What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burners are a cost-effective method of heating homes and businesses. They also help reduce dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels and aid in a sustainable energy strategy.
To ensure efficient burning for efficient burning, it is crucial to use wood that has been well-seasoned. Unseasoned or green wood has higher moisture content and may cause creosote that can reduce performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners (OWBs) have been around for years and are an extremely green and efficient method of heating your home. The design of OWBs promotes a slower, cooler fire which leads to less efficient combustion and a higher amount of smoke and creosote. These unburned fuels can lead to health problems as well as fire hazards, and can also harm the environment.
Moreover the visible smoke plume OWBs create can make neighbors complain. This may result in DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation), taking enforcement action. This type of public relations issue can cause serious damage to the value of your property and could even result in your OWB being shut down.
Crown Royal Stoves has a line of outdoor wood furnaces that are EPA Certified. The Pristine Gasification Series makes use of technology to increase the efficiency of combustion and provide smokeless, clean burning. This is achieved by using an air system that is negative pressure that pulls fresh hot, dry and filtered air from the bottom of the boiler and then pushes it out through the chimney at a more rapid rate than traditional outdoor wood boilers. This is accomplished by an innovative design that utilizes a multi-pass water filled heat exchanger made of 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
Properly used properly, When properly used, the Pristine Series OWB achieves a 99% combustion rate for a cleaner and smokeless fire. It uses less wood, and produces significantly fewer emission than traditional OWBs. To further maximize the effectiveness of your OWB, it is important to burn clean, seasoned, dry wood. It is recommended to season your wood for a minimum of six months or one year prior to burning it. This will ensure a more efficient and cleaner burn.
In addition to improving the performance of your wood stove, you can also improve its efficiency by performing an "dry burn" every week. This method helps to eliminate creosote accumulation, makes your boiler running efficiently and increases its lifespan. By adding a creosote-removing stick to your stove every time you fill it, you can dramatically reduce the amount of creosote you use. The product is available from Wisconsin Wood Furnace.
Clean
A wood burning stove can become very dirty from burnt soot particles. They are difficult to clean and therefore, you must clean any buildup that may be on the glass of your stove immediately. In the event that the soot is not removed, it will harden and be even more difficult to get rid of. Using the correct cleaners for the job is vital, but also be sure you're not damaging the surface of the glass with anything that could scratch it. This could leave an area of weakness that could break the glass if it's exposed to high temperatures.
Before you begin cleaning your wood burner, it is important to ensure that it is unlit and completely cool. Be sure that you protect the area around it with newspaper. This will stop any spillage of ash that can stain and mark surfaces.
It can take up to one year for your stove's seasoning to be complete, based on the quality of the wood you select. Seasoned wood will not only burn better and will produce less creosote. This is the kind of material that accumulates on your fireplace, decreasing its efficiency and creating a potential fire hazard. If you are using unseasoned wood or just making a fresh fire in your outdoor wood burner the best thing you can do is to open up the lower back door and scoop ashes out into a non-combustible container each week.
You should also perform a sediment flush on your boiler at a minimum every four years. It is a simple flush that takes five seconds from the drain valve on your boiler. This will remove any sediments that have accumulated up in the system and will ensure that your boiler runs efficiently.
After you have cleaned the exterior of your fireplace that is outside, it is time to clean it. Before you begin, it's crucial to cover the stove's area with newspaper. It is also advisable to wear protective eyewear and gloves. Also, you should have a metal ash container as well as a scraping tool and shovel. You can use a cloth for a shield to protect the refractory as you remove ash and coal deposits.
Easy to Operate
Despite their popularity (they were one of the 1990s' "it" trends, as were mullet haircuts) outdoor wood boilers, also referred to as outdoor furnaces or outdoor wood hydronic heaters are frequently misunderstood. Contrary to the EPA's popular wood stoves that are designed to burn at constant, low temperatures, these boilers have an increased fire rate and generate more smoke when operating. This is the reason why local governments regulate or even ban their use.
OWBs are best used for heating homes with insulation levels that are high. The smoldering, dense visible smoke can also be a source of complaints from neighbors, and has led to numerous OWBs being shut down or being sued in the past. For OWBs dry wood that has less moisture content is required to function properly. Unseasoned or green wood can decrease efficiency, cause creosote to accumulate and decrease the life of the burner. Drying wood burning stove in conservatory can take time and an instrument to measure moisture is essential for every homeowner.
In contrast dual-stage wood gasification boilers (OWGB) utilize three steps of process which makes use of the available energy in the wood and results in a lesser amount of smoke. These kinds of furnaces are much more efficient than conventional OWBs and can be used with a greater range of fuel. Wood gasification boilers require dry, well-seasoned firewood. The majority of wood can be seasoned over the course of the course of a year. Oak and other hardy trees may take as long as two years to mature. This is because they have lower amount of water and a higher density. This allows them retain heat for longer, thus increasing efficiency and decreasing pollution. The EPA "Burn Wise" website and Cornell Cooperative Extension are great sources for homeowners to learn how to burn wood efficiently in order minimize air pollution.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood stoves have been designed to be eco-friendly. Contrary to indoor wood stoves that generate significant smoke modern outdoor furnaces burn efficiently and without the creation of excessive carbon monoxide or heat. They also require less wood to generate the same amount of heat as traditional stoves.
Outdoor wood burners require less maintenance and are more tolerant of moisture content in wood than wood burning stoves that are indoor. However outdoor wood burners should only be used with properly treated or "cured" wood. It can take a year or more for some kinds of wood. Use a moisture gauge prior to loading to measure the amount of water present in your wood.
In the course of operation, it is crucial to check the system regularly to check for accumulation of creosote. Creosote, which is a byproduct of combustion, can build up in the chimney and flue when they are not cleaned regularly. It can be removed with the use of a special creosote remover that is poured into the fire. Regular cleaning of the flue and chimney will eliminate dangerous creosote buildup and improve efficiency.
Crown Royal Stoves developed a new airflow technology called Negative Pressure Gasification to ensure 99% efficiency in combustion. Our EPA certified Pristine Series outdoor wood furnaces employ 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 combustion.