What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burners are a cost-effective solution for heating homes and businesses. They also reduce the dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels and contribute to a resilient energy strategy.
To ensure efficient burning for efficient burning, it is crucial to use well-seasoned wood. Wood that is not seasoned or green may contain more moisture that can cause creosote to accumulate and reduce performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners (OWBs) have been around for many years and are an extremely eco-friendly and energy efficient method to heat your home. The design of OWBs promotes the slowing of the fire, making it cooler 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.
Additionally, the visible smoke plume OWBs produce can cause neighbors to complain. This could result in DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation), taking enforcement action. This kind of public relations issue could cause serious damage to the value of your property and may even lead to your OWB being shut down.
Crown Royal Stoves offers a range of EPA Certified outdoor wood furnaces known as the Pristine Gasification Series that utilizes technology to maximize combustion efficiency for a clean, smokeless combustion. This is achieved by using an air system that is negative pressure that draws fresh, dry, hot, filtered air in from the bottom of the boiler, and pushes it out of the chimney at a more rapid rate than traditional outdoor wood boilers. This is accomplished through an innovative design that utilizes an incredibly efficient multi-pass water-filled heat exchanger constructed of 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
Properly utilized, When properly used, the Pristine Series OWB has an 99% efficiency in combustion for a smoke-free and cleaner fire. It uses less wood and produces significantly less emissions than traditional OWBs. It is important to burn clean, seasoned and dry wood to increase the performance of your OWB. It is recommended to prepare your wood for a minimum of six months or one year before burning it. This will ensure a more efficient and cleaner burn.
In addition to increasing the performance of your wood burner, you can also improve the efficiency of your wood burner by performing the "dry burn" every week. This technique reduces creosote which improves boiler efficiency and extends the lifespan of your boiler. By adding a creosote-removing stick to your stove each time you fill it, you can drastically reduce the amount of creosote you need to use. This product is available from Wisconsin Wood Furnace.
Clean
The soot particles that are left on the stove after burning wood may make a stove look very dirty. They are difficult to remove and therefore, you must clean any buildup on your stove's glass immediately. Any soot that is not eliminated will become hard and make it more difficult to remove. Using the correct cleaners for the job is essential, but also be sure you're not damaging the surface of the glass by using anything that could scratch it. This could leave a weak spot that will break the glass if it's exposed to high temperatures.
Before you begin cleaning your wood burner, you must ensure that it is unlit and completely cool. Make sure you cover the area surrounding it with newspaper. This will prevent the ash from spilling and staining surfaces.
Based on the quality of the wood that you use, it can take up to a year for your stove to get properly seasoned. The wood that is seasoned will not only burn more efficiently, but will create less creosote. This is the material that builds up on your chimney, which reduces efficiency and creating the risk of fire. If you're using wood that's not seasoned, or just starting a fire in your outdoor fireplace, it's best to open the lower backdoor and scoop out ashes into a noncombustible container every week.
You should also perform a sediment flush on your boiler at least every four years. This is a simple five second flush from the drain valve on your boiler. This will get rid of any debris that has accumulated inside the system, and will keep your boiler in top working condition.
After you have cleaned the outside of your fireplace outside it is time to clean it. Before you begin, it's essential to cover the floor area surrounding the stove with newspaper. Wearing gloves and eye protection is an excellent idea. Also, you should have a metal ash container, a scraping tool and a shovel. To safeguard the refractory, you should lay down a cloth to protect it from damage as you scrape away coal and ash deposits.
Easy to Operate
Despite their popularity (they were one of the 1990s' "it" trends, as were mullet haircuts) outdoor wood boilers, also referred to as outdoor furnaces or outdoor wood hydronic heaters, are still often misunderstood. They are different from the popular EPA wood stoves, which are built to burn low temperatures continuously. They are able to produce an increased rate of fire and produce more smoke. Some local governments restrict or ban their use.
OWBs work best in homes with high levels of insulation. Smoke that is dense and smoldering may cause annoyance to neighbors, which has led many OWBs to be shut down or even sued. To allow OWBs to operate properly they should be operated with dry wood that has low moisture content. Wood that is not seasoned or green will reduce efficiency, causing creosote to accumulate and reduce the life of the burner. Drying wood takes time and a moisture meter is essential for every homeowner.
In contrast, dual-stage wood gasification boilers (OWGB) employ a three step process that makes use of more available energy from the wood and results in much less smoke. These furnaces are more efficient than conventional OWBs, and can be used for various fuels. Wood gasification boilers require dry, well-seasoned firewood. Most wood will season within a year, but oak and other species with a hardy structure can require two years or more to fully season. This is because they have lower volume of water and a greater density. This lets them store heat longer, thus increasing efficiency and reduce pollution. The EPA "Burn Wise" website and Cornell Cooperative Extension are great sources for homeowners to understand how to efficiently burn wood to minimize pollution to the air.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood furnaces are designed with the environment in mind. Contrary to indoor wood stoves that generate significant smoke modern outdoor furnaces burn efficiently and without the release of excessive heat or carbon monoxide. They also require less wood to produce the same amount heat as traditional stoves.
Outdoor wood burners require significantly less maintenance than indoor wood burners, and are more tolerant in regards to the moisture content of the wood. However corner wood burner can only be used with properly seasoned or "cured" wood. This could take a whole year or more for some types of wood. It is important 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, a by-product of combustion, can accumulate in the chimney and flue if they are not cleaned regularly. It can be removed by pouring a creosote removing product into the fire. Regularly cleaning the flue and chimney will eliminate dangerous creosote accumulations, and increase efficiency.
Crown Royal Stoves developed a new airflow technology known as Negative Pressure Gasification to ensure 99% efficiency in combustion. Our EPA certified Pristine Series outdoor wood furnaces make use of this technology to draw air from the bottom, forcing all the gasses into an insulated water surrounded secondary combustion chamber, which is easy-clean turbines for a smokeless and pollutant-free burn.