What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burners are an affordable way to heat homes and businesses. They also help reduce the dependence on nonrenewable fossils fuels and help to create a more resilient energy strategy.
A well-seasoned wood is vital for efficient burning. Wood that is not seasoned or green may have a higher moisture content which can cause creosote to accumulate and slow down performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners (OWBs) have been around for many years and are an extremely green and efficient method to heat your home. However, the typical design of OWBs, which promotes an unsteady, cooler fire, causes less combustion and a higher amount of smoke, creosote, and particulates. Unburned fuels can lead to health problems, fire hazards and degrade the environment.
Furthermore the visible smoke that OWBs emit can cause neighbors to complain and could lead to DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) enforcement actions. This type of public relations issue could have a serious impact on the value of your property and may 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 to ensure a smokeless, clean combustion. This is accomplished by using an air system that is negative pressure that draws fresh hot, dry clean air in from the bottom of the boiler and pushes it out through the chimney at a much more rapid rate than traditional outdoor wood boilers. This is achieved through a unique design that utilizes a multi-pass, water-filled heat exchanger constructed from 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
When properly used correctly, when properly used, the Pristine Gasification Series OWB can achieve the highest efficiency of combustion, which is 99% for a cleaner, smokeless fire that consumes less wood and produces less carbon dioxide than traditional OWBs. It is important to use dry, clean, and seasoned wood to increase the performance of your OWB. It is recommended that you season your wood for a minimum of six months or one year prior to burning it. This will result in an efficient and clean burn.
You can boost the efficiency of your wood-burning stove by performing a weekly "dry burn". This technique reduces creosote, increases boiler efficiency and prolongs the life of your boiler. Lastly by putting in a creosote-removing stick every time you load your stove, you can dramatically reduce the amount of creosote that you use. The product is available through Wisconsin Wood Furnace.
Clean
A wood-burning stove could be very dirty due to burnt soot particles. These are very hard to shift so if you notice any spots of soot build-up on the glass of your stove, you must clean them as soon as you notice them. Soot that is not removed will begin to harden, making it even more difficult to remove. Using the right cleaning products for the job is essential however, you must also ensure that you're not damaging the glass's surface with anything that might scratch it. This could cause a weak point that will break glass when exposed to extreme temperatures.
Before you begin cleaning your wood burner, it is important to ensure that it's not lit and completely cool. Also, ensure that the area around it is covered with newspaper. This will prevent any ash spillage that can cause stains and marks on surfaces.
Based on the quality of the wood that you use, it can take up to an entire year for your stove to become properly seasoned. Wood that is properly seasoned will not only burn more efficiently and will produce less creosote. This is the material that gets accumulated on your chimney, reducing efficiency and posing the risk of fire. If you are using unseasoned wood, or just beginning a new fire in your outdoor wood burner the best thing you can do is to open up the lower back door and scoop ashes out into a non-combustible container every week.
A sediment flush should be carried out on your boiler every four years. This is a quick five-second flush from the bottom drain valve of your boiler. This will eliminate any sediment that has built up inside the system and ensure that your boiler is in good working condition.
After you have cleaned the exterior of your fireplace that is outside It is now time to clean it. Before you begin, it's crucial to cover the stove's area with newspaper. It is also advisable to wear protective eyewear and gloves. You should also have a metal ash canister along with a scraping tool as well as a shovel. To protect the refractory you must lay a cloth on it to protect it while you scrape away ash and coal deposits.
Easy to Operate
Outdoor wood boilers (also called outdoor furnaces, outdoor wood hydronic heating systems or outdoor wood heaters) are often misunderstood despite their popularity. They were among the "it" trends of the 1990s, alongside hairstyles with mullets. In contrast to their EPA-approved counterparts, popular wood stoves, which are designed to burn at low, constant temperatures, these boilers have more fire and generate more smoke when operating. Certain local governments restrict or ban their use.
OWBs work best for homes with high levels of insulation. The smoldering, dense visible smoke can also be a source of complaints from neighbors, and has led to many OWBs being shut-down or being sued in the past. In order for OWBs to operate properly they should be operated with dry wood that has a low moisture content. Wood that is not seasoned or green can reduce efficiency, cause creosote to accumulate and reduce the life of the burner. Drying wood takes time and the use of a moisture gauge is a must for the homeowner.
Dual-stage wood gasification (OWGB) boilers are, on the other hand utilize a three-step process that makes use of more energy available in the wood. This results in less smoke. These types of furnaces are much more efficient than traditional OWBs and can be used with a wider variety of fuel. Wood gasification boilers require dry and seasoned firewood. wood burning stoves ideas of wood will mature in the course of a year. Oak and other hardy trees may take as long as two years to mature. This is due to less water content and denser mass. This allows them retain heat for longer, thus 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 air pollution.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood stoves have been designed to be environmentally friendly. Modern outdoor wood furnaces do not produce excessive CO2 or heat. They also burn cleaner than indoor wood stoves. They also require less wood to produce the same amount of heat as traditional stoves.
Outdoor wood burners also require significantly less maintenance than indoor wood burners, and are more tolerant in regards to the moisture content of the wood. Outdoor wood burners are only suitable for wood that has been properly "cured" or seasoned. Certain kinds of wood can take up to a year. It is crucial to utilize a moisture gauge to check the water content of your wood prior to loading.
In the course of operation, it is crucial to check the system regularly for creosote accumulation. Creosote is a byproduct of combustion that can build up in the flue and chimney in the event that it is not cleaned frequently. It can be removed with a special creosote removal product that is poured into the fire. Regular cleaning of the chimney and flue will help eliminate dangerous creosote buildup and improve efficiency.
In order to get 99% efficiency from combustion, Crown Royal Stoves designed an innovative air flow technology called Negative Pressure Gasification. Our EPA certified Pristine Series outdoor wood furnaces make use of this technology to draw air from the bottom, forcing all of the gasses through an insulated water surrounded secondary combustion chamber, which is easy-clean turbulators for a smokeless & pollution free burn.