Why We Why We Outside Wood Burners (And You Should Also!)

What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners

Outdoor wood burning stoves can be a cost-effective solution for heating homes and businesses.  Best wood burning stoves  help reduce the dependence on fossil fuels that are non-renewable and help in implementing a sustainable energy strategy.

To ensure efficient burning it is essential to use well-seasoned wood. Unseasoned or green wood has higher moisture content and can cause creosote accumulation, which can affect performance.

Efficient

Outdoor wood burners have been around for a long time. They are an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly way of heating your home. The typical design of OWBs promotes an older, cooler fire which results in poorer combustion and a higher amount of smoke and creosote. These unburned fuels could cause health problems as well as fire hazards and affect the environment around them.

Furthermore, the visible smoke that OWBs produce could cause neighbors to voice their concerns and lead to DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) enforcement actions. This type of issue can affect the value of your property, and may result in your OWB being closed down.

Crown Royal Stoves offers a range of EPA Certified outdoor wood furnaces called the Pristine Gasification Series that utilizes technology to boost the efficiency of combustion to ensure a smokeless, clean burn. This is achieved by using a negative pressure air system that draws fresh hot, dry, filtered air in from the bottom of the boiler and pushes it out of the chimney at a greater rate than traditional outdoor wood boilers. This is achieved through the unique design of a multi-pass, water-filled heat exchanger made of 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.

Properly used when properly used, When properly used, the Pristine Series OWB achieves an efficiency of 99% for a cleaner and smoke-free fire. It uses less wood, and produces a lot less emission than traditional OWBs. It is essential to burn only clean, seasoned and dry wood in order to maximize the performance of your OWB. The process of preparing your wood for 6 months or a year prior to burning is recommended. It helps ensure a smoother, more energy efficient burn.

You can improve the efficiency of your wood-burning stove by performing a weekly "dry burn". This technique eliminates creosote build up, keeps your boiler running efficiently and increases its lifespan. By adding a creosote-removing stick to your stove each time you fill it up, you can drastically reduce the amount of creosote you need to use. This product is available through Wisconsin Wood Furnace.

Clean

The soot particles left on the stove after burning wood may make a wood stove look very dirty. These are very hard to shift, so if you see any areas of build up on the glass of your stove, wash them immediately. In the event that the soot is not removed, it will become harder and more difficult to remove. 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 spot that can shatter glass when exposed high temperatures.

Be sure to let your wood stove cool completely before cleaning it. Also, ensure that the area around it is covered with newspaper. This will stop any ash spillage that can cause stains and marks on surfaces.

It could take up to one year for the seasoning of your stove to be complete, based on the quality of the wood you select. The wood that is seasoned will not only burn better, but will create less creosote. This is the kind of material that gets accumulated on your chimney, which reduces effectiveness and creating an hazard for fire. If you're using unseasoned wood, or just starting a new fire in your outdoor wood burner, the best thing to do is open the lower back door and scoop out the ashes into a non-combustible container each week.

A sediment flush should be performed on your boiler every four years. This is a simple flush lasting five seconds from the drain valve on your boiler. This will eliminate any sediment that has built in the system and ensure that your boiler is operating efficiently.

After you've completed the sediment flush, it's now time to clean the exterior of your outdoor wood burner. Before beginning, it is important to cover the floor area surrounding the stove with newspaper. Wearing protective gloves and eyewear is an excellent idea. Also, you should have a metal ash container, a scraping tool and shovel. You can make use of a cloth as shield to shield the refractory from damage while you take off coal and ash deposits.

Simple to operate

Despite their popularity (they were one of the 1990s' "it" trends, as were mullet haircuts) outdoor wood boilers, referred to as outdoor furnaces or outdoor wood hydronic heaters, are often misunderstood. 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. Some local governments limit or ban their use.

OWBs are great for heating homes with high insulation levels. The visible, smoldering smoke can also be a source of complaint with neighbors and has led to many OWBs being shut down or being sued in the past. For OWBs, dry wood with less moisture content is required to function effectively. Utilizing unseasoned or green wood reduces efficiency, leads to creosote to build up and may cut down the life of the burner. Drying wood takes time and a moisture meter is a must for the homeowner.

Dual-stage wood gasification (OWGB) boilers, on the other hand utilize a three-step process which makes use of the energy available in the wood. This means less smoke. These kinds of furnaces are far more efficient than traditional OWBs and can be used with a larger range of fuel. Wood gasification boilers require dry, seasoned wood. The majority of wood can be seasoned over the course of the course of a year. Oak and other hardy trees could take up to two years to mature. They are less watery and have a larger mass. This lets them store heat for longer, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing pollution. The EPA "Burn Wise" website and Cornell Cooperative Extension are great resources for homeowners to learn how to efficiently burn wood in order minimize air pollution.

Low Maintenance

Modern outdoor wood stoves are engineered to be eco-friendly. Contrary to indoor wood stoves that emit significant smoke modern outdoor furnaces burn cleanly and without the creation of excessive heat or carbon monoxide. They also require less wood to provide the same amount of heat as traditional stoves.

Outdoor wood burners require significantly less maintenance than indoor wood burners, and are more tolerant when it comes to the moisture content of the wood. However, outdoor wood burners can only be used with properly seasoned or "cured" wood. It can take a year or more for certain kinds of wood. Use a moisture meter before loading to determine the amount of water in your wood.

When operating, it is essential to check the system regularly to check for accumulation of creosote. Creosote is an byproduct of combustion and can build up in the chimney and flue when it is not cleaned frequently. It can be removed using a special creosote removal product that is poured into the fire. Regular cleaning of the flue and chimney will remove dangerous creosote accumulations, and increase efficiency.

Crown Royal Stoves developed a new airflow technique called Negative Pressure Gasification to achieve 99% combustion efficiency. This technology is employed in our EPA certified Pristine Series Outdoor Wood Furnaces to draw air upwards from the bottom and force all the gases through an sealed secondary combustion chamber, surrounded by water with easy-to-clean Turbulators. The result is a smokeless, pollutant-free burning.