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 help reduce the dependence on fossil fuels that are not renewable and help to create a more resilient energy strategy.
Well-seasoned wood is essential for efficient burning. Unseasoned or green wood can contain more moisture, which can cause creosote to build up and reduce performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners have been in use for many years. They are a cost-effective and eco-friendly method to heat your home. The typical design of OWBs encourages a slower, cooler fire which results in less efficient combustion, and more smoke and creosote. These unburned fuels could cause health problems and fire hazards, as well as deteriorate the surrounding environment.
Additionally, wood burning stoves for sale that OWBs produce can cause neighbors to complain and could lead to DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) enforcement action. This kind of public relations issue could be a significant impact on 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 called the Pristine Gasification Series that utilizes technology to maximize combustion efficiency for a clean, smoke-free burn. This is achieved through a negative pressure air system that draws fresh hot, dry clean air in from the bottom of the boiler, and pushes it back out through the chimney at a much higher rate than conventional outdoor wood boilers. This is accomplished by the unique design of an encapsulated, multi-pass heat exchanger constructed from 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
If properly used when properly used, the Pristine Series OWB achieves an efficiency of 99% for a cleaner and smokeless fire. It uses less wood, and produces significantly fewer emission than traditional OWBs. To further maximize the effectiveness of your OWB it is essential to burn only dry, clean, seasoned wood. Seasoning your wood for six months or more prior to burning is recommended. This helps ensure a smoother energy efficient and efficient burn.
In addition to maximizing the performance of your wood stove and enhancing the efficiency of your wood burner by performing an "dry burn" every week. This technique reduces creosote, increases boiler efficiency and extends the lifespan of your boiler. Additionally by adding a creosote removal stick each time you load your stove, you can drastically cut the amount of creosote used. This product is available from Wisconsin Wood Furnace.
Clean
A wood-burning stove can become very dirty from burnt soot particles. These are very hard to remove so if you notice any areas of build up on the glass of your stove, clean them immediately. If not, the soot will begin to harden and be even more difficult to remove. Using the right cleaners for the job is crucial and you should also make sure you're not damaging the surface of the glass by using anything that could scratch it. This could cause a weak point that will shatter glass when exposed to extreme temperatures.
Before you begin cleaning your wood stove, you must ensure that it is not lit and completely cool. Also, be sure that the area around it is covered with newspaper. This will stop any spillage of ash that can cause stains and marks on surfaces.
Based on the quality of the wood that you use, it can take up to one year for your stove to become properly seasoned. The wood that has been seasoned will not only burn more efficiently, but also produce less creosote. This is the material which is able to build up on your fireplace, decreasing its effectiveness and creating the potential for a fire hazard. If you are using unseasoned wood or just making a fresh fire in your outdoor wood burner the best thing you can do is to open the lower back door and scoop out the ashes into a non-combustible container each week.
You should also perform an annual sediment flush on your boiler at a minimum every four years. This is a simple five second flush from the bottom drain valve on your boiler. This will remove any debris that has accumulated within the system and help ensure that your boiler is in good working condition.
Once you've completed the sediment flush, it's time to clean the exterior of your outdoor wood burner. Before you begin, make sure to cover the stove's area with newspaper. Wearing gloves and eye protection is also a good idea. Also, you should have a metal ash container along with a scraping tool as well as a shovel. To protect the refractory you should lay down a cloth to protect it while you scrape away ash and coal deposits.
Easy to Operate
Despite their popularity (they were one of the 1990s' "it" trends, as were mullet haircuts) outdoor wood boilers, referred to as outdoor furnaces or outdoor wood hydronic heaters, are still often misunderstood. Unlike their cousin the EPA's popular wood stoves that are designed to burn at constant, low temperatures, these units use more fire and emit more smoke when they operate. Some local governments limit or prohibit their use.
OWBs are best used for heating homes with high insulation levels. The smoldering, visible smoke can also be a source of complaint with neighbors, and has led to many OWBs being shut down or sued in the past. To ensure that OWBs to function properly, they must be used with dry wood that has low moisture content. Using green or unseasoned wood reduces efficiency, leads to creosote to build up and may shorten the life of the burner. Drying wood takes time, and an instrument to measure moisture is a must for any homeowner.
In contrast dual-stage wood gasification boilers (OWGB) make use of three steps of process that makes use of more available energy in the wood, resulting in less smoke. These types of furnaces are far more efficient than conventional OWBs and can be used with a wider range of fuel. Wood gasification boilers need dry well-seasoned wood. Most wood will season within a year, but oak and other species that are hardy can take two years or more to fully season. They are less water-based and have a denser mass. This lets them store heat longer, increasing efficiency and reducing pollution. The EPA "Burn Wise" website and Cornell Cooperative Extension are great sources for homeowners to understand how to efficiently burn wood to minimize air pollution.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood stoves have been designed to be environmentally friendly. Modern outdoor wood furnaces do not produce excessive heat or CO2. They also burn cleaner than indoor wood stoves. They also require less wood to generate the same amount heat as traditional stoves.
Outdoor wood burners also require less maintenance than indoor wood burners and are more accommodating when it comes to the moisture content of the wood. Outdoor wood burners are suitable for wood that has been properly "cured" or dried or. Certain kinds of wood can take up to a full year. It is crucial to use a moisture meter to determine the amount of water of your wood prior to loading.
When the system is in operation, it is necessary to regularly check the system for the build-up of creosote. Creosote, a by-product of combustion, can accumulate in the flue and chimney if they aren't cleaned regularly. It can be eliminated using the use of a special creosote remover that is poured into the flame. Regular cleaning of the chimney and flue will eliminate dangerous creosote and improve efficiency.
Crown Royal Stoves developed a new airflow technology known as Negative Pressure Gasification to attain 99% efficiency in combustion. 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.