What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burners are an affordable way to heat homes and businesses. They also reduce the need for fossil fuels that are non-renewable and help to create a more resilient energy strategy.
To ensure efficient burning for efficient burning, it is crucial to use well-seasoned wood. Unseasoned or green wood has a higher moisture content and can create creosote accumulation, which can affect performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners have been in use for many years. They are a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way of heating your home. However, the design of OWBs, which promotes a slow, cooler fire that causes less combustion and a higher amount of smoke, creosote, as well as particulates. Unburned fuels can lead to health problems and fire hazards, as well as affect the environment around them.
Additionally, the visible plume of smoke produced by OWBs can make neighbors angry and could lead to DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) enforcement action. This type of public relations issue can be a significant impact on the value of your property, and could result in your OWB being shut down.
Crown Royal Stoves offers a range of EPA Certified outdoor wood furnaces that are referred to as the Pristine Gasification Series that utilizes technology to maximize combustion efficiency for a clean, smoke-free burn. This is accomplished with a negative-pressure air system that draws in 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 accomplished by the unique design of a multi-pass, water filled heat exchanger made of 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
If properly used, the Pristine Series OWB has an 99% efficiency in combustion for a cleaner and smokeless fire. It uses less wood, and produces a lot less emission than traditional OWBs. To enhance the performance of your OWB it is essential to only burn dry, clean, and seasoned wood. It is recommended that you get your wood seasoned for a period of six months or a year before burning it. This will result in a more efficient and cleaner burn.
In addition to increasing the efficiency of your wood burner it is also possible to increase its efficiency by performing an "dry burn" every week. This technique eliminates creosote buildup, keeps your boiler efficient and extends its life span. By affixing 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 behind after burning wood can make a wood stove look very dirty. They are extremely difficult to remove so if you notice any areas of build up on the glass of your stove, wash them as soon as you notice them. Soot that is not removed will harden, making it even more difficult to remove. Using the right cleaners for the job is vital, but also be sure you're not damaging the glass's surface by using anything that could scratch it. This could result in an area of weakness that could shatter 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 stop the ash from spilling and staining surfaces.
Based on the quality of the wood that you select, it can take up to an entire year for your stove to be properly well-seasoned. Seasoned wood will not only burn more efficiently and will produce less creosote. This is the kind of material that builds up on your chimney, decreasing its effectiveness and creating an hazard for fire. If you're using unseasoned wood, or just making a fresh fire in your outdoor wood burner the best thing you can do is open the back door to the lower part and scoop ashes out into a non-combustible bin every week.
You should also do an annual sediment flush on your boiler at least once every four years. This is a simple five second flush from the bottom drain valve of your boiler. This will eliminate any debris that has accumulated inside the system, and will keep your boiler in great functioning condition.
After you've completed the sediment flush, it's time to clean the outside of your outdoor wood burner. Before starting, it's crucial to cover the floor area surrounding the stove with newspaper. It is also helpful to wear gloves and protective eyewear. Also, wood burning stoves ideas should have a metal ash canister as well as a scraping tool and a shovel. To safeguard the refractory, you must lay down a piece of cloth to protect it while you scrape away coal and ash deposits.
Easy to Operate
Outdoor wood boilers (also called outdoor furnaces or outdoor wood hydronic heating systems or outdoor wood heaters) are often misunderstood in spite of their acclaim. They were one of the "it" trends of the 1990s, alongside mullet hairstyles. They're not like the popular EPA wood stoves, which are built to burn at low temperatures continuously. They are able to produce a higher rate of fire and generate more smoke. Certain local governments restrict or prohibit their use.
OWBs are great for heating homes with insulation levels that are high. Smoke that is dense and smoldering may cause annoyance to neighbors, which has led many OWBs to be shut down or sued. For OWBs, dry wood with lower moisture content is required to work properly. Green or unseasoned wood can reduce efficiency, cause creosote to build up and decrease the life of the burner. A moisture meter can help 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 furnaces are more efficient than traditional OWBs, and can be used for a wide range of fuels. Wood gasification boilers require dry and seasoned firewood. Most wood can be seasoned within a year, however oak and other species that are hardy can take two or more years to fully season. This is due to less volume of water and a greater density. 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 in order minimize pollution to the air.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood furnaces are designed with the environment in mind. Modern outdoor wood furnaces don't emit excessive CO2 or heat. cast iron wood burner burn cleaner than indoor wood stoves. They also use less wood to generate the same amount of heat as traditional stoves.
Outdoor wood burners require less maintenance and are more tolerant of moisture content in wood than indoor wood burning stoves. Outdoor wood burners are only suitable for wood that has been properly "cured" or dried or. Some types of wood can last for up to a year. Use a moisture gauge prior to loading to measure the amount of water in your wood.
When operating, it is essential to inspect the system periodically to check for accumulation of creosote. Creosote is a by-product of combustion, may build up in the chimney and flue when they are not cleaned regularly. It can be eliminated using a creosote removal solution that is poured into the fire. Regularly cleaning the flue and chimney will eliminate dangerous creosote accumulations and improve efficiency.
Crown Royal Stoves developed a new airflow technology called Negative Pressure Gasification to ensure 99% efficiency in combustion. This technology is utilized in our EPA certified Pristine Series Outdoor Wood Furnaces to draw air from the bottom and push all the gases through an sealed secondary combustion chamber, that is surrounded by water and easy-to-clean turbines. The result is a smokeless and pollutant free burn.