11 "Faux Pas" That Are Actually Acceptable To Create With Your Outside Wood Burners
What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burner s are a cost-effective way to heat homes and businesses. They also help to reduce dependence on fossil fuels that are non-renewable and contribute to a resilient energy strategy.
A well-seasoned wood is vital for efficient burning. Green or unseasoned wood has a higher moisture content and can create creosote accumulation, which can affect performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners (OWBs) have been around for years and are an extremely energy efficient and environmentally friendly method of heating your home. However, the typical design of OWBs, which encourages an unsteady, cooler fire that causes less combustion and a higher amount of smoke, creosote and particulates. Unburned fuels can cause health problems as well as fire hazards, and can also harm the environment.
Additionally the visible smoke puffs that OWBs create can make neighbors complain. This may result in DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) and taking enforcement actions. 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 line of EPA Certified outdoor wood furnaces known as the Pristine Gasification Series that utilizes technology to increase the efficiency of combustion for a clean, smokeless burn. This is done with a negative-pressure air system that pulls in fresh, dry heated, filtered, and heated air from the bottom and pushes it out through the chimney faster than traditional outdoor wood boilers. This is accomplished through the unique design of an encapsulated, multi-pass heat exchanger constructed from 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
If properly used properly, when properly used, the Pristine Series OWB achieves a 99% combustion rate for a cleaner and smoke-free fire. It requires less wood and produces significantly fewer emission than traditional OWBs. It is important to use clean, seasoned and dry wood to increase the performance of your OWB. It is recommended that you prepare your wood for six months or one year before burning it. This will result in the most efficient and clean burn.
You can improve the efficiency of your wood-burning stove by performing every week a "dry burn". This method reduces creosote, increases boiler efficiency and extends the life of your boiler. By affixing a creosote-removing stick to your stove each time you fill it, you can drastically reduce the amount of creosote that you use. This product is available from Wisconsin Wood Furnace.
Clean
The soot particles left in the aftermath of burning wood can make a 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, clean them immediately. If the soot isn't removed, it will begin to harden, making it even more difficult. It's important to choose the right cleaner however, you must be careful not to scratch the glass with anything that could scratch it. This could result in a weak point that will shatter glass when exposed extreme temperatures.
Before you begin cleaning your wood stove, you should make sure that it is unlit and completely cool. Also, be sure that the area around it is covered with newspaper. This will stop any spillage of ash that can cause stains and marks on surfaces.
Based on the quality of the wood that you select, it can take up to one year for your stove to be properly well-seasoned. The wood that is treated with a seasoned finish will not only burn more efficiently, but will also produce less creosote. This is the kind of material that is able to build up on your fireplace, decreasing its efficiency and creating an opportunity for fire hazards. If you're using wood that's not seasoned or are just beginning a fire in your outdoor fireplace, it's best to open the lower backdoor and scoop the ashes into a noncombustible container each week.
woodburning stoves should also do an annual sediment flush on your boiler at least once every four years. This is a quick five-second flush from the drain valve on your boiler. This will get rid of any sediments that have built up in the system, and ensure that your boiler is operating well.
After you have cleaned the outside of your fireplace that is outside it is time to clean it. Before starting, it's essential to cover the floor area surrounding the stove with newspaper. It is also beneficial to wear protective eyewear and gloves. You should also have a shovel, a metal container for ash, and a scraping tool. To safeguard the refractory, you need to lay down a cloth to shield it as you scrape away ash and coal deposits.
Easy to operate
Outdoor wood boilers (also called outdoor furnaces and outdoor wood hydronic heating systems or outdoor wood heaters) are often misunderstood in spite of their acclaim. They were among the "it" trends of the 1990s, as were hairstyles for mullets. Contrary to the EPA's popular wood stoves, which are designed to burn at constant, low temperatures, these heaters use an increased fire rate and produce more smoke when they operate. This is the reason why local governments have a policy of regulating or banning their use.
OWBs are best used to heat homes with a high insulation level. Smoke that is thick and smoldering could be a nuisance for neighbors, which has led many OWBs to be shut down or even sued. In order for OWBs to operate properly they must be operated using dry wood with a low moisture content. Wood that is not seasoned or green can decrease efficiency, cause creosote to accumulate, and shorten the lifespan of the burner. Drying wood takes time, and a moisture meter is a must for the homeowner.
In contrast dual-stage wood gasification boilers (OWGB) make use of three steps of process which makes use of the available energy from the wood and results in much less smoke. These furnaces are more efficient than traditional OWBs and are suitable for a wide range of fuels. Wood gasification boilers require dry and seasoned firewood. The majority of wood will season within the course of a year. Oak and other hardy trees may take as long as two years to mature. This is because they have a lower volume of water and a greater density. This lets them store heat longer, thus increasing efficiency and reducing pollution. The EPA's "Burn Wise" website and Cornell Cooperative Extension can help homeowners learn more about burning wood efficiently, thereby reducing air pollution.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood furnaces are constructed with the environment in mind. Unlike indoor wood burners that emit significant smoke modern outdoor furnaces burn cleanly and without the production of excessive heat or carbon monoxide. They also require less wood to generate the same amount of heat as traditional stoves.
Outdoor wood burners require less maintenance and are more tolerant of wood moisture content than wood burning stoves that are indoor. 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 crucial to make use of a moisture meter to measure the amount of water of your wood prior to loading.
In the course of operation, it is crucial to examine the system on a regular basis for the accumulation of creosote. Creosote is a byproduct of combustion and can accumulate in the chimney and flue if it is not cleaned on a regular basis. It can be removed using a creosote removal solution that is poured into the fire. Regularly cleaning the flue and chimney will eliminate dangerous creosote buildup and improve efficiency.
Crown Royal Stoves developed a new airflow technique called Negative Pressure Gasification to ensure 99% efficiency in combustion. This technology is employed in our EPA certified Pristine Series Outdoor Wood Furnaces to pull air up from the bottom and force all gases through an sealed secondary combustion chamber, that is surrounded by water and easy-to-clean Turbulators. The result is a smokeless and pollution-free burning.