What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burners are an economical solution to heat 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. Green or unseasoned wood has higher moisture content and can create creosote accumulation, which can affect performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners have been in use for a long time. They are a cost-effective and eco-friendly method of heating your home. However, the design of OWBs that encourages a slow, cooler fire, causes poor combustion and more smoke, creosote, and particulates. Unburned fuels can lead to health issues and fire hazards, as well as deteriorate the surrounding environment.
Furthermore, the visible plume of smoke produced by OWBs can cause neighbors to complain and result in DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) enforcement action. This type 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 has a range of outdoor wood furnaces that are EPA Certified. The Pristine Gasification Series makes use of technology to maximize combustion efficiency and create smokeless, clean burning. This is accomplished with a negative-pressure air system which pulls fresh dry, heated, filtered air from the bottom and pushes it up the chimney much faster than traditional outdoor wood boilers. This is achieved through an innovative design that makes use of a multi-pass, water filled heat exchanger made of 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
If properly utilized when properly used, the Pristine Series OWB can achieve an 99% efficiency in combustion for a cleaner and smokeless fire. It uses less wood and produces a lot less emission than traditional OWBs. It is important to burn dry, clean and seasoned wood to increase the performance of your OWB. Seasoning your wood for six months or more prior to burning is recommended and helps ensure a better and more efficient burn.
You can boost the efficiency of your wood-burning stove by performing every week a "dry burn". This method lowers the amount of creosote in your home which increases the efficiency of boilers and extends the life of your boiler. 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 stove appear very dirty. They are difficult to remove, so clean any buildup that may be on the glass of your stove immediately. In the event that the soot is not removed, it will get harder and become more difficult to remove. It is crucial to select 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 if it's exposed to extreme temperatures.
Be sure to let your wood stove cool completely before cleaning it. Make sure you surround it with newspaper. This will stop any spillage of ash which can stain and mark surfaces.
Depending on the quality of the wood you use, it can take up to one year for your stove to be properly seasoned. The wood that is seasoned will not only burn better, but will create less creosote. This is the material that accumulates on your chimney, decreasing its effectiveness and creating a fire hazard. If you are using unseasoned wood, or just starting a new fire in your outdoor wood burner the best thing you can do is open the lower back door and scoop ashes out into a non-combustible container every week.
It is also recommended to perform an annual sediment flush on your boiler at least every four years. This is a quick five-second flush from the bottom 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.
After you have cleaned the outside of your outdoor fireplace it is time to clean it. Before you begin, it's essential to cover the floor around the stove with newspaper. Wearing protective gloves and eyewear is an excellent idea. You should also have an shovel, a metal ash container and a scraping tool. To safeguard second hand wood burner , you should lay down a piece of cloth to protect it while you scrape away coal and ash deposits.
Easy to operate
Despite their popularity (they were one of the 1990s' "it" trends, along with mullet haircuts) outdoor wood boilers, also referred to as outdoor furnaces or outdoor wood hydronic heaters are still often misunderstood. They are not the same as the well-known EPA wood stoves, which are built to burn low temperatures and continuously. They have a higher rate of fire and produce more smoke. Some local governments restrict or prohibit their use.
OWBs work best for homes that have high levels of insulation. Smoke that is thick and smoldering may be a nuisance to neighbors, which has led many OWBs to be shut down or sued. To allow OWBs to operate properly they must be used with dry wood with low moisture content. Unseasoned or green wood can decrease efficiency, cause creosote build-up and decrease the life of the burner. Drying wood takes time and a moisture meter is essential for every homeowner.
Dual-stage wood gasification (OWGB) boilers, on the other hand, use a three-step process which makes use of the energy available in the wood. This means less smoke. These types of furnaces are more efficient than conventional OWBs and can be used with a wider range of fuel. Wood gasification boilers require dry and seasoned wood. Most wood will season within a year, but oak and other species with a hardy structure could take two or more years to fully mature. This is because they have less amount of water and a higher density. This enables them to hold heat longer, increasing efficiency and reduce pollution. The EPA's "Burn Wise" website and Cornell Cooperative Extension can help homeowners learn more about burning wood efficiently to minimize pollution to the air.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood stoves are engineered to be eco-friendly. Modern outdoor wood furnaces do not emit excessive CO2 or heat. They also burn more efficiently 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 for indoor use. Outdoor wood burners are suitable for wood that has been properly "cured" or seasoned. Certain kinds of wood can take up to a full year. It is essential to make use of a moisture meter to measure the amount of water of your wood prior to loading.
During operation it is important to examine the system on a regular basis for the accumulation of creosote. Creosote is a by-product of combustion, can build up in the flue and chimney when they are not cleaned regularly. It can be removed by pouring a creosote-removing product into the fire. Regular cleaning of the flue and chimney will remove dangerous creosote and increase efficiency.
In order to achieve 99% combustion efficiency, Crown Royal Stoves designed a new air flow technology called Negative Pressure Gasification. This technology is used 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 which is surrounded by water, with easy-to-clean Turbulators. The result is a smokeless & pollution-free combustion.