10 Key Factors About Outside Wood Burners You Didn't Learn In The Classroom
What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burners are a cost-effective way to heat homes and businesses. They also help reduce dependence on fossil fuels that are not renewable and help to create a more resilient energy strategy.
Wood that is well-seasoned is crucial for efficient burning. Unseasoned or green wood can contain more moisture that can cause creosote to accumulate and decrease performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners have been in use for a long time. They are a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to heat your home. The typical design of OWBs favors a slower, cooler fire which results in less efficient combustion and a higher amount of smoke and creosote. These unburned fuels can cause health problems and fire hazards. They also degrade the environment.
Moreover, the visible plume of smoke produced by OWBs could cause neighbors to voice their concerns and could lead to DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) enforcement action. This type of public relations issue can be a significant impact on the value of your property and could even lead to your OWB being shut down.
Crown Royal Stoves has a line of outdoor wood furnaces that are EPA Certified. The Pristine Gasification Series uses technology to increase the efficiency of combustion and create smokeless, clean burning. This is achieved by using the negative pressure air system that pulls fresh hot, dry and filtered air from the bottom of the boiler, and pushes it out through the chimney at a greater rate than traditional outdoor wood boilers. This is achieved by an innovative design that utilizes a multi-pass water filled heat exchanger made of 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
Properly used when properly used, When properly used, the Pristine Series OWB can achieve an efficiency of 99% for a cleaner and smokeless fire. It consumes less wood and produces significantly less emissions than traditional OWBs. It is important to burn dry, clean and seasoned wood in order to maximize the performance of your OWB. It is recommended that you prepare your wood for a period of six months or a year prior to burning it. This will result in an efficient and clean burn.
You can increase the efficiency of your wood-burning stove through a weekly "dry burn". This technique reduces creosote which increases the efficiency of boilers and extends the life of your boiler. In addition by adding a creosote-removing stick each time you fill your stove, you will be able to significantly reduce the amount creosote used. This product is available at Wisconsin Wood Furnace.
Clean
The soot particles left on the stove after burning wood may make a wood stove look very dirty. These are very hard to move If you notice any areas of build up on the glass of your stove, you must clean them as soon as you notice them. Any soot that is not eliminated will become hard and make it more difficult to remove. It's important to select the right cleaners, but you should also avoid damaging the glass surface with anything that may scratch it. This could leave a weak spot that will break the glass if it's exposed to high temperatures.
Be sure to let your wood stove cool completely before cleaning it. Also, ensure that the area around it is covered with newspaper. This will prevent the ash from spilling and staining surfaces.
It can take up to one year for the seasoning process of your stove to be complete, based on the quality of wood you use. Wood that is properly seasoned will not only burn more efficiently, but will create less creosote. This is the kind of material that builds up on your fireplace, reducing its efficiency and creating an opportunity for fire hazards. If you are using unseasoned wood or are just beginning a new fire in your outdoor wood burner the best thing to do is open the back door to the lower part and scoop the ashes into a non-combustible bin every week.
A sediment flush is recommended on your boiler every four years. This is a simple flush of five seconds from the drain valve on your boiler. This will get rid of any accumulation of sediment inside the system and ensure that your boiler is in good operating condition.
Once you've completed the sediment flush, it's now time to clean the outside of your outdoor wood burner. Before you begin, it's important to cover the stove's perimeter with newspaper. Wearing gloves and eye protection is an excellent idea. Also, you should have an ash container, a shovel container for ash, and scraping tools. To safeguard the refractory, you need to lay a cloth on it to protect it while you scrape away coal and ash deposits.
Simple 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 frequently misunderstood. 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 emit more smoke when they operate. This is the reason why local governments regulate or even ban their use.
OWBs are best suited to homes that have high levels of insulation. The smoldering, visible smoke is also a cause of complaints from neighbors and has resulted in many OWBs being shut-down or being sued in the past. To allow OWBs to operate properly they must be used with dry wood that has low moisture content. Wood that is not seasoned or green will reduce efficiency, causing creosote to build up and decrease the life of the burner. Drying wood takes time, and an instrument to measure moisture is a must for the homeowner.
In contrast, dual-stage wood gasification boilers (OWGB) employ a three step process that uses more of the available energy from the wood and results in a lesser amount of smoke. wood heater stove of furnaces are far more efficient than traditional OWBs and can be used with a larger range of fuel. Wood gasification boilers require dry and seasoned wood. The majority of wood can be seasoned over the course of the course of a year. Oak and other tough trees could take as long as two years to mature. They are less watery and have a greater density. This lets them store heat for longer, thus increasing efficiency and decreasing pollution. The EPA's "Burn Wise" website and Cornell Cooperative Extension can help homeowners learn more about burning wood efficiently in order to reduce pollution to the air.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood furnaces are constructed with the environment in mind. Contrary to indoor wood stoves that emit significant smoke modern outdoor furnaces burn cleanly and without the release of excessive carbon monoxide or heat. They also require 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 can only be used with properly seasoned or "cured" wood. Certain types of wood may take up to a year. Use a moisture meter before loading to check the amount of water present in the wood.
When operating, it is essential to examine the system on a regular basis to check for accumulation of creosote. Creosote is a byproduct of combustion and can accumulate in the flue and chimney in the event that it is not cleaned regularly. It can be removed with the use of a special creosote remover that is poured into the flame. Regular cleaning of the flue and chimney will remove dangerous creosote, and boost efficiency.
In order to attain 99% efficiency in combustion, Crown Royal Stoves designed a new air flow technology known as 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 with easy-clean turbulators for a smokeless & pollutant-free burn.