Aparantly wood burnings stoves are bad for you?

[Horace42]

Burning anything, by whatever method, for whatever reason, pollutes the atmosphere with contaminants that are unhealthy to breathe. Whether these are at dangerous levels are not - has to be controlled.

 

The HSE publish guidelines on occupational exposure limits of contaminants considered safe to breathe for 8 hours per day. They apply, by law, to the people in the working environment, but also can be useful as guide in a home and leisure environment.

 

We are the same people whether at work or play but probably not in possession of detectors for these contaminants - so we don't know what our actual exposure is. We have to rely on our own sight, smell and taste and touch.

 

If we are stoking a stove we see the smoke and dust so move away. We certainly don't stick our heads in the thick cloud and knowingly breathe if the the smoke and dust and all the combustion gases.

 

Although having said that the times I've seen boats go by with the the steerers standing downstream of a chimney with a billowing stream of smoke blowing straight into their face and apparently happily breathing it. Amazing.

Edited November 26, 2016 by Horace42

[MtB]

Judging from your picture, you are not young enough to be born in the QE2, it was only built 8 years ago.

 

 

The Queen Elizabeth 2, or QE2 as she is commonly known was the flagship of the Cunard Line for nearly 40 years. QE2 made her maiden voyage in 1969

 

http://www.qe2.org.uk/

[nb Innisfree]

Life is a terminal disease.

 

 

And it's transmitted sexually. Edited November 26, 2016 by nb Innisfree

[mross]

T'was also the name of a large General Hospital in Birmingham.

[Helena Handbasket]

Burning anything, by whatever method, for whatever reason, pollutes the atmosphere with contaminants that are unhealthy to breathe. Whether these are at dangerous levels are not - has to be controlled.

 

The HSE publish guidelines on occupational exposure limits of contaminants considered safe to breathe for 8 hours per day. They apply, by law, to the people in the working environment, but also can be useful as guide in a home and leisure environment.

 

We are the same people whether at work or play but probably not in possession of detectors for these contaminants - so we don't know what our actual exposure is. We have to rely on our own sight, smell and taste and touch.

 

If we a re stoking a stove we see the smoke and dust so move away. We certainly don't stick our heads in the thick cloud and knowingly breathe if the the smoke and dust and all the combustion gases.

 

Although having said that the times I've seen boats go by with the the steerers standing downstream of a chimney with a billowing stream of smoke blowing straight into their face and apparently happily breathing it. Amazing.

 

 

 

 

Most of the harmful fumes and dust are invisible. You might be keeping your head out of the visible smoke but you are stll breathing in plenty of nasty stuff.

[peterboat]

Is this the diesel car industry trying to distract us? they are the real killer here

[Guest]

Is this the diesel car industry trying to distract us? they are the real killer here

Possible.

Funny thing the diesel car one; twenty five years ago they were our saviour, now our killer.

[Jak]

Possible.

Funny thing the diesel car one; twenty five years ago they were our saviour, now our killer.

 

So true. I've been driving diesels for years thinking it's a better choice than petrol. Gone hybrid now. And NO not a Prius.

 

EDIT. P.S. The electric narrow boat thing is getting my interest.

Edited November 26, 2016 by Jak

[Neil2]

Trouble is that a lot of the article is right. A lot of it is people burning unseasoned wood and being sold unseasoned wood. That will produce high levels of tars etc just as bad as smoking a cigarette. Most people do not realise that logs when burnt should have a moisture level of less than 20% and if you look at a batch of logs a percentage should have radial cracks where the wood has shrunk when seasoning. I turned away a load 3 cu metre earlier this year they were still green, I think the trees had been cut that day almost. The guy could not understand, he said they would burn alright, yep with a tar coated chimney etc etc.

 

I wonder if it should be an offence to sell unseasoned wood for burning.

 

I agree .

 

The very reason we have stopped burning wood is the near impossibility of obtaining proper seasoned hardwood these days, even seasoned softwood is difficult to find. The reason is the rising popularity of wood burners, simple supply and demand. You shouldn't use wood as a main source of heat unless you have a good supplier and/or a lot of dry storage.

[Sea Dog]

Is this the diesel car industry trying to distract us? they are the real killer here

London's future 'ultra low emissions zone', which comes in 2020, bans or charges diesels which were manufactured to meet Euro 4 emissions regulations or below. Modern diesel cars meet Euro 6, 2 steps on and very much cleaner than Euro 4. Neither petrol nor diesel vehicles are good for the environment, but the 'nasty diesel' issue is a bit stale. 'Nasty old diesel' is better targeted.

[mango]

London's future 'ultra low emissions zone', which comes in 2020, bans or charges diesels which were manufactured to meet Euro 4 emissions regulations or below. Modern diesel cars meet Euro 6, 2 steps on and very much cleaner than Euro 4. Neither petrol nor diesel vehicles are good for the environment, but the 'nasty diesel' issue is a bit stale. 'Nasty old diesel' is better targeted.

Lean burn diesels produce more nitrogen oxides and DPFs don't remove small particulates, which are considered more dangerous than visible exhaust soot. Electric cars are much cleaner but the pollution is produced elsewhere.

[Greylady2]

I thought everything that is burnt is carsogenic.

 

Bloody hell, i say enjoy life stay warm and dont become a pansy. Lol

[blackrose]

I understand cast iron stoves are especially dangerous if you let one fall over on top of you.

That nearly happened to me once. I was trying to get my big Morso Panther (110kg) into the boat down the back steps from the stern deck. The stove was brand new, still in its box and on a mini pallet. I assumed it was fixed to the pallet with screws or straps inside the box. It wasn't. I was below the stove inside the boat supporting the weight and my friend was above on the stern deck and as we tipped it over at an angle to get it through the stern doors the stove just rolled out the box and off the pallet, over my shoulder and fortunately hit a strategically placed 2" thick sheet of expanded polystyrene that had come from my new tv packaging and just happened to be in that position on the floor. "Oh well, it's in!" I said. There was no damage but it could so easily have been a crushed foot!

Edited November 27, 2016 by blackrose

[mross]

I understand cast iron stoves are especially dangerous if you let one fall over on top of you.

Especially when they're lit!

[Horace42]

Most of the harmful fumes and dust are invisible. You might be keeping your head out of the visible smoke but you are stll breathing in plenty of nasty stuff.

Yes, I agree, but the nasty contaminants have to come from somewhere, and logically the smoke warns you where they are concentrated - that you avoid, but they stay in the air unseen long after the smoke particles have settled out, to gradually permeate throughout the boat, to trigger a smoke or CO alarm, hopefully if you have them.

[Athy]

Judging from your picture, you are not young enough to be born in the QE2, it was only built 8 years ago.

Not so. In 1968 I had a girlfriend who was a student nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, which wasn't too far from our university campus at Edgbaston. I assume that it was opened soon after the new Queen came to the throne, so sometime in the mid-1950s.

How do you come to the conclusion that open fires reduced smog?

He didn't.He came to the conclusion that London smogs declined WITH the use of open fires; now, I can see that this may be ambiguous, but I took it to mean that as the use of open fires, declined, so did the incidence of smogs. Substitute "alongside" for "with" (or should that be vers vicea?) and it may make more sense.

Edited November 27, 2016 by Athy

[Ex Brummie]

The original Queen Elizabeth was rebuilt about 8 years ago. Can you remember the Worcs -B/ham canal was diverted to make way for it.

[Athy]

The original Queen Elizabeth was rebuilt about 8 years ago. Can you remember the Worcs -B/ham canal was diverted to make way for it.

No, I had long since left university by then!

[Captain Pegg]

The current and former hospitals are called Queen Elizabeth Hospital after the Queen at the time when the original was opened in 1939. Of course that's the person we mostly knew as Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. Neither hospital is named after the current monarch so it absolutely isn't the QE2 which as MtB points out is a ship (which may or may not have been named after her).

 

I am puzzled about the deviation to the canal given there is a railway line between the two. I think you are confusing it with the deviation to construct Ariel Aqueduct over the new Selly Oak bypass. That's named after a washing powder.

 

JP

Edited November 27, 2016 by Captain Pegg

[Athy]

The current and former hospitals are called Queen Elizabeth Hospital after the Queen at the time when the original was opened in 1939. Of course that's the person we mostly knew as Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. Neither hospital is named after the current monarch so it absolutely isn't the QE2 which as MtB points out is a ship (which may or may not have been named after her).

 

I am puzzled about the deviation to the canal given there is a railway line between the two. I think you are confusing it with the deviation to construct Ariel Aqueduct over the new Selly Oak bypass. That's named after a washing powder.

 

JP

Aye aye, Cap'n.

But apart from those minor details, all the above information is surely true?

Apart from the Ariel bit, it was named after a motor cycle because of its square shape, as any fule kno.

[Captain Pegg]

Aye aye, Cap'n.

But apart from those minor details, all the above information is surely true?

Apart from the Ariel bit, it was named after a motor cycle because of its square shape, as any fule kno.

Yes; burning fuel on a stove and breathing in the fumes has to be worse for you than breathing fresh air.

 

No idea what the 'orspital has got to do with and I was a bit surprised to find I had posted on a thread about stoves. But to link the two I can report I have cruised past the hospital on more than one occasion while breathing in smoke from the stove and they do specialise in respiratory problems.

 

JP

Edited November 27, 2016 by Captain Pegg

[Manxcat]

Solid fuel burning appliances, if eaten in sufficient quantities, can prove fatal.

[mross]

When I was a lad, I thought the hospital was named after the ship because it had two, maybe three 'funnels' visible for miles around.

[Captain Pegg]

Solid fuel burning appliances, if eaten in sufficient quantities, can prove fatal.

Plenty of iron. Good for the blood.

[Bewildered]

The current and former hospitals are called Queen Elizabeth Hospital after the Queen at the time when the original was opened in 1939. Of course that's the person we mostly knew as Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. Neither hospital is named after the current monarch so it absolutely isn't the QE2 which as MtB points out is a ship (which may or may not have been named after her)

 

If I remember correctly, Stephen Fry said on an episode of QI that the ship was launched by the Queen, it was supposed to be named the QE2 but when the Queen launched it she said "I name this ship Queen Elizabeth the Second"