What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burners are an affordable method of heating homes and businesses. They also reduce the dependence on fossil fuels that are non-renewable and contribute to a resilient energy strategy.
For efficient combustion it is essential to use seasoned wood. Unseasoned or green wood has a higher moisture content and can cause creosote accumulation, which can affect performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners (OWBs) have been around for years and provide an energy efficient and environmentally friendly method of heating your home. The typical design of OWBs encourages a slower, cooler fire which leads to less efficient combustion and more smoke and creosote. These unburned fuels can cause health problems as well as fire hazards, and can also harm the environment.
Moreover cheap woodburner puffs that OWBs generate could cause neighbors to voice their concerns. This could result in DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) and taking enforcement actions. This type of public relations issue can be a significant impact on the value of your property and could even result in your OWB being shut down.
Crown Royal Stoves offers a line of EPA Certified outdoor wood furnaces known as the Pristine Gasification Series that utilizes technology to boost the efficiency of combustion for a clean, smokeless combustion. This is accomplished by using a negative pressure air system that draws fresh hot, dry, filtered air in from the bottom of the boiler and then pushes it back out through the chimney at a higher rate than conventional outdoor wood boilers. This is accomplished by the unique design of an encapsulated, multi-pass heat exchanger made of 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
When properly used, when properly used, the Pristine Gasification Series OWB can reach an efficiency of 99% to create a cleaner, smokeless fire that requires less wood and generates significantly less emissions than traditional OWBs. It is crucial to burn clean, seasoned and dry wood in order to maximize the performance of your OWB. Seasoning your wood for six months or more prior to burning is recommended and helps ensure a smoother and more efficient burn.
You can boost the efficiency of your wood-burning stove by performing a weekly "dry burn". This technique eliminates creosote accumulation, makes your boiler running efficiently and increases its lifespan. By adding a stick for removing creosote to your stove every time you fill it up, you can drastically reduce the amount of creosote you use. This product is available at Wisconsin Wood Furnace.
Clean
A wood-burning stove can become very dirty from burnt soot particles. These are very hard to remove If you notice any spots of buildup on the glass of your stove, you must clean them immediately. Any soot that is not eliminated will begin to harden, making it even more difficult to remove. It is essential to use the right cleaners however, you should avoid damaging the glass surface by using anything that can scratch it. This could result in an area of weakness that could break the glass when exposed to extreme temperatures.
Be sure to let your wood burner cool completely before cleaning it. Be sure that you protect the area around it with newspaper. This will stop any spillage of ash which could stain and mark surfaces.
It can take up to one year for the seasoning process of your stove to be complete, depending on the quality of wood you use. Seasoned wood will not only burn better and will produce less creosote. This is the kind of material that builds up on your fireplace, decreasing its efficiency and posing the potential for a fire hazard. If you're using wood that's not seasoned or are just beginning a fire in your outdoor fireplace, you should open the lower backdoor, and scoop out ashes into a noncombustible container each week.
A sediment flush should be carried out on your boiler every four years. This involves a simple five-second flush from the drain valve on your boiler. This will remove any sediments that have accumulated in the system and keep your boiler working well.
After you have cleaned the outside of your outdoor fireplace, it is time to clean it. Before starting, it's crucial to cover the floor area surrounding the stove with newspaper. It is also advisable to wear gloves and protective eyewear. You should also have a shovel, a metal container for ash, and a scraping tool. You can use a cloth for a shield to protect the refractory while you remove ash and coal deposits.
Easy to operate
Outdoor wood boilers (also known as outdoor furnaces, outdoor wood hydronic heating systems, or outdoor wood heaters) are often misunderstood, despite their acclaim. They were among the "it" trends of the 1990s, along with hairstyles with mullets. In contrast to their EPA-approved counterparts, popular wood stoves which are designed to burn at constant, low temperatures, these heaters use more fire and emit more smoke when operating. This is why a few local governments regulate or ban their use.
OWBs work best for homes with a high level of insulation. Smoke that is dense and smoldering could cause annoyance to neighbors, resulting in many OWBs to be shut down or even sued. For OWBs, dry wood with a lower moisture content is required to function properly. Unseasoned or green wood can reduce efficiency, cause creosote to accumulate and reduce the life of the burner. Drying wood can take time and the use of a moisture gauge is a must for any homeowner.
In contrast, dual-stage wood gasification boilers (OWGB) employ a three step process which makes use of the available energy in the wood, resulting in a lesser amount of smoke. These furnaces are more efficient than conventional OWBs, and can be used to fuel many different fuels. Wood gasification boilers require dry, seasoned wood. Most wood will season within a year, however oak and other hardy species may require two years or more to fully mature. This is because they have lower water content and denser mass. This enables them to hold heat for longer, thereby increasing efficiency and reduce pollution. The EPA's "Burn Wise" website and Cornell Cooperative Extension can help homeowners understand how to burn wood efficiently to minimize pollution to the air.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood furnaces are designed with the environment in mind. Contrary to indoor wood stoves that produce significant smoke Modern outdoor furnaces burn cleanly without the production of excessive heat or carbon monoxide. They also require less wood to produce the same amount of heat as traditional stoves.
Outdoor wood burners require less maintenance and are more forgiving of wood moisture content than wood burning stoves for indoor use. However outdoor wood burners can only be used with properly seasoned or "cured" wood. Some types of wood can take up to a year. Use a moisture gauge prior to loading to determine the amount of water present in your wood.
In the course of operation, it is crucial to check the system regularly for creosote accumulation. Creosote is a by-product of combustion, may build up in the chimney and flue if they aren't cleaned regularly. It can be removed using a special creosote removal product that is poured into the flame. Regularly cleaning the chimney and flue will help eliminate dangerous creosote accumulations, and increase efficiency.
Crown Royal Stoves developed a new airflow technology called Negative Pressure Gasification to attain 99% efficiency in combustion. Our EPA certified Pristine Series outdoor wood furnaces employ this technology to pull air from the bottom, forcing all of the gasses through an insulated water-surrounded secondary combustion chamber, which is easy-clean turbines for a smokeless and pollution free combustion.