What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burners are an affordable method of heating homes and businesses. They also help reduce the dependence on fossil fuels that are non-renewable and help to create a more resilient energy strategy.
Wood that is well-seasoned is crucial for efficient burning. Unseasoned or green wood can have a higher moisture content, which can create creosote and decrease performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners have been in use for many years. They are a cost-effective and eco-friendly method to heat your home. However, the design of OWBs that encourages a slow, cooler fire that results in less combustion and a higher amount of smoke, creosote, as well as particulates. These unburned fuels can cause health issues, fire hazards and degrade the environment.
Furthermore, the visible smoke plume that OWBs generate can cause neighbors to complain. This may result in DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) and taking enforcement actions. This type of issue can have a negative impact on the value of your property and could result in your OWB being closed.
Crown Royal Stoves offers a range of EPA Certified outdoor wood furnaces called the Pristine Gasification Series that utilizes technology to boost the efficiency of combustion for a clean, smoke-free burn. This is done through a negative pressure air system that pulls fresh dry, heated, filtered air from the bottom, and then pushes it through the chimney faster than traditional outdoor wood boilers. This is accomplished by an innovative design that utilizes a multi-pass water-filled heat exchanger made from 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
If properly used properly, When properly used, the Pristine Series OWB has an efficiency of 99% for a smoke-free and cleaner fire. It consumes less wood and produces significantly less emissions than traditional OWBs. To further maximize the performance of your OWB it is crucial to only burn dry, clean, and seasoned wood. Seasoning your wood for 6 months or more prior to burning is recommended. It helps ensure a better, more energy efficient burn.
In addition to improving the efficiency of your wood burner, you can also improve its efficiency by executing the "dry burn" every week. This technique eliminates creosote build up, keeps your boiler efficient and extends its life span. By affixing a creosote-removing stick to your stove each time you fill it up, you can drastically reduce the amount of creosote you need to use. This product is available at Wisconsin Wood Furnace.
Clean
The soot particles left in the aftermath of burning wood can make a wood stove look very dirty. These are very hard to move, so if you see any areas of build up on the glass of your stove, wash them as soon as you notice them. Otherwise the soot will get harder and become more difficult to remove. Using the right cleaners for the job is crucial, but also be sure you're not damaging the surface of the glass with anything that might scratch it. This could result in an area of weakness that could break glass when exposed to high temperatures.
Before you begin cleaning your wood stove, it is important to ensure that it is not lit and completely cool. Also, be sure that the surrounding area is covered with newspaper. This will prevent the ash from leaking and staining surfaces.
Depending on the quality of the wood you use, it can take up to a year for your stove to become properly and seasoned. Wood that is properly seasoned will not only burn more efficiently, but will create less creosote. This is the substance that gets accumulated on your chimney, reducing efficiency and creating a fire hazard. If you're using unseasoned wood or are just beginning an outdoor fire fireplace, it's best to open the lower backdoor and scoop out ashes into a noncombustible container every week.
A sediment flush should be performed on your boiler every four years. This is a quick five-second flush from the drain valve on your boiler. This will remove any sediments that have built up in the system and will ensure that your boiler runs well.
Once you have done the sediment flush, it's now time to clean the outside of your outdoor wood burner. Before starting, it's crucial to cover the floor surrounding the stove with newspaper. Wearing protective eyewear and gloves is also a good idea. Also, you should have a metal ash canister along with a scraping tool as well as shovel. You can make use of a cloth as a shield to protect the refractory while you take off coal and ash deposits.
Simple to operate
Despite their popularity (they were among the 1990s' "it" trends, along with mullet haircuts) outdoor wood boilers, also known as outdoor furnaces or outdoor wood hydronic heaters are often misunderstood. They're different from the popular EPA wood stoves, which are built to burn at low temperatures and continuously. They are able to produce a higher rate of burning and generate more smoke. This is the reason why local governments regulate or ban their use.
OWBs work best for homes with high levels of insulation. Smoke that is dense and smoldering can also cause annoyance to neighbors, resulting in many OWBs to be shut down or sued. For OWBs dry wood with lower moisture content is required to work properly. Unseasoned or green wood can decrease efficiency, cause creosote to accumulate, and shorten the lifespan of the burner. Drying wood takes time and an instrument to measure moisture is essential for every homeowner.
In contrast dual-stage wood gasification boilers (OWGB) employ a three step process that uses more of the available energy in the wood and results in a lesser amount of smoke. shed wood burner are more efficient than conventional OWBs and are suitable for a wide range of fuels. Wood gasification boilers require dry, well-seasoned firewood. The majority of wood can be seasoned within the course of a year. Oak and other tough trees could take up to two years to mature. This is because they have less amount of water and a higher density. This allows them to retain heat for longer, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing pollution. The EPA "Burn Wise" website and Cornell Cooperative Extension are great sources for homeowners to understand how to efficiently burn wood to minimize air pollution.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood stoves have been designed to be eco-friendly. In contrast to indoor wood burners which generate significant smoke Modern outdoor furnaces burn cleanly without the creation of excessive carbon monoxide or heat. They also require less wood to produce the same amount of heat as traditional stoves.
Outdoor wood burners require less maintenance and are more accepting of wood moisture content than wood burning stoves that are indoor. However outdoor wood burners can only be used with properly treated or "cured" wood. This could take a whole year or more for some types of wood. Use a moisture gauge prior to loading to check the amount of water in your wood.
During operation it is important to check the system regularly for the accumulation of creosote. Creosote is a byproduct of combustion that can build up in the chimney and flue in the event that it is not cleaned on a regular basis. It can be eliminated using a special creosote removal product that is poured into the fire. Regular cleaning of the flue and chimney can remove harmful creosote, and boost efficiency.
Crown Royal Stoves developed a new airflow technology known as Negative Pressure Gasification to achieve 99% combustion efficiency. This technology is employed in our EPA certified Pristine Series Outdoor Wood Furnaces to pull air up from the bottom and push all gases through an sealed secondary combustion chamber, surrounded by water with easy-to-clean turbulators. The result is a smokeless and pollution-free burn.