What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burners are a cost-effective method of heating homes and businesses. They also help to reduce dependence on fossil fuels that are non-renewable and aid in a sustainable energy strategy.
A well-seasoned wood is vital for efficient burning. Unseasoned or green wood has a higher moisture content and may cause creosote that can reduce performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners (OWBs) have been around for a long time and are an extremely energy efficient and environmentally friendly way to heat your home. The typical design of OWBs favors the slowing of the fire, making it cooler which results in less efficient combustion and a higher amount of smoke and creosote. Unburned fuels can cause health problems, fire hazards and degrade the environment.
Additionally, the visible smoke plume that OWBs generate could cause neighbors to voice their concerns. This could result in DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) taking enforcement action. This kind of public relations issue could have a serious impact on the value of your property and could even lead to your OWB being shut down.
Read Home has a line of outdoor wood furnaces that are EPA Certified. The Pristine Gasification Series makes use of technology to increase the efficiency of combustion and produce smokeless, clean burning. This is accomplished through a negative pressure air system that pulls fresh dry heated, filtered air from the bottom and then pushes it up the chimney at a much faster 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.
When used properly correctly, when properly used, the Pristine Gasification Series OWB can reach an efficiency of 99% to create a cleaner, smokeless fire that requires less wood and produces less carbon dioxide than traditional OWBs. To maximize your OWB's performance, it is important to burn dry, clean, seasoned wood. Seasoning your wood for 6 months or a year prior to burning is recommended and will ensure a more efficient and more efficient burn.
You can improve the efficiency of your wood-burning stove by executing every week a "dry burn". This method reduces creosote which increases the efficiency of boilers and extends the life of your boiler. Lastly, by adding a creosote remover stick every time you fill your stove, you can significantly reduce the amount creosote used. This product is available from Wisconsin Wood Furnace.
Clean
A wood-burning stove can be very dirty due to burnt soot particles. They are difficult to remove and therefore, you must remove any buildup from your stove's glass immediately. Soot that is not removed will begin to harden, making it even more difficult. Using the right cleaners for the job is essential, but also be sure you're not damaging the surface of the glass with anything that might scratch it. This could leave a weak spot that could shatter the glass when it's exposed to extreme temperatures.
Before you begin cleaning your wood stove, you should make sure that it's not lit and completely cool. Make sure to protect the area around it with newspaper. This will prevent the ash from spilling and staining surfaces.
Depending on the quality of the wood you use, it can take up to an entire year for your stove to be properly well-seasoned. The wood that is properly seasoned will not only burn more efficiently, but will also produce less creosote. This is the substance that builds up on your chimney, reducing efficiency and posing an hazard for fire. If you're using unseasoned wood or just starting a new fire in your outdoor wood burner the best thing you can do is to open up the lower back door and scoop the ashes into a non-combustible bin every week.
A sediment flush should be carried out on your boiler every four years. This is a simple five second flush from the drain valve of your boiler. This will eliminate any sediments that have built up in the system and will ensure that your boiler runs efficiently.
Once you've completed the sediment flush, it's now time to clean the exterior of your outdoor wood burner. Before you begin, it's essential to cover the floor area surrounding the stove with newspaper. Wearing protective gloves and eyewear is an excellent idea. You should also have a shovel, a metal ash container and a scraping tool. You can use a cloth for a shield to shield the refractory from damage while you remove ash and coal deposits.
Easy to Operate
Outdoor wood boilers (also known as outdoor furnaces and 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, as were hairstyles with mullets. Unlike their cousin the EPA's popular wood stoves that are designed to burn at constant, low temperatures, these heaters use a higher fire rate and produce more smoke when operating. Some local governments limit or ban their use.
OWBs are best suited to homes with high levels of insulation. Smoke that is thick and smoldering can also be a nuisance to neighbors, which has led many OWBs to be shut down or sued. In order for OWBs to function properly, they must be operated using dry wood that has low moisture content. Unseasoned or green wood will reduce efficiency, causing creosote to accumulate, and shorten the lifespan of the burner. A moisture gauge will allow you to determine how long it takes for wood to dry.
Dual-stage wood gasification (OWGB) boilers, on the other hand they employ a three-step procedure that utilizes more of the energy contained in the wood. This means less smoke. These kinds of furnaces are far more efficient than traditional OWBs and can be used with a greater variety of fuel. Wood gasification boilers require dry well-seasoned and seasoned firewood. Most wood can be seasoned within a year, but oak and other species with a hardy structure can take two years or more to fully season. They are less watery and have a greater density. This enables them to hold heat longer, increasing efficiency and reducing pollution. The EPA's "Burn Wise" website and Cornell Cooperative Extension can help homeowners learn more about how to burn wood efficiently, thereby reducing air pollution.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood stoves are designed to be environmentally friendly. Modern outdoor wood furnaces don't emit excessive heat or CO2. 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 forgiving in regards to the moisture content of the wood. However outdoor wood burners should only be used with properly seasoned or "cured" wood. This could take a whole year or more for some kinds of wood. It is important to utilize a moisture gauge to determine the amount of water of your wood prior to loading.
During operation, it is important to periodically inspect the system for the accumulation of creosote. Creosote, a by-product of combustion, can accumulate in the flue and chimney when they are not cleaned regularly. It can be removed using the use of a special creosote remover that is poured into the fire. Regular cleaning of the flue and chimney can remove harmful creosote and improve efficiency.
To attain 99% efficiency in combustion, Crown Royal Stoves designed a new air flow technology known as Negative Pressure Gasification. This technology is used in our EPA certified Pristine Series Outdoor Wood Furnaces to draw air upwards from the bottom and force all the gases through an enclosed secondary combustion chamber that is that is surrounded by water and easy-to-clean Turbulators. The result is a smokeless & pollutant free burn.