What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burning stoves are a cost-effective way to heat homes and businesses. They also reduce dependence on fossil fuels that are not renewable and help in implementing a sustainable energy strategy.
For efficient burning for efficient burning, it is crucial to use well-seasoned wood. Green or unseasoned wood has a higher moisture content and can cause creosote accumulation, which can affect performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners have been in use for a long time. They are an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly way of heating your home. The typical design of OWBs encourages the slowing of the fire, making it cooler which leads to less efficient combustion and a higher amount of smoke and creosote. Unburned fuels can lead to health problems and fire hazards, as well as affect the environment around them.
Moreover the visible smoke plume produced by OWBs can cause neighbors to complain and result in DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) enforcement actions. 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 range of EPA Certified outdoor wood furnaces known as the Pristine Gasification Series that utilizes technology to increase the efficiency of combustion to ensure a smokeless, clean combustion. This is achieved through a negative pressure air system that pulls in fresh, dry heated, filtered air from the bottom and then pushes it through the chimney much faster than traditional outdoor wood boilers. This is achieved by a unique design which uses an incredibly efficient multi-pass water-filled heat exchanger made of 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
If properly used, the Pristine Gasification Series OWB can reach the highest efficiency of combustion, which is 99% to create a cleaner, smokeless fire that uses less wood and generates significantly less carbon dioxide than traditional OWBs. To maximize your OWB's performance it is essential to burn only clean, seasoned, dry wood. It is recommended to get your wood seasoned for a period of six months or a year before burning it. This will ensure a more efficient and cleaner burn.
You can boost the efficiency of your wood-burning stove by executing each week a "dry burn". This technique eliminates creosote build up, keeps your boiler in good condition and extends its lifespan. By adding a stick for removing creosote to your stove every time you fill it, you can dramatically reduce the amount of creosote you need to use. This product is available from Wisconsin Wood Furnace.
Clean
A wood-burning stove could become very dirty from burnt soot particles. They are extremely difficult to remove, so if you see any spots of buildup on the glass of your stove, wash them immediately. In the event that the soot is not removed, it will harden and be even more difficult to remove. It's important to select the right cleaners, but you should also be careful not to scratch the glass with anything that could scratch it. This could result in an area of weakness that could break glass when exposed to high temperatures.
Be sure to allow your wood burner to cool completely before cleaning it. Make sure to surround it with newspaper. This will prevent any ash spillage that can stain and mark surfaces.
It can take up to one year for the seasoning process of your stove to be complete, depending on the quality of wood you use. The wood that has been treated with a seasoned finish will not only burn more efficiently, but also produce less creosote. This is the material that gets accumulated on your chimney, decreasing its effectiveness and creating an hazard for fire. If you're using unseasoned wood or are just starting a new fire in your outdoor wood burner, the best thing to 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 once every four years. This is a straightforward flush of five seconds from the drain valve on your boiler. This will eliminate any sediment that has built up in the system, and ensure that your boiler is operating well.
Once you have done the sediment flush, it's time to clean the exterior of your outdoor wood burner. Before you begin, it's important to cover the stove's perimeter with newspaper. It is also advisable to wear protective eyewear and gloves. Also, you should have an ash container, a shovel ash container and an instrument for scraping. You can make use of a cloth as shield to protect the refractory while you scrape away coal and ash deposits.
Easy to Operate
Despite their popularity (they were among the 1990s' "it" trends, as were mullet haircuts) outdoor wood boilers, also known as outdoor furnaces or outdoor wood hydronic heaters are often misunderstood. They are not like the popular EPA wood stoves, which are made to burn low temperatures and run continuously. They are able to produce more burning and produce more smoke. Some local governments restrict or ban their use.
OWBs are best used for heating homes with a high insulation level. The visible, smoldering smoke can also be a source of complaint with neighbors and has resulted in many OWBs being shut-down or being sued in the past. To allow OWBs to function properly, they must be used with dry wood that has low moisture content. Wood that is not seasoned or green can reduce efficiency, cause creosote build-up and decrease the life of the burner. A moisture gauge will allow you to determine how long it takes for wood to dry.
Dual-stage wood gasification (OWGB) boilers are, on the other hand utilize a three-step process that utilizes more of the energy available in the wood. This results in less smoke. These furnaces are more efficient than traditional OWBs and can be used for a wide range of fuels. Wood gasification boilers require dry, seasoned wood. The majority of wood will be seasoned within a year, but oak and other hardy species may take two years or more to fully mature. This is due to lower volume of water and a greater density. small wood burning heater allows them to retain heat for longer, thereby increasing efficiency and decreasing pollution. The EPA "Burn Wise" website and Cornell Cooperative Extension are great sources for homeowners to learn how to burn wood efficiently to minimize pollution to the air.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood furnaces have been designed with the environment in mind. In contrast to indoor wood burners which generate significant smoke modern outdoor furnaces burn cleanly and without the release of excessive heat or carbon monoxide. They also require less wood to produce the same amount of heat as traditional stoves.
Outdoor wood burners require less maintenance and are more forgiving of wood moisture content than indoor wood burning stoves. However, corner wood burner can only be used with properly treated or "cured" wood. It can take a year or more for certain kinds of wood. Use a moisture meter before loading to measure the amount of water in your wood.
During operation it is important to examine the system on a regular basis for creosote accumulation. Creosote is an byproduct of combustion and can accumulate in the flue and chimney in the event that it is not cleaned frequently. It can be eliminated by pouring a creosote-removing product into the fire. Regular cleaning of the flue and chimney will remove dangerous creosote buildup and improve efficiency.
To attain 99% efficiency in combustion, Crown Royal Stoves designed an innovative air flow technology called Negative Pressure Gasification. This technology is used in our EPA certified Pristine Series Outdoor Wood Furnaces to pull air up from the bottom and force all gases through an sealed secondary combustion chamber, that is surrounded by water and easy-to-clean turbines. The result is a smokeless & pollutant-free burn.