What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burners are an efficient and cost-effective method of heating homes and businesses. They also reduce dependence on fossil fuels that are not renewable and help to create a more resilient energy strategy.
To ensure efficient burning it is essential to use wood that has been well-seasoned. Green or unseasoned wood may have a higher moisture content that can cause creosote to build up 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. The typical design of OWBs encourages the slowing of the fire, making it cooler which leads to less efficient combustion, and more smoke and creosote. These unburned fuels could lead to health problems and fire hazards. They also degrade the environment.
Furthermore, the visible smoke plume that OWBs create could cause neighbors to voice their concerns. second hand wood burner may result in DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) and taking enforcement actions. This kind of problem can negatively impact the value of your property, and may cause your OWB being closed.
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, smoke-free combustion. This is accomplished through a negative pressure air system that pulls fresh dry heated, filtered, and heated air from the bottom and pushes it out through the chimney faster than traditional outdoor wood boilers. This is accomplished through a unique design which uses a multi-pass water filled heat exchanger made of 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
When properly used correctly, when used correctly, the Pristine Gasification Series OWB can attain a 99% combustion efficiency for a cleaner, smokeless fire that consumes less wood and produces significantly less carbon dioxide than traditional OWBs. To enhance the performance of your OWB it is essential to only burn dry, clean, and seasoned wood. Seasoning your wood for 6 months or a year prior to burning is recommended. This helps ensure a smoother and more efficient burn.
In addition to maximizing the efficiency of your wood stove, you can also improve its efficiency by executing an "dry burn" every week. This method helps to eliminate creosote build up, keeps your boiler in good condition and extends its life span. Lastly by putting in a creosote removal stick every time you fill your stove, you will be able to significantly reduce the amount creosote used. This product is available at Wisconsin Wood Furnace.
Clean
A wood burning stove can become very dirty from burnt soot particles. They are difficult to remove and therefore, you must clean any buildup on your stove's glass immediately. Any soot that is not eliminated will harden and make it more difficult to remove. Using the right cleaners for the job is crucial and you should also make sure you're not damaging the surface of the glass 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.
Make sure you allow your wood burner to cool completely before cleaning it. Also, make sure that the surrounding area is covered with newspaper. This will prevent any spillage of ash that can stain and mark surfaces.
Depending on the quality of the wood you select, it can take up to a year for your stove to be properly well-seasoned. The wood that has been properly seasoned will not only burn more efficiently, but will also produce less creosote. This is the material that gets accumulated on your chimney, which reduces effectiveness and creating a fire hazard. If you're using unseasoned wood or you're just starting a fire in your outdoor fireplace, it's best to open the lower backdoor and scoop out all the ashes into a nonflammable container each week.
You should also do a sediment flush on your boiler at least once every four years. This is a quick five-second flush from the drain valve of your boiler. This will get rid of any sediments that have accumulated up in the system and keep your boiler working well.
Once you have done the sediment flush, it's now time to clean the exterior of your outdoor wood burner. Before you begin, it's crucial to cover the stove's area with newspaper. It is also beneficial to wear gloves and protective eyewear. Also, you should have a metal ash canister as well as a scraping tool and a shovel. To protect the refractory you need to lay a cloth on it to shield it as you scrape away coal and ash deposits.
Easy to operate
Outdoor wood boilers (also called outdoor furnaces and outdoor wood hydronic heating systems or outdoor wood heaters) are often misunderstood in spite of their acclaim. They were one of the "it" trends of the 1990s, as were hairstyles with mullets. Unlike their cousin the EPA's popular wood stoves, which are designed to burn at constant, low temperatures, these units use more fire and generate more smoke when operating. Certain local governments restrict or prohibit their use.
OWBs are best suited to homes with high levels of insulation. Smoke that is dense and smoldering can also be a nuisance for neighbors, resulting in many OWBs to be shut down or even sued. For OWBs, dry wood with a lower moisture content is needed to work properly. The use of unseasoned or green wood decreases efficiency, causes creosote to build up and may reduce the lifespan of the burner. Drying wood takes time and a moisture meter is a must for the homeowner.
In contrast, dual-stage wood gasification boilers (OWGB) utilize three steps of process which makes use of the available energy from the wood and results in much less smoke. These types of furnaces are far more efficient than conventional OWBs and can be used with a wider variety of fuel. Wood gasification boilers require dry, seasoned wood. The majority of wood can be seasoned within the course of a year. Oak and other hardy trees can take up to two years to mature. This is due to less water content and denser mass. This allows them to retain heat longer, increasing efficiency and decreasing pollution. The EPA "Burn Wise" website and Cornell Cooperative Extension are great sources for homeowners to learn how to efficiently burn wood to reduce air pollution.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood furnaces are constructed with the environment in mind. Modern outdoor wood furnaces do not produce excessive CO2 or heat. They also burn cleaner than indoor wood stoves. 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 moisture content in wood than wood burning stoves that are indoor. However, outdoor wood burners can only be used with properly seasoned or "cured" wood. It can take a year or more for certain kinds of wood. It is essential to use a moisture meter to determine the amount of water of your wood before loading.
In the course of operation, it is crucial to inspect the system periodically to check for accumulation of creosote. Creosote is an byproduct of combustion and can build up in the chimney and flue when it is not cleaned regularly. It can be eliminated using a creosote removal solution that is poured into the flame. Regular cleaning of the chimney and flue will eliminate dangerous creosote buildup and improve efficiency.
To achieve 99% combustion efficiency, Crown Royal Stoves designed a brand new air flow technique known as Negative Pressure Gasification. Our EPA certified Pristine Series outdoor wood furnaces utilize this technology to pull air from the bottom, directing all of the gasses through an insulated water surrounded secondary combustion chamber that is easy to clean turbulators for a smokeless & pollution free burn.