What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burners are a cost-effective solution for heating homes and businesses. They also help to reduce dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels and aid in a sustainable energy strategy.
Wood that is well-seasoned is crucial for efficient burning. Green or unseasoned wood has a higher moisture content and can create creosote that can reduce performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners (OWBs) have been around for many years and offer a very eco-friendly and energy efficient method to heat your home. However, the typical design of OWBs that encourages an unsteady, cooler fire that results in poor combustion and more smoke, creosote and particulates. These unburned fuels could lead to health problems and fire hazards. They also degrade the environment.
Additionally the visible smoke plume that OWBs create can cause neighbors to complain. This could lead to DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) and taking enforcement actions. This kind of public relations issue could cause serious damage to the value of your property and may even lead to your OWB being shut down.
Crown Royal Stoves has a range of outdoor wood furnaces that are EPA Certified. The Pristine Gasification Series makes use of technology to increase the efficiency of combustion and create smokeless, clean burning. This is accomplished by using the negative pressure air system that pulls fresh hot, dry and filtered air from the bottom of the boiler and pushes it out through the chimney at a more rapid rate than traditional outdoor wood boilers. This is achieved through an innovative design that makes use of an encapsulated, multi-pass heat exchanger constructed from 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
When used properly when properly used, the Pristine Gasification Series OWB can attain the highest efficiency of combustion, which is 99% for a cleaner, smokeless fire that consumes less wood and generates significantly less emissions than traditional OWBs. It is crucial to burn dry, clean and seasoned wood in order to maximize the performance of your OWB. It is recommended that you season your wood for a period of six months or a year prior to burning it. This will result in the most efficient and clean burn.
You can boost the efficiency of your wood-burning stove by performing a weekly "dry burn". This method lowers the amount of creosote in your home which improves boiler efficiency and extends the lifespan of your boiler. By adding a creosote-removing stick to your stove each time you fill it, you can dramatically reduce the amount of creosote you use. This product is available at Wisconsin Wood Furnace.
Clean
The soot particles that are left behind after burning wood can make a wood stove look very dirty. These are very hard to move If you notice any spots of buildup on the glass of your stove, you must clean them as soon as you notice them. Otherwise the soot will harden and be even more difficult to get off. It is crucial to choose the right cleaner however, you must avoid damaging the glass surface by using anything that can scratch it. This could result in a weak point that will break glass when exposed to extreme temperatures.
Before you begin cleaning your wood burner you should make sure that it is not lit and completely cool. Also, ensure that the area around it is covered with newspaper. This will prevent the ash from spilling and staining surfaces.
Depending on the quality of the wood you use, it can take up to one year for your stove to be properly well-seasoned. The wood that has been properly seasoned will not only burn more efficiently, but also produce less creosote. This is the substance that gets accumulated on your chimney, reducing effectiveness and creating an hazard for fire. If you are using unseasoned wood or are just making a fresh fire in your outdoor wood burner the best thing to do is open the back door to the lower part and scoop ashes out into a non-combustible container every week.
A sediment flush is recommended on your boiler every four years. This is a simple flush of five seconds from the drain valve on your boiler. This will eliminate any debris that has accumulated inside the system, and will keep your boiler in great functioning condition.
After you have cleaned the outside of your fireplace outside it is time to clean it. Before beginning, it is essential to cover the floor area surrounding the stove with newspaper. It is also advisable to wear protective eyewear and gloves. You should also have a metal ash container, a scraping tool and shovel. You can use a cloth as an insulator to protect the refractory while you remove ash and coal deposits.
Easy to operate
Outdoor wood boilers (also called outdoor furnaces, outdoor wood hydronic heating systems, or outdoor wood heaters) are often misunderstood in spite of their acclaim. They were among the "it" trends of the 1990s, along with hairstyles for mullets. They're not like the popular EPA wood stoves, which are built to burn at low temperatures continuously. They use a higher rate of burning and generate more smoke. Certain local governments restrict or ban their use.
OWBs are best used for heating homes with high insulation levels. The smoldering, dense visible smoke can also be a source of complaints from neighbors, and has led to numerous OWBs being shut down or sued in the past. In order for OWBs to operate properly they must be operated using dry wood with low moisture content. The use of unseasoned or green wood reduces efficiency, leads to creosote to build up and may cut down the life of the burner. Drying wood can take time and an instrument to measure moisture is a must for any homeowner.
cast iron wood burner -stage wood gasification (OWGB) boilers, on the other hand they employ a three-step procedure which makes use of the energy contained in the wood. This means less smoke. These furnaces are more efficient than conventional OWBs, and can be used for a wide range of fuels. Wood gasification boilers require dry, seasoned firewood. Most wood will season within a year, but oak and other hardy species may take two or more years to fully season. This is due to less volume of water and a greater density. This lets them store heat longer, thus increasing efficiency and reducing pollution. The EPA "Burn Wise' website and Cornell Cooperative Extension are great sources for homeowners to understand how to burn wood efficiently in order minimize pollution to the air.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood stoves are designed to be eco-friendly. Modern outdoor wood furnaces do not produce excessive CO2 or heat. They also burn cleaner than indoor wood stoves. They also use less wood to produce the same amount heat as traditional stoves.
Outdoor wood burners also require less maintenance than indoor wood burners and are more forgiving when it comes to the moisture content of the wood. However outdoor wood burners can only be used with properly prepared or "cured" wood. Certain kinds of wood can last for up to a year. Use a moisture meter before loading to determine the amount of water contained in your wood.
During operation, it is important to periodically inspect the system for the accumulation of creosote. Creosote, a by-product of combustion, can build up in the flue and chimney if they aren't cleaned regularly. It can be eliminated using the use of a special creosote remover that is poured into the fire. Regular cleaning of the chimney and flue will remove dangerous creosote and increase efficiency.
To get 99% efficiency from combustion, Crown Royal Stoves designed an innovative air flow technology called Negative Pressure Gasification. Our EPA certified Pristine Series outdoor wood furnaces utilize this technology to pull air from the bottom, forcing all gasses through an insulated, water-surrounded secondary combustion chamber, which is easy-clean turbulators for a smokeless & pollution-free burn.