What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burners are an affordable method of heating homes and businesses. They also help to reduce dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels and help to create a more resilient energy strategy.
Wood that is well-seasoned is crucial for efficient burning. Green or unseasoned wood may have a higher moisture content that can cause creosote to accumulate and slow down performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners (OWBs) have been around for many years and are an extremely green and efficient method to heat your home. The typical design of OWBs encourages an older, cooler fire which results in less efficient combustion and more smoke and creosote. Unburned fuels can cause health issues as well as fire hazards, and can also harm the environment.
Moreover, the visible smoke produced by OWBs can cause neighbors to complain and result in DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) enforcement actions. This type of public relations issue could cause serious damage to the value of your property and could result in your OWB being shut down.
Crown Royal Stoves offers a line of EPA Certified outdoor wood furnaces known as the Pristine Gasification Series that utilizes technology to maximize combustion efficiency to ensure a smokeless, clean combustion. This is achieved with a negative-pressure air system that pulls fresh, dry heated, filtered, and heated air from the bottom and then pushes it up the chimney faster than traditional outdoor wood boilers. This is achieved through an innovative design that makes use of an encapsulated, multi-pass heat exchanger made of 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
When properly used when properly used, when properly used, the Pristine Gasification Series OWB can reach the highest efficiency of combustion, which is 99% for a cleaner, smokeless fire that uses less wood and produces significantly less emissions than traditional OWBs. To maximize your OWB's performance it is crucial to burn only dry, clean, and seasoned wood. It is recommended to season your wood for a period of six months or a year prior to burning it. This will result in a more efficient and cleaner burn.
You can increase the efficiency of your wood-burning stove by executing each week a "dry burn". This technique reduces creosote which improves boiler efficiency and extends the lifespan of your boiler. By adding a stick for removing creosote to your stove every time you fill it, you can drastically reduce the amount of creosote you use. The product is available through Wisconsin Wood Furnace.
Clean
A wood burning stove can be very dirty due to burnt soot particles. They are difficult to clean 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 get harder and become more difficult to get off. Using the correct cleaners for the job is essential however, you must also ensure that you're not damaging the surface of the glass with anything that might scratch it. This could result in an area of weakness that could shatter the glass when it's exposed to high temperatures.
Be sure to let your wood burner cool completely before cleaning it. Also, make sure that the area around it is covered with newspaper. This will stop any ash spillage that can cause stains and marks on surfaces.
It could take as long as one year for the seasoning of your stove to be completed, based on the quality of the wood you select. The wood that has been seasoned will not only burn more efficiently, but will also 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 beginning a new fire in your outdoor wood burner the best thing to do is to open the lower back door and scoop out the ashes into a non-combustible container each week.
A sediment flush is recommended on your boiler every four years. This is a quick five-second flush from the bottom drain valve of your boiler. This will remove any sediments that have built in the system and ensure that your boiler is operating efficiently.
After you have cleaned the exterior of your fireplace that is outside, it is time to clean it. Before you begin, make sure to cover the stove's perimeter with newspaper. It is also helpful to wear gloves and protective eyewear. You should also have a metal ash container along with a scraping tool as well as shovel. You can use a cloth for shield to protect the refractory 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 known as outdoor furnaces or outdoor wood hydronic heaters are often misunderstood. These units are not like the popular EPA wood stoves, which are built to burn low temperatures continuously. They are able to produce a higher rate of fire and generate more smoke. Certain local governments restrict or prohibit their use.
OWBs are best suited to homes with a high level of insulation. The smoldering, dense visible smoke is also a source of complaints from neighbors, and has led to many OWBs being shut-down or being sued in the past. In order for OWBs to operate properly they should be operated with dry wood that has a low moisture content. Unseasoned or green wood can decrease efficiency, cause creosote to build up and decrease the life of the burner. Drying wood can take time and a moisture meter is a must for the homeowner.
Dual-stage wood gasification (OWGB) boilers are, on the other hand they employ a three-step procedure that utilizes more of the energy available in the wood. This results in less smoke. These kinds of furnaces are more efficient than traditional OWBs and can be used with a wider variety of fuel. Wood gasification boilers require dry and seasoned firewood. The majority of wood will season in a year. Oak and other tough trees can take as long as two years to mature. They are less water-based and have a greater density. This allows them to retain 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 have been designed to be eco-friendly. modern wood burner to indoor wood stoves that emit significant smoke modern outdoor furnaces burn cleanly without the release of excessive carbon monoxide or heat. They also use less wood to generate the same amount of heat as traditional stoves.
Outdoor wood burners also require less maintenance than indoor wood burners, and are more tolerant when it comes to the moisture content of the wood. However outdoor wood burners should only be used with properly prepared or "cured" wood. This can take a year or more for certain kinds of wood. It is crucial to use a moisture meter to measure the amount of water of your wood prior to loading.
During operation, it is essential to regularly check the system for the accumulation of creosote. Creosote is an byproduct of combustion and can accumulate in the flue and chimney when it is not cleaned on a regular basis. It can be removed using a creosote removal solution that is poured into the fire. Regular cleaning of the flue and chimney will remove dangerous creosote and improve efficiency.
Crown Royal Stoves developed a new airflow technology known as 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 gases through an enclosed secondary combustion chamber that is which is surrounded by water, with easy-to-clean Turbulators. The result is a smokeless and pollution-free combustion.