WA wood heating/smoke/asthma (Shelton, Spokane, Newport) (Seattle, Bellingham: neighborhood, move)

[bobcatpossum]

Originally Posted by mistyriver

Many, many people in the Newport area hear with wood and woodstoves. I never see clouds of smoke hanging overhead but you can smell it for sure.

No clouds is a good start, I'd say.

[bobcatpossum]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

Any idea what the lowest priced homes are in Pacifica...

There's almost no inventory and I'd say 700K would get a very small 5000 sq.ft lot and would be a minimum price.

[Ultrarunner]

Looks like the least expensive is 539k

My Washington Property tax went from $6,000 to $10,800 in one move after I-747 was tossed out by a King County judge...

[bobcatpossum]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

Looks like the least expensive is 539k

My Washington Property tax went from $6,000 to $10,800 in one move after I-747 was tossed out by a King County judge...

Where do you see 539k? (house, not condo) I don't see anything under 700K on Zillow, really. Bottom price house will usually have issues not described in the ad. The home values graph for that area (showing 2nd wave bubble) is scary, one has to be a gambler with a lot of room to lose to buy there now.

Anyway such areas are out of question price-wise for me, it could be 2M or 500K...also wouldn't want to buy anything with less than at least quarter acre lot. Wouldn't pay tax more than $250/month; certain parts of WA are in a bubble/reaching top values like before previous crash, so the tax is growing. I'm looking to move to where housing didn't bubble.

I'm trying to figure out if areas outside Raymond, WA would be an option for me, as it's close to the ocean and prices aren't too high (most of he in-city areas are subject to major flooding and tsunami zone)

[Ultrarunner]

I commend you for having formulated a plan and putting in the research.

Washington Property Tax is the only thing sticking point for me.

Shouldn't be hard to find a home with a large lot...

Several of my co-workers did just that in settled near Port Orchard and Silverdale...

One of my neighbors and my former boss relocated to Beaverton Oregon with a lot more in the Medford area to Grant's Pass...

All had paid off homes in the East Bay and all got out...

For the most part they are happy with their decision... the Oregon ones would not go anywhere that Kaiser did not serve for medical...

[509]

Originally Posted by bobcatpossum

I had spent a winter in PNW before, in various rural parts of Western OR and around Olympia, ....and I don't remember a single time I was bothered by wood smoke. May be the rain was washing the smoke out and I just didn't feel it (it's always way worse in CA!). Also, it was quite windy a lot.

Wildfire smoke doesn't seem to be remotely as bad as heating smoke...unless this is a very major wildfire and you're right there. I had stayed in rural Sierra Nevada through summers with major wildfires going, which were at some distance, and that smoke was something I could deal with. I could detect smoke, but it wasn't bad like in-town due to heating.

I based my info on electric, wood and gas heating in WA on this document:
http://neea.org/docs/default-source/...l.pdf?sfvrsn=2.....................

......................Now, regarding Wentachee...if there're orchards and generally an agricultural area, this means a lot of pesticides....this is something worse than wood smoke in terms of health impact/allergy triggers.

Come in winter during an inversion and drive around the state. You are probably right that in western Washington, in winter, wood smoke will be less of an issue. Until you get a stretch of nice weather, then it will get ugly. The other issue is that n western Washington the heating season is almost nine months long. In any case, check out your neighbors. The worst of it will come in the neighborhood.

Wildfire smoke is much better than wood stove smoke. However, the standards have been changing. On large fires we have air quality monitors in communities. In the past, unhealthy air, basically meant you could not see across the street. Today, unhealthy, is called much, much earlier. Don't know if this reflects better science or better politics.

I briefly scanned that document. It is pretty much worthless. Wood heat is much, much higher than they estimate. Also the fact they mention fireplaces and NOT wood stoves makes it suspect. Nobody heats with a fireplace.

Wood is much cheaper as a heat than electricity in the Northwest, except in the Wenatchee Valley. Natural gas competes well when it is under $2.00. Anyway, check out the local communities. I would call up the Department of Ecology and talk to a air quality specialist. He/She can give you current unbiased information on communities.

Wenatchee is interesting for wood smoke. Everything migrates down the Columbia River. So fires in Okanogan and British Columbia means smoke in Wenatchee. We have had a very bad run of smoke for the past five years. Hopefully, this will change....it really can't go on year after year??

Pesticides are not an issue unless you are in a orchard area. Current pesticides are much less toxic than those used in the past. We moved to Wenatchee in 1985 and in our swimming pool filter I could NOT find a soft shelled insect. By the late 1990's all sorts of soft shelled insects were in the pool filter. Also the orchards are being replaced by housing sub-divisions so it is much less of an issue.

Not sure I would live directly downwind of an orchard, but there are plenty of areas outside the orchard belt.

[bobcatpossum]

Originally Posted by 509

Wildfire smoke is much better than wood stove smoke.

Especially considering all the trash some people burn...

Originally Posted by 509

I would call up the Department of Ecology and talk to a air quality specialist. He/She can give you current unbiased information on communities.

Very good idea, I should do that.

I think that document just used "fireplace" to describe all types of wood, pellet stoves and actual fireplaces, not a good choice of wording.

So, basically, more rural does not always mean more smoke, as there's less population density/bigger lots.
More wind and rain = less smoke.
Valley or basin-like setting allows smoke to be trapped, being on the coast is good.
Better Eastern then Western part of town, not to be downwind from all.
May be look for places which have natural gas as the best bet.

[bobcatpossum]

This is another set of data:
https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/hous...ric/fuels.html

they give even lower estimate for wood heating in WA.

[bobcatpossum]

Found EPA statistics mentioned in an article, ranking WA the 9th highest state in terms of use of wood stoves...not too bad considering my New England alternatives were ranked within "top 5".

Also, there's EPA county comparison tool for people with asthma, and of all counties mentioned here it recommends Mason County as having much cleaner air than others. But this depends on location inside the county/town of course...

[Ultrarunner]

Mason County has only 60,000 +/- and some parts are rather remote.

The only glitch is one offending neighbor and all the stats are out the window.