble with wood fires is not the visible smoke, that just smells; it is the invisible particulates that all wood fires emit that are corrosive. Some
councils are so browned off with the complaints and the smog caused by
inversion layers in their area that they subsidise the purchase of other
heaters by their ratepayers.
raymo

[skysurfer]

Originally Posted by Nikolas

Wood stoves set up right should not be smoky, and are in reality extremely efficient. The fact she goes through so much wood is an indicator that it is not efficient.
We had a wood heater when we lived at Carrum and it was super efficient, with very little smoke if any that would be a problem for anyone.

Indeed, when using season dried wood (it requires two years to dry properly) the pollution is a LOT less. But wood sold at gas stations or supermarkets (and even via some firewood suppliers) is usually too wet which results in incomplete combustion and as all that moisture should be evaporated, it takes a lot more wood to get it warm enough. It is easily recognizable that the fireplace makes a hissing sound. I have had such a supplier in the past. Now I only burn dried oak and beech wood in my fireplace in winter (not now as in AU, but Nov-Mar when it is winter in EU).
And absence of wind is worse as well as the PM os not spread and can fall on your mirror. I use my Dob anyway also when the woodstove is on.

The only remaining problem is the PM, I never understood than PM filters are not available for woodstoves.
But cars and coal power stations are as bad contributors to PM, but that is another discussion.

It might be that TO's neighbor uses such moist wood, so you can advise her to use DRIED wood and burn only wood, no plastics (yes some people abuse a fireplace as a waste incinerator).