How To Get More Value Out Of Your Outside Wood Burners
What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burners are a cost-effective method of heating homes and businesses. They also reduce dependence on fossil fuels that are non-renewable and help to create a more resilient energy strategy.
Well-seasoned wood is essential for efficient burning. Wood that is not seasoned or green 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 green method of heating your home. However, the typical design of OWBs, which encourages a slow, cooler fire, causes less combustion and a higher amount of smoke, creosote and particulates. These unburned fuels could lead to health problems, fire hazards and degrade the environment.
Furthermore, the visible smoke plume that OWBs create can cause neighbors to complain. This could lead to 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 may even 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 increase the efficiency of combustion for a clean, smoke-free combustion. This is accomplished with a negative-pressure air system that pulls fresh dry heated, filtered air from the bottom and pushes it out through the chimney at a much faster rate than traditional outdoor wood boilers. This is achieved by an exclusive design that uses a multi-pass water-filled heat exchanger made of 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
If properly used, the Pristine Gasification Series OWB 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 important to burn clean, seasoned, dry wood. It is recommended that you get your wood seasoned for a minimum of six months or one year before burning it. This will result in a more efficient and cleaner burn.
In addition to improving the performance of your wood stove and enhancing the efficiency of your wood burner by performing a "dry burn" every week. This method lowers the amount of creosote in your home which improves boiler efficiency and extends the lifespan of your boiler. In addition by putting in a creosote-removing stick each when you load your stove, you can significantly reduce the amount creosote that you use. This product is available at Wisconsin Wood Furnace.
Clean
A wood-burning stove can become very dirty from burnt soot particles. They are difficult to remove so make sure you clean any buildup on the glass of your stove as soon as you notice it. Otherwise the soot will become harder and more difficult to get off. Using the right cleaners for the job is essential however, you must also ensure that you're not damaging the glass's surface with anything that could scratch it. This could lead to an area of weakness that could shatter glass when exposed to high temperatures.
Be sure to let your wood burner cool completely before cleaning it. Be sure to surround it with newspaper. Fireplaces & Stoves will prevent the ash from spilling and staining surfaces.
Depending on the quality of the wood that you choose to use, it could take up to one year for your stove to become properly well-seasoned. The wood that has been treated with a seasoned finish will not only burn more efficiently, but will also produce less creosote. This is the substance that builds up on your fireplace, decreasing its efficiency and creating a potential fire hazard. If you're using wood that's not seasoned or you're just starting a fire in your outdoor fireplace, you should open the lower backdoor, and scoop out ashes into a noncombustible container each week.
It is also recommended to perform an annual sediment flush on your boiler at least every four years. It is a simple flush lasting five seconds from the bottom drain valve on your boiler. This will get rid of any sediments that have accumulated up in the system and will ensure that your boiler runs efficiently.
After you have cleaned the outside of your fireplace outside, it is time to clean it. Before you begin, it's important to cover the stove's area with newspaper. Wearing protective gloves and eyewear is an excellent idea. You should also have a metal ash container, a scraping tool and a shovel. You can use a cloth as an insulator to shield the refractory from damage while you scrape away coal and ash deposits.
Simple to Operate
Outdoor wood boilers (also known as outdoor furnaces, outdoor wood hydronic heating systems, or outdoor wood heaters) are often misunderstood despite their acclaim. They were one of the "it" trends of the 1990s, alongside mullet hairstyles. These units are not like the popular EPA wood stoves, which are built to burn at low temperatures and continuously. They have a higher rate of fire and generate more smoke. This is the reason why local governments regulate or ban their use.
OWBs are best used to heat homes with a high insulation level. Smoke that is thick and smoldering may cause annoyance to neighbors, which has led many OWBs to be shut down or even sued. To ensure that OWBs to operate properly they must be operated using dry wood with low moisture content. The use of unseasoned or green wood decreases efficiency, causes creosote to build up and may shorten the life of the burner. A moisture meter can help you determine how long it takes for wood to dry.
Dual-stage wood gasification (OWGB) boilers however utilize a three-step process which makes use of the energy available in the wood. This means less smoke. These furnaces are more efficient than conventional OWBs and can be used to fuel various fuels. Wood gasification boilers require dry, seasoned firewood. The majority of wood will be seasoned within a year, however oak and other species that are hardy can take two or more years to fully mature. They are less watery and have a denser mass. This lets them store heat for longer, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing 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 are constructed with the environment in mind. Modern outdoor wood furnaces do not emit excessive CO2 or heat. They also burn cleaner than indoor wood stoves. They also require less wood to generate the same amount of heat as traditional stoves.
Outdoor wood burners also require significantly less maintenance than indoor wood burners and are more accommodating when it comes to the moisture content of the wood. Outdoor wood burners are only suitable for wood that has been properly "cured" or seasoned. It can take a year or more for certain kinds of wood. It is essential to use a moisture meter to measure the amount of water of your wood before loading.
During operation it is important to check the system regularly for the accumulation of creosote. Creosote is a byproduct of combustion and can accumulate in the flue and chimney when it is not cleaned frequently. It can be eliminated using a special creosote removal product that is poured into the flame. Regularly cleaning the flue and chimney will eliminate dangerous creosote accumulations and improve efficiency.
Crown Royal Stoves developed a new airflow technology known as Negative Pressure Gasification to achieve 99% combustion efficiency. This technology is used in our EPA certified Pristine Series Outdoor Wood Furnaces to draw air from the bottom and push all gases through an enclosed secondary combustion chamber that is surrounded by water with easy-to-clean turbulators. The result is a smokeless, pollution-free combustion.