Direct Venting With Close Neighbor

caucapon · Post by **caucapon** » Fri. Mar. 27, 2015 7:03 pm

My wife and I recently moved back to New Jersey after five years in Southwestern Va. We now live in a somewhat restricted retirement community. The house, built in 1976 with the minimal insulation typical of that time, is 1200 sq. ft. and is heated with electric baseboard. I'd like to install a stoker stove with direct vent; however, I have concerns regarding my neighbor on our exhaust vent side. The houses are sixteen feet apart with windows on all sides. While I suspect that an occasional sulfurous whiff is probably inevitable, I definitely don't want it to become a problem. Winds usually blow aggressively off the pond to the rear of our houses. The alley between our houses can be a real wind tunnel. My concern is focused on those mild days when the stove is throttled down and there is little to no breeze at all.

Does anyone here have a setup similar to mine? If so, has odor been an issue with neighbors?

Thanks in advance for any info.

Al

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Fri. Mar. 27, 2015 8:15 pm

Nothing says you have to stop at the normal vent termination does it? Can't you put a 90 on the end and send it up as far as you need ?

Post by **Lightning** » Fri. Mar. 27, 2015 8:52 pm

That's easier than what I was thinking.. up thru the levels and exit the roof.

caucapon · Post by **caucapon** » Fri. Mar. 27, 2015 9:13 pm

blrman07 wrote:Nothing says you have to stop at the normal vent termination does it? Can't you put a 90 on the end and send it up as far as you need ?

I'm aware that some have done so. I have some hesitation because of comments like this,

Alaska Channing III Direct Vent Should I Buy or Pass?

and because I wondered whether there was an essential problem pushing exhaust up that ultimately led to the creation of power venting (pulling exhaust) as a better option when going up.

davidmcbeth3 · Post by **davidmcbeth3** » Fri. Mar. 27, 2015 11:18 pm

Go write up a plan, apply for a permit, see if gets approved and, if so, you are good to go.

caucapon · Post by **caucapon** » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 7:19 am

I'd appreciate my initial questions being answered, if possible. Has anyone reading this thread used direct venting with a near neighbor? If so, were there issues?

Be assured, there is a valid reason for asking.

Again, thanks.

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 7:42 am

Apparently we cannot answer your question because nobody on this forum can answer what your neighbors are going to do. There are lots of installations in neighborhoods where the lot lines are closer than the 16 foot your referencing.

How about asking what might be the real question which could be "Will my neighbors get upset and report me to the housing board if I put a coal stove in my house and vent through the sidewall?"

You have told us nothing about the house, current heating system and why you want to only vent through the sidewall.

I guess the answer to your original question is lots of people have installed power vents and the most common complaint has been noise not the exhaust being stinky.

caucapon · Post by **caucapon** » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 9:07 am

blrman07 wrote:Apparently we cannot answer your question because nobody on this forum can answer what your neighbors are going to do. There are lots of installations in neighborhoods where the lot lines are closer than the 16 foot your referencing.

How about asking what might be the real question which could be "Will my neighbors get upset and report me to the housing board if I put a coal stove in my house and vent through the sidewall?"

You have told us nothing about the house, current heating system and why you want to only vent through the sidewall.

I guess the answer to your original question is lots of people have installed power vents and the most common complaint has been noise not the exhaust being stinky.

Only interested in comments based on personal experience. Obviously, no one can tell me what the future holds. I am attempting to make an informed decision. Appropriate personal anecdotes will help in that process.

Yes, I would greatly prefer not to get involved in any type of formal complaint process. Then again, that is obvious. What healthy, normal person would? It's also true that my neighbor is a delightful ninety year old whom I have no wish to offend. There are a number of concerns here.

Your final comment was germane and helpful. Thank you.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 9:39 am

We have a stoker/boiler venting thru a chimney & a handfed venting thru a chimney. We smell the stink from both at times. We grumble about the smell to ourselves but it doesn't go any further than that as we are also the beneficiaries of the low cost coal heat. If I had neighbors burning coal close to me & I wasn't ,~~~~~~~~~~~ I might likely be bitching to them about their stinky fuel choice. We live in a rural setting so this is not too likely to be an issue. We vent high,you are talking about venting low.

caucapon · Post by **caucapon** » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 10:23 am

windyhill4.2 wrote:We have a stoker/boiler venting thru a chimney & a handfed venting thru a chimney. We smell the stink from both at times. We grumble about the smell to ourselves but it doesn't go any further than that as we are also the beneficiaries of the low cost coal heat. If I had neighbors burning coal close to me & I wasn't ,~~~~~~~~~~~ I might likely be bitching to them about their stinky fuel choice. We live in a rural setting so this is not too likely to be an issue. We vent high,you are talking about venting low.

Yep, that's what I suspect. When we did burn coal (original Vermont Castings, Surdiac, Monarch coal furnace) in the late '70s, we had the luxury of a 25' outside chimney. Outside odor was never an issue at that time. Direct venting is an entirely different game.

Thanks for the insight.

warminmn · Post by **warminmn** » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 12:45 pm

The neighbor is going to know you are burning coal anyway. If it were me, I'd go talk to them. Tell them what you are going to do and ask them to tell you if the smell bothers them, then you will add an extended chimney. And make sure to ask them after it is running. Myself, I wouldnt do anything to offend a 90 year old. Old people always remind me of my own Grandparents.

I'm not usually one to ask permission from people, but since its a 90 year old, I think I would.

Doby · Post by **Doby** » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 3:03 pm

older people in general don't complain unless it truly is a problem, trust me I work with/for them every day

davidmcbeth3 · Post by **davidmcbeth3** » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 5:42 pm

I never asked permission from my neighbors for what I do on my land.

I'm sure that some would have objected to my stove being installed....

Since that would not stopped me anyway, I saw that getting an answer to a query would have been moot. So I got my permit and installed the stove.

davidmcbeth3 · Post by **davidmcbeth3** » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 5:44 pm

warminmn wrote:The neighbor is going to know you are burning coal anyway. If it were me, I'd go talk to them. Tell them what you are going to do and ask them to tell you if the smell bothers them, then you will add an extended chimney. And make sure to ask them after it is running. Myself, I wouldnt do anything to offend a 90 year old. Old people always remind me of my own Grandparents.

I'm not usually one to ask permission from people, but since its a 90 year old, I think I would.

And if a 90 yr old neighbor would have said that he did not want you to install your stove then you wouldn't have? Hmmmm.

warminmn · Post by **warminmn** » Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 5:55 pm

I would have vented it above my roof then, which is likely how it has to be done anyway.

This is why I don't live in town. Never have and never will. I don't like asking about what I do on my land and I could care less what my neighbors do.

The OP is concerned about what his neighbor will think, so I suggested he tell/ask them. It is an answer to the OP's question.