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Comment on Why are smokestacks so tall?

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Huh, I always assumed it was because wind speeds would typically be faster higher up, creating lower pressure to draw up air.

At first that's true. That's why chimneys all have a more or less minimum height above the roofline (and people can get away with little to nothing for a house on a ridge line or like an ice fishing shack or something).

Beyond the minimum the effect tapers off and what TFA is talking about starts mattering.

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