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 reduce the dependence on fossil fuels that are not renewable and help to create a more resilient energy strategy.
Well-seasoned contemporary wood burning stoves is essential for efficient burning. Unseasoned or green wood can contain more moisture which can create creosote and reduce performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners (OWBs) have been around for many years and provide an green and efficient method of heating your home. However, the typical design of OWBs, which promotes the slow and cooler burning which causes poor combustion and more smoke, creosote and particulates. Unburned fuels can lead to health problems and fire hazards, as well as cause harm to the environment around it.
Furthermore the visible plume of smoke that OWBs emit can cause neighbors to complain and lead to DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) enforcement actions. This type of public relations issue could be a significant impact on the value of your property, and could even lead to 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 increase the efficiency of combustion for a clean, smoke-free combustion. This is accomplished by using the negative pressure air system that pulls fresh hot, dry, filtered air in from the bottom of the boiler and pushes it out through the chimney at a greater rate than traditional outdoor wood boilers. This is achieved by a unique design which uses a multi-pass water filled heat exchanger constructed of 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
If properly used, the Pristine Series OWB achieves a 99% combustion rate for a smoke-free and cleaner fire. It requires less wood and produces significantly fewer emission than traditional OWBs. To enhance the effectiveness of your OWB it is essential to burn only dry, clean, seasoned wood. It is recommended to prepare your wood for a minimum of six months or one year before burning it. This will ensure the most efficient and clean burn.
In addition to increasing the efficiency of your wood stove, you can also improve its efficiency by performing the “dry burn” every week. This technique eliminates creosote accumulation, makes your boiler efficient and extends its lifespan. In addition, by adding a creosote removal stick every when you load your stove, you will be able to drastically cut the amount of creosote used. The product is available from Wisconsin Wood Furnace.
Clean
The soot particles that are left in the aftermath of burning wood can make a wood stove look very dirty. They are extremely difficult to shift so if you notice any areas of build up on the glass of your stove, wash them right away. Soot that is not removed will harden, making it even more difficult. Using the correct cleaners for the job is vital and you should also make sure you’re not damaging the glass’s surface with anything that might scratch it. This could result in a weak spot that could shatter the glass when it’s exposed to extreme temperatures.
Make sure you let your wood stove cool completely before cleaning it. Be sure to protect the area around it with newspaper. This will prevent any spillage of ash which can cause stains and marks on surfaces.
Depending on the quality of the wood you choose to use, it could take up to an entire year for your stove to be properly seasoned. The wood that is 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, reducing its efficiency and posing the potential for a fire hazard. If you are using unseasoned wood, or just beginning a new 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.
A sediment flush should be performed on your boiler every four years. This is a simple flush of five seconds from the bottom drain valve on your boiler. This will get rid of any sediment that has built up inside the system, and will ensure that your boiler is in good functioning condition.
After you have cleaned the exterior of your outdoor fireplace, it is time to clean it. Before you begin, it’s important to cover the floor area surrounding the stove with newspaper. Wearing gloves and eye protection is also a good idea. You should also have a metal ash canister along with a scraping tool as well as shovel. To protect the refractory you must lay a cloth on it to shield it as you scrape away ash and coal deposits.
Simple to operate
Despite their popularity (they were among the 1990s’ “it” trends, along with mullet haircuts) outdoor wood boilers, referred to as outdoor furnaces or outdoor wood hydronic heaters, are frequently misunderstood. Contrary to the EPA’s popular wood stoves that are designed to burn at low, constant temperatures, these units use more fire and emit more smoke when operating. Some local governments limit or prohibit their use.
OWBs are best used to heat homes with a high insulation level. Smoke that is dense and smoldering could cause annoyance to neighbors, which has led many OWBs to be shut down or sued. For OWBs dry wood with less moisture content is required to work effectively. Utilizing unseasoned or green wood can reduce efficiency, cause creosote to build up and may reduce the lifespan of the burner. A moisture gauge will allow you to determine how long it takes for outside wood burners to dry.
Dual-stage wood gasification (OWGB) boilers, on the other hand utilize a three-step process which makes use of the energy in the wood. This means less smoke. These furnaces are more efficient than conventional OWBs, and can be used to fuel various fuels. Wood gasification boilers require dry and seasoned wood. The majority of wood burning stoves near me will be seasoned within a year, but oak and other species with a hardy structure can take two years or more to fully mature. This is due to lower water content and 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 in order minimize pollution to the air.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood furnaces have been designed with the environment in mind. Modern outdoor wood furnaces don’t produce excessive CO2 or heat. 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 require less maintenance and are more forgiving of wood moisture content than wood burning stoves that are indoor. However, outdoor wood burners can only be used with properly seasoned or “cured” wood. Some types of wood can take up to a full year. Use a moisture gauge prior to loading to check the amount of water in your wood.
When operating, it is essential to examine the system on a regular basis to check for accumulation of creosote. Creosote is an byproduct of combustion and can build up in the flue and chimney in the event that it is not cleaned regularly. It can be removed with a special creosote removal product that is poured into the flame. Regular cleaning of the flue and chimney can remove harmful creosote, and boost efficiency.
To get 99% efficiency from combustion, Crown Royal Stoves designed a new air flow technology called Negative Pressure Gasification. This technology is used in our EPA certified Pristine Series Outdoor Wood Furnaces to draw air from the bottom and push all 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.