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Important info for Wood Burning Stoves and Fire Places

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#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I was looking online at fire places and came across this important bit of information that I never took into consideration nor did I realize, and thought I'd share it here since it also addresses wood burning stoves. There's another thing besides sawdust that we now have to worry about in protecting our lungs.

The Wood Stove / Fire Place Delusion

Edit In:

I want to first apologize for this posting, I posted it without taking into consideration many other factors involved and am on the fence about removing it but since so many have taken the time to post long informative comments on it I think that would be selfish to remove it, a lot of great points have been made and I tend to agree, there were things that I had not taken into consideration before posting it such as the fact I too like outside BBQ's and I'm not going to stop.

I'll leave it up to the curious to view the article but as others have posted below it's producing no result and useless.

 
#2 ·
I think softwoods are ok. ABSOLUTELY NO HARDWOODS ARE TO BE BURNED, and should be forwarded to my address (available upon request) for proper disposal. You will thank me later.
 
#4 ·
Pickle, from what I understand after reading is that no woods are safe no matter soft or hard, however I believe gas is safe though and am thinking of converting my fireplace to gas now, just need to have the gas lines ran to it.
 
#5 ·
It's absolutely correct. But my alternative is burning more fuel oil with all the geopolitical bagage that comes with. Not to mention the cost at over $3.50 a gallon at the moment. The downed ash trees in the woods behind me are free except for the chain saw gas and oil. I wonder how much pellet stoves pollute?
 
#6 ·
I'm not going to be an advocate on this issue, but I am going to take into consideration the people that are outside of my fireplace the same as second hand smoke from a cigarette.
 
#8 ·
Almost all heat comes from combustion. Yes gas is cleaner, but cleaner doesn't necessarily equate to clean. And how do we get gas? There are plenty of environmental issues there as well.

I'm not suggesting the article is wrong, I am suggesting there is no reference to a real life perspective. I'm betting the same article could be written for gas in relationship to electric heat, but then the same question can be asked about how we get electric.

It's your money, so spend it how you feel is right, but I'd suggest some research to put it into perspective of the big picture. It may be spot on, but it may be just another internet article with some facts that may be true, but may be in a perspective of the writer. Maybe he owns a lot of gas stock.
 
#10 ·
I never ceased to be amazed at how humans managed to survive for thousands of years without being
enlightened by long winded, seudo intellectuals using multi-syllable words to pontificate on their view of a politically correct world.
 
#11 ·
Here is something I learned in a Haz-Mat class:
If you can smell it, it is particulate. Think about this the next time someone farts in an elevator. Or the next time you drive past a foundry.

Everything in moderation. Personally I feel I gain more with an occasional wood fire, relaxation, companionship, stress relief.

BJ
 
#12 ·
This article is not scientific in the least. It makes blatantly misleading statements and misapplies facts out of context.

Where I live in the Twin Cities, detailed analysis of air quality attributes less than 3% of air pollution to wood smoke. That is the sort of context lacking in that piece of hysteria.

IIRC over half of the air pollution linked to the respiratory complaints mentioned are still from cars. Scientifically speaking we should all give the horrible automobile long before banning wood burning.

Also higher on the list is outdoor power equipment. No more lawnmowers or chain saws! Time to start grazing goats in our yards, I guess. Oh but they produce methane a potent green house gas. The horror.

ATV's are also pollute more than wood burning. Forget snowmobiling.

The story fails to explain the gains in clean burning, EPA rated wood burning appliances.

I believe the social benefits of gathering around a fire are actually more important a contribution than ever in an increasingly fragmented society. Fires are good for connecting, conversing, bonding, solving the worlds problems. You know like how to deal with the really important issues of the day, not the over-hyped issues like the one here.

That article is a smokescreen, obscuring the real problems in our world.
 
#13 · (Edited by Moderator)
You will die of something. How, when and where is a moot point. I want to be 90 years old and get shot by a jealous husband. :D My college buddy wanted to get run over by a beer truck.
One thing that the article doesn't mention is the conditions in which the fuel is burned- confined areas, open rooms, etc. There are a lot of variables that should figure into the "study." We have several houses around us that have either wood stoves or fireplaces. I have yet to detect it inside my home. Outside, it's another story.
 
#14 ·
Yeah, I'm not going to stop burning firewood anytime soon. And I'm not going to stop charring my steaks ether even though it creates carcinogens, I dont do it that often, same as with burning wood.

Lets talk about how to burn more… I just read that its cool to burn pine in the fireplace, have you all heard the same? If so, thats great news for me because I have tons of it to burn. :)
 
#18 ·
I guess take it for what it's worth, but I would go as for as to say a gas fire place is much easier to clean.

For these reasons alone I'd prob switch to a gas fireplace.

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#20 · (Edited by Moderator)
I found it particularly interesting that exactly zero of the many studies mentioned were cited. Only a recommended reading was offered at the end of the article. It's interesting how when studies are cited (making such arguments just slightly more than subjective babble) they are carefully chosen to parallel the original argument, while always offering no other perspectives or objective information.
 
#21 · (Edited by Moderator)
The article above cited above is not really about wood-burning. It was a short essay intended to give secular people a demonstration of a deeply held belief that is not supported by scientific evidence, which they irrationally and hostilely defend or rationalize because of sentimental attachment rather than reasoned argument. The purpose is to give non-believers a sense of what it is like for people of faith to defend their beliefs without the support of science. (that's a whole can of worms I have no interest opening or discussing, it's just what the article is about)

Blackie, the original poster, presumably posted the article link above to inform us of the dangers to respiratory health posed by woodstoves. Instead, it seems as though he created a case study for the original thesis/purpose of the article. If that was the purpose, then I have to chuckle at Blackie's sense of humor. If it wasn't it's an interesting exercise in irony.

Personally, I love heating with wood. I've heated my home with only wood (no other heat source) for cold NH winters and loved every minute of it. My family still heats with only wood in Maine. I think it makes more sense than burning diesel fuel (home heating oil) sourced from the Middle East, and I don't think it hits the top 1000 list of environmental threats to the United States. They'll have to pry the last stick of wood out of my cold dead hands.

That said, I've never really bothered to research the issue, and I'm curious now to look at the evidence both pro and con, with the full expectation that I'm going to keep right on burning wood. In any case, it was an interesting article and sociological experiment all at the same time. I'm glad Blackie posted it, although now I'm going to have to spend some time tonight researching a reasoned case for burning wood.

Thanks Blackie for a brave post. I imagine you knew you'd get a bit of pushback before posting it. For what it's worth it made this lumberjock at least stop to think about the woodburning I do.
 
#22 · (Edited by Moderator)
BS
I would prefer to burn corn.
More consistent, easier to control, smells great, and would be cheaper than any other fuel if it were not for the stupid requirement that gasoline must contain renewable fuel (alcohol) content.
But, there are surely negative health effects associated with burning anything. Including electricity.

I don't think the argument that thousands, or millions, of years of humans evolving and dying because of breathing wood smoke recognizes the reality of that process. The ones that could not survive that process are no longer in the gene pool.
 
#23 ·
Basswood mentioned other sources of pollution includes chainsaws and other handheld power equipment. Well the chainsaw people went to catalytic converters and sealed carb adjustment screws for a while. This was a poor stop gap measure to EPA standards. The newer saws are now designed with stratified charge ports and auto tune carburetors to control pollution. These new saws use less fuel and make more power and at the same time the operator breathes less fumes. Now it might not effect a weekend firewood cutter but a professional timber cutter who cuts 2000 hours a year, it could make a difference in his life. I can only imagine how much saw dust a professional cutter would ingest in a life time. It seems as if every profession comes with its own hazards.
 
#24 ·
I forgot to add that Sam Harris is a moral philosopher whose work centers on the importance of rationality, secularism, and evidence based social, political and economic policy. It is a bit funny that he forgot to give any citations for the studies he mentions, and basically just asserts his anti-wood argument as correct without really giving evidence for it. I'm not saying he's wrong or right, I'm just it's funny he forgot the evidence part given his background.
 
#25 ·
Bunch of liberal bull ********************…..

Just another liberal deep thinker that wants to impress his followers, or gain some followers, or maybe join in with other sheeple, or maybe he just likes to hear himself talk….or maybe all of the above. I heated my previous house with wood and or coal for 24 years and I'm still alive to tell about it, as are my wife and daughter. When we were kids my father often heated our house with wood, as did my gram-paw. No one in the family has expired due to lung disease.
 
#26 ·
Yeah thats what I read, pine burns faster. In the past pine was blamed for the dangerous build up in chimneys but what I read was that slow burning wood (like wet wood) that moves air up the chimney slower are the biggest danger. I need to check a couple of more sources though, I'm still not sure about burning pine.

I'll check out those links Chuck, thanks! I've been making a lot of stuff out of 2×6's, because its cheap I am choosy about what pieces I use which leave a ton of scraps.

In all seriousness though, I don't think wood chimneys are a very efficient way of heating your house, at least not mine. Not unless you have one of those built in contraptions that circulate heat from behind your fireplace. But hey what do I know, I'm a southerner, this is all new to me.

My fireplace also burns gas, the problem is the sticker shock you get when you open your gas bill. It gets expensive fast!
 
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