What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burning stoves can be an efficient and cost-effective method of heating homes and businesses. They also help to reduce dependence on fossil fuels that are not renewable and contribute to a resilient energy strategy.
For efficient combustion for efficient burning, it is crucial to use well-seasoned wood. Green or unseasoned wood may have a higher moisture content, which can cause creosote to accumulate and slow down performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners have been in use for many years. They are an energy efficient and green method of heating your home. The typical design of OWBs encourages a slower, cooler fire which leads to less efficient combustion and a higher amount of smoke and creosote. These unburnt fuels can cause health issues as well as fire hazards and cause harm to the environment around it.
Furthermore the visible plume of smoke that OWBs produce can cause neighbors to complain and lead to DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) enforcement action. This kind of public relations issue could 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 called the Pristine Gasification Series that utilizes technology to increase the efficiency of combustion for a clean, smokeless burning. This is achieved by using a negative pressure air system that draws fresh hot, dry and filtered air from the bottom of the boiler, and pushes it out of the chimney at a more rapid rate than traditional outdoor wood boilers. This is accomplished through a unique design that utilizes a multi-pass, water-filled heat exchanger made of 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
Properly utilized properly, the Pristine Series OWB has a 99% combustion rate for a smoke-free and cleaner fire. It requires less wood, and produces significantly fewer emission than traditional OWBs. It is crucial to burn only clean, seasoned and dry wood in order to maximize the performance of your OWB. It is recommended that you get your wood seasoned for a period of six months or a year before burning it. This will result in an efficient and clean burn.
You can improve the efficiency of your wood-burning stove through every week a "dry burn". This method helps to eliminate creosote buildup, keeps your boiler running efficiently and increases its life span. By adding a stick for removing creosote 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
The soot particles that are left behind after burning wood can make a wood stove look very dirty. These are very hard to move so if you notice any spots of buildup on the glass of your stove, you must clean them right away. If not, the soot will begin to become harder and more difficult to get off. Using the right cleaning products for the job is vital however, you must also ensure that you're not damaging the glass's surface by using anything that could scratch it. This could result in a weak spot that could break the glass if it's exposed to high temperatures.
Before you begin cleaning your wood stove, it is important to ensure that it's not lit and completely cool. Be sure you surround it with newspaper. This will stop any spillage of ash which can cause stains and marks on surfaces.
It could take as long as one year for the seasoning process of your stove to be completed, based on the quality of the wood you use. Seasoned wood will not only burn better and will produce less creosote. This is the material that accumulates on your chimney, which reduces efficiency and creating the risk of fire. If you are using unseasoned wood or just starting a new fire in your outdoor wood burner the best thing you can do is to open up the lower back door and scoop the ashes into a non-combustible bin every week.
A sediment flush should be performed on your boiler every four years. This is a simple flush lasting five seconds from the drain valve on your boiler. This will eliminate any accumulation of sediment inside the system and keep your boiler in great functioning condition.
Once you have done the sediment flush, it's time to clean the exterior of your outdoor wood burner. Before you begin, it's crucial to cover the stove's area with newspaper. Wearing protective eyewear and gloves is also a good idea. Also, you should have a ash canister made of metal along with a scraping tool as well as shovel. You can use a cloth as a shield to protect the refractory as you take off coal and ash deposits.
Easy to operate
Outdoor wood boilers (also called outdoor furnaces, outdoor wood hydronic heating systems or outdoor wood heaters) are often misunderstood despite their popularity. They were one of the "it" trends of the 1990s, alongside hairstyles for mullets. Unlike their cousin the EPA's popular wood stoves that are designed to burn at low, constant temperatures, these heaters use an increased fire rate and emit more smoke when they operate. Some local governments limit or ban their use.
OWBs work best in homes with a high level of insulation. The smoldering, visible smoke can also be a source of complaints from neighbors and has resulted in many OWBs being shut-down or sued in the past. In order for OWBs to operate properly they must be operated using dry wood that has a low moisture content. Wood that is not seasoned or green will reduce efficiency, causing creosote to build up and decrease the life of the burner. A moisture meter can help you to determine how long it takes for wood to dry.
In contrast dual-stage wood gasification boilers (OWGB) employ three steps of process that makes use of more available energy from the wood and results in much less smoke. These furnaces are more efficient than conventional OWBs and can be used for many different fuels. Wood gasification boilers require dry, seasoned firewood. The majority of wood will season in one year. Oak and other tough trees may take as long as two years. They are less water-based and have a greater density. This lets them store heat for longer, increasing efficiency and reducing pollution. The EPA's "Burn Wise" website and Cornell Cooperative Extension can help homeowners understand how to burn wood efficiently, thereby reducing pollution to the air.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood stoves are engineered to be environmentally friendly. In contrast to indoor wood burners which emit significant smoke, modern outdoor furnaces burn cleanly and without the creation of excessive heat or carbon monoxide. 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 the moisture content of wood than indoor wood burning stove s. However outdoor wood burners should only be used with properly treated or "cured" wood. It can take a year or more for certain types of wood. It is essential to make use of a moisture meter to determine the amount of water of your wood prior to loading.
When the system is in operation, it is essential to periodically inspect the system for creosote build up. Creosote, a by-product of combustion, can build up in the chimney and flue when they are not cleaned regularly. It can be removed with a creosote removal solution that is poured into the flame. Regular cleaning of the chimney and flue will help eliminate dangerous creosote accumulations, and increase efficiency.
Crown Royal Stoves developed a new airflow technique called Negative Pressure Gasification to ensure 99% efficiency in combustion. This technology is employed in our EPA certified Pristine Series Outdoor Wood Furnaces to draw air upwards from the bottom and push all the gases through an enclosed secondary combustion chamber that is that is surrounded by water and easy-to-clean turbulators. The result is a smokeless, pollutant-free burn.