What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burning stoves are a cost-effective method of heating homes and businesses. They also help to reduce dependence on fossil fuels that are non-renewable and help to create a more resilient energy strategy.
To ensure efficient burning it is essential to use seasoned wood. Green or unseasoned wood has a higher moisture content and may cause creosote that can reduce performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners (OWBs) have been around for many years and provide an energy efficient and environmentally friendly way to heat your home. The design of OWBs promotes an older, cooler fire which results in less efficient combustion and more smoke and creosote. Unburned fuels can lead to health problems as well as fire hazards, and can also harm the environment.
Additionally the visible smoke plume that OWBs create can make neighbors complain. This may result in DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) taking enforcement action. This type of public relations issue could cause serious damage to the value of your property and could even result in your OWB being shut down.
Crown Royal Stoves has a line of outdoor wood furnaces that are EPA Certified. The Pristine Gasification Series utilizes technology to increase the efficiency of combustion and provide smokeless, clean burning. This is done through a negative pressure air system that pulls fresh dry heated, filtered, and heated air from the bottom and then pushes it out through the chimney much faster than traditional outdoor wood boilers. This is accomplished by the unique design of an encapsulated, multi-pass heat exchanger constructed from 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
When used properly, modern wood burner can reach a 99% combustion efficiency for a cleaner, smoke-free fire that uses less wood and produces less carbon dioxide than traditional OWBs. To maximize the effectiveness of your OWB it is essential to only burn dry, clean, seasoned wood. It is recommended that you season your wood for six months or one year before burning it. This will result in an efficient and clean burn.
You can increase the efficiency of your wood-burning stove by performing a weekly "dry burn". This method eliminates creosote buildup, keeps your boiler running efficiently and increases its lifespan. By adding a creosote-removing stick to your stove each time you fill it, you can drastically reduce the amount of creosote you use. This product is available from Wisconsin Wood Furnace.
Clean
The soot particles left behind after burning wood can make a stove appear very dirty. These are very hard to move If you notice any spots of buildup on the glass of your stove, you must clean them right away. If the soot isn't removed, it will become hard and make it more difficult. It is essential to choose the right cleaner however, you must be careful not to scratch the glass by using anything that can scratch it. This could result in a weak point that will shatter glass when exposed to high temperatures.
Make sure you let your wood burner cool completely before cleaning it. Also, make sure that the area around it is covered with newspaper. This will prevent any spillage of ash which can cause stains and marks on surfaces.
It could take as long as one year for the seasoning of your stove to be complete, depending on the quality of wood you choose to use. Seasoned wood will not only burn better, but will create less creosote. This is the substance that accumulates on your chimney, reducing effectiveness and creating the risk of fire. If you're using unseasoned wood or are just beginning a fire in your outdoor fireplace, you should open the lower backdoor, and scoop out all the ashes into a nonflammable container each week.
A sediment flush should be performed on your boiler every four years. It is a simple flush that takes five seconds from the drain valve on your boiler. This will get rid of any sediment that has built up within the system and help keep your boiler in top working condition.
After you've completed the sediment flush, it's now time to clean the exterior of your outdoor wood burner. Before you begin, make sure to cover the area around the stove with newspaper. Wearing protective eyewear and gloves is also a good idea. Also, you should have a shovel, a metal container for ash, and an instrument for scraping. You can use a cloth as an insulator to protect the refractory while you remove ash and coal deposits.
Simple to Operate
Outdoor wood boilers (also known as outdoor furnaces or outdoor wood hydronic heating systems or outdoor wood heaters) are often misunderstood, despite their acclaim. They were among the "it" trends of the 1990s, along with hairstyles for mullets. In contrast to their EPA-approved counterparts, popular wood stoves which are designed to burn at constant, low temperatures, these heaters use more fire and emit more smoke when operating. This is the reason why local governments regulate or even ban their use.
OWBs work best in homes with a high level of insulation. Smoke that is dense and smoldering could be a nuisance for neighbors, resulting in many OWBs to be shut down or even sued. For OWBs dry wood with less moisture content is required to function effectively. Unseasoned or green wood can reduce efficiency, cause creosote build-up and decrease the life of the burner. A moisture meter will help you to determine how long it takes for wood to dry.
In contrast dual-stage wood gasification boilers (OWGB) employ a three step process that uses more of the available energy in the wood and results in less smoke. These kinds of furnaces are far more efficient than traditional OWBs and can be used with a wider variety of fuel. Wood gasification boilers require dry, well-seasoned firewood. The majority of wood can be seasoned over the course of one year. Oak and other tough trees can take up to two years to mature. They are less watery and have a larger mass. This lets them store heat longer, increasing efficiency and reduce pollution. The EPA's "Burn Wise" website and Cornell Cooperative Extension can help homeowners learn more about how to burn wood efficiently in order to reduce air pollution.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood furnaces are constructed with the environment in mind. Modern outdoor wood furnaces do not generate excessive heat or CO2. They also burn more efficiently than indoor wood stoves. They also use less wood to produce the same amount heat as traditional stoves.
Outdoor wood burners require less maintenance and are more forgiving of the moisture content of wood than indoor wood burning stoves. Outdoor wood burners are only suitable for wood that has been properly "cured" or seasoned. Certain types of wood may take up to a full year. Use a moisture gauge prior to loading to measure the amount of water present in your wood.
During operation, it is necessary to check the system regularly for creosote build up. Creosote is a byproduct from combustion and can accumulate in the flue and chimney when it is not cleaned regularly. It can be removed with the use of a special creosote remover that is poured into the fire. Regular cleaning of the chimney and flue will eliminate dangerous creosote accumulations, and increase 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 utilize this technology to pull air from the bottom, pushing all gasses through an insulated, water-surrounded secondary combustion chamber, which is easy-clean turbulators for a smokeless & pollution free burn.