NateW
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2011
- Messages
- 425
I RE'd July 2019 and DW and I moved to the Winchester, VA area that fall and bought a house in fairly new 300 house development. Our house is on one of the outter-most streets. Behind our backyard there are about 200 feet of woods. Outside our subdivision and 400 feet from our house and through this clump of woods is an old house and the family uses a wood-burning stove as its sole heat source (verified by the fire marshall).
In our development our house is the closest one to the wood burning house and during the heating season/winter we are exactly downwind from this house, as the winds come from the northwest. We are also in the Shenandoah Valley and as I have discovered, the Valley experiences frequent inversion layers where there are one to two day periods of no air movement.
Last year right after moving in and all through the winter we experienced a minor annoyance of wood smoke most days. It was also very windy most of the time. We never gave it much thought other than noting some evenings it really smelled. We did not try to identify the source and considered it normal for the area.
I also began having allergy symptoms and burning eyes and DW developed a cough last fall. Since I thought it was a dust issue, I opened windows periodically. We also noticed a continuous acrid sour odor in the house I could not identify or eliminate
This fall we experienced something very different and noticed most days the unbearable stench of acrid wood smoke so bad I could not go outside. My throat and eyes began to burn inside our home and then I noticed the smoke was infiltrating the house and that was the cause of the acrid smell I could not identify. The weather pattern is completely different this fall. It is still about half the time; a gentle breeze comes from the northwest most other days.
Two weeks ago I discovered the smoke was from the chimney of the old house 400 feet upwind from us. I could clearly see the chimney now that the trees were bare. It white smokes copious amounts all day and night and one day I could not see the house through the smoke. We get smoked out on breezy days and on most other days there's an inversion layer and the smoke stagnates around us. We get very little reprieve. We have realized we can not live under these conditions and fear for our health. DW developed fairly continuous and excruciating headaches this fall and I believe we just discovered why.
Now here is the worst part of our nightmare: Virginia offers no legal remedy, even though one should have free use of, and health on their property, and not to be denied this right by other's actions, even if they are legal. To my horror I did find in the current Code of Virginia the following, "No legislative body shall enact a law that limits the smoke output of a wood-burning appliance."
I contacted the county fire marshall and he verified I had no legal recourse and said all he can do is visit the person and explain how to properly use a wood stove. He did that (also said a smoke complaint was the reason for his visit) and followed up with me and said all was in order and they can continue to use the stove as they wish.
The smoke output did not diminish following the fire marshall's visit. I'm still not sure why it smokes constantly; from wood burner forums I looked at, the stove should burn almost smoke free except for morning wood loading and briefly as wood is added throughout the day. It appears they are chocking off the air to limit heat output. I did see the owner split a log and he ended up with a chunk so big he could hardly carry it inside and it appears to be sweet gum or tulip poplar (I heard the sound of a sledgehammer striking a wood wedge and pulled out my binoculars).
I did post my concerns on our neighborhood's Facebook page and no one replied saying they were affected (none of my neighbors within 10 houses of me participate in the group) and I noticed if I walk three houses down or up our street, the wood smoke smell disappears. It's the back of our house that gets the brunt of the smoke and the way our street curves, the houses around ours are fairly shielded from the smoke.
Unfortunately, over the last few days I have read several similar accounts of what we are going through and either the people stay and suffer or move.
As it is now, it appears we can no longer live in our home and have no idea what to do to get through this winter. This has become one of our worst nightmares and is consuming our lives at the moment. The Covid pandemic makes matters even worse. Any guidance appreciated; thanks.
P.s: To those of you looking for a new location to live, please consider the possibility that what I noted above could happen to you and do your diligent research beforehand. I never could have imagined anything like this happening to anyone, but it does.
In our development our house is the closest one to the wood burning house and during the heating season/winter we are exactly downwind from this house, as the winds come from the northwest. We are also in the Shenandoah Valley and as I have discovered, the Valley experiences frequent inversion layers where there are one to two day periods of no air movement.
Last year right after moving in and all through the winter we experienced a minor annoyance of wood smoke most days. It was also very windy most of the time. We never gave it much thought other than noting some evenings it really smelled. We did not try to identify the source and considered it normal for the area.
I also began having allergy symptoms and burning eyes and DW developed a cough last fall. Since I thought it was a dust issue, I opened windows periodically. We also noticed a continuous acrid sour odor in the house I could not identify or eliminate
This fall we experienced something very different and noticed most days the unbearable stench of acrid wood smoke so bad I could not go outside. My throat and eyes began to burn inside our home and then I noticed the smoke was infiltrating the house and that was the cause of the acrid smell I could not identify. The weather pattern is completely different this fall. It is still about half the time; a gentle breeze comes from the northwest most other days.
Two weeks ago I discovered the smoke was from the chimney of the old house 400 feet upwind from us. I could clearly see the chimney now that the trees were bare. It white smokes copious amounts all day and night and one day I could not see the house through the smoke. We get smoked out on breezy days and on most other days there's an inversion layer and the smoke stagnates around us. We get very little reprieve. We have realized we can not live under these conditions and fear for our health. DW developed fairly continuous and excruciating headaches this fall and I believe we just discovered why.
Now here is the worst part of our nightmare: Virginia offers no legal remedy, even though one should have free use of, and health on their property, and not to be denied this right by other's actions, even if they are legal. To my horror I did find in the current Code of Virginia the following, "No legislative body shall enact a law that limits the smoke output of a wood-burning appliance."
I contacted the county fire marshall and he verified I had no legal recourse and said all he can do is visit the person and explain how to properly use a wood stove. He did that (also said a smoke complaint was the reason for his visit) and followed up with me and said all was in order and they can continue to use the stove as they wish.
The smoke output did not diminish following the fire marshall's visit. I'm still not sure why it smokes constantly; from wood burner forums I looked at, the stove should burn almost smoke free except for morning wood loading and briefly as wood is added throughout the day. It appears they are chocking off the air to limit heat output. I did see the owner split a log and he ended up with a chunk so big he could hardly carry it inside and it appears to be sweet gum or tulip poplar (I heard the sound of a sledgehammer striking a wood wedge and pulled out my binoculars).
I did post my concerns on our neighborhood's Facebook page and no one replied saying they were affected (none of my neighbors within 10 houses of me participate in the group) and I noticed if I walk three houses down or up our street, the wood smoke smell disappears. It's the back of our house that gets the brunt of the smoke and the way our street curves, the houses around ours are fairly shielded from the smoke.
Unfortunately, over the last few days I have read several similar accounts of what we are going through and either the people stay and suffer or move.
As it is now, it appears we can no longer live in our home and have no idea what to do to get through this winter. This has become one of our worst nightmares and is consuming our lives at the moment. The Covid pandemic makes matters even worse. Any guidance appreciated; thanks.
P.s: To those of you looking for a new location to live, please consider the possibility that what I noted above could happen to you and do your diligent research beforehand. I never could have imagined anything like this happening to anyone, but it does.
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