What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burners are a cost-effective solution for heating homes and businesses. They also help reduce the dependence on fossil fuels that are non-renewable and help in implementing a sustainable energy strategy.
Wood that is well-seasoned is crucial for efficient burning. Unseasoned or green wood has higher moisture content and can create creosote that can reduce performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners have been in use for many years. woodburning stoves are an energy efficient and eco-friendly method to heat your home. The typical design of OWBs encourages the slowing of the fire, making it cooler which results in poorer 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 the visible smoke plume that OWBs create could cause neighbors to voice their concerns. This could lead to DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation), taking enforcement action. This type of public relations issue can be a significant impact on the value of your property and may result in your OWB being shut down.
Crown Royal Stoves has a range of outdoor wood furnaces that are EPA Certified. The Pristine Gasification Series uses technology to maximize combustion efficiency and produce a smokeless, clean burn. This is achieved by using the negative pressure air system that pulls fresh, dry, hot and filtered air from the bottom of the boiler and pushes it out through the chimney at a much greater rate than traditional outdoor wood boilers. This is accomplished through an exclusive design that uses a multi-pass water filled heat exchanger constructed of 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
When properly utilized properly, the Pristine Series OWB has an 99% efficiency in combustion for a cleaner and smokeless fire. It consumes less wood, and produces significantly fewer emission than traditional OWBs. To further maximize the effectiveness of your OWB it is essential to only burn dry, clean, and seasoned wood. It is recommended that you season your wood for a period of six months or a year before burning it. This will result in a more efficient and cleaner burn.
In addition to maximizing the performance of your wood burner and enhancing its efficiency by executing an "dry burn" every week. This technique eliminates creosote buildup, keeps your boiler efficient and extends its lifespan. In addition by adding a creosote remover stick every when you load your stove, you will be able to dramatically reduce the amount of creosote you use. This product is available through 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 the glass of your stove as soon as you notice it. In the event that the soot is not removed, it will become harder and more difficult to get rid of. Using the right cleaning products for the job is essential however, you must also ensure that you're not damaging the surface of the glass by using anything that could scratch it. This could leave a weak spot that could break the glass if it's exposed to extreme temperatures.
Before you begin cleaning your wood burner, you should make sure that it's not lit and completely cool. Be sure that you surround it with newspaper. This will prevent the ash from leaking and staining surfaces.
It could take as long as one year for the seasoning process of your stove to be complete, depending on the quality of the wood you choose to use. The wood that is treated with a seasoned finish will not only burn more efficiently, but will also produce less creosote. This is the kind of material that accumulates on your chimney, which reduces efficiency and posing an hazard for fire. If you're using unseasoned wood or are just beginning an outdoor fire fireplace, you should open the lower backdoor, and scoop out all the ashes into a nonflammable container every week.
A sediment flush should be performed on your boiler every four years. It is a simple flush lasting five seconds from the drain valve on your boiler. This will remove any sediment that has built up within the system and help keep your boiler in top functioning condition.
Once you have done the sediment flush, it's time to clean the outside of your outdoor wood burner. Before you begin, it's crucial to cover the stove's area with newspaper. It is also helpful to wear protective eyewear and gloves. Also, you should have a shovel, a metal container for ash and scraping tools. To safeguard the refractory, you should lay down a cloth to shield it as you scrape away ash and coal deposits.
Easy to operate
Outdoor wood boilers (also known as outdoor furnaces and outdoor wood hydronic heating systems or outdoor wood heaters) are often misunderstood, despite their popularity. They were among the "it" trends of the 1990s, as were hairstyles for mullets. In contrast to their EPA-approved counterparts, popular wood stoves that are designed to burn at low, constant temperatures, these boilers have more fire and generate more smoke when they operate. This is why a few local governments regulate or even ban their use.
OWBs are ideal to heat homes with high insulation levels. The smoldering, dense visible smoke can also be a source of complaint with neighbors and has led to many OWBs being shut down or sued in the past. To ensure that OWBs to function properly, they must be operated using dry wood with a low moisture content. Wood that is not seasoned or green will reduce efficiency, causing creosote to build up, and shorten the lifespan of the burner. Drying wood can take time and an instrument to measure moisture is a must for any homeowner.
Dual-stage wood gasification (OWGB) boilers however, use a three-step process that makes use of more energy contained in the wood. This means less smoke. These furnaces are more efficient than conventional OWBs and are suitable for various fuels. Wood gasification boilers require dry and seasoned wood. Most wood will season within a year, but oak and other species with a hardy structure can take two or more years to fully mature. This is due to a lower water content and denser mass. This allows them retain heat for longer, increasing efficiency and decreasing pollution. The EPA's "Burn Wise" website and Cornell Cooperative Extension can help homeowners learn more about how to burn wood efficiently, thereby reducing pollution to the air.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood stoves are designed to be eco-friendly. Modern outdoor wood furnaces do not produce excessive heat or CO2. They also burn cleaner than indoor wood stoves. They also require less wood to generate 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 should only be used with properly treated or "cured" wood. Certain kinds of wood can take up to a year. Use a moisture meter before loading to check the amount of water in your wood.
When operating, it is essential to examine the system on a regular basis to check for accumulation of creosote. Creosote, which is a byproduct of combustion, can accumulate in the flue and chimney when they are not cleaned regularly. It can be eliminated by pouring a creosote removing product into the fire. Regular cleaning of the chimney and flue will remove dangerous creosote and improve efficiency.
To get 99% efficiency from combustion, Crown Royal Stoves designed a new air flow technology called Negative Pressure Gasification. Our EPA certified Pristine Series outdoor wood furnaces employ this technology to pull air from the bottom, directing all of the gasses through an insulated water-surrounded secondary combustion chamber, which is easy-clean Turbulators to ensure a smoke-free and pollution free combustion.