The Advantages of An Outdoor Wood Furnace

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:44:24 +0000

There are several advantages to owning an outdoor wood furnace. First and foremost is the savings in utility bills over using gas or oil. By using wood, a natural resource, you will save a substantial amount of money each year heating your home. As an example, people who replace their propane based furnace with wood can expect to save up to 75% since propane costs four times as much as wood. Certainly, if you have your own source of wood than the savings will be even greater.

Outdoor wood furnaces are better for the environment which is an important consideration. In addition, by using wood you are lowering your dependency on foreign fuel. Burning wood is environmentally friendly. Burning other types of fuel is not. Wood is a renewable resource so burning it does not release carbon dioxide into the air in the same way that fossil fuels do when burned. The release of carbon dioxide is widely believed to be the cause of the greenhouse effect that is an element in global warming. In addition, outdoor furnaces are not just for heating your home. They can be used to heat hot tubs, pools, garages as well as other outdoor buildings.

When shopping for an outdoor wood burning furnace there are certain features that you want to look for. While all wood furnaces will provide heat, some will be more efficient and some less based on the way they are built. In addition, outdoor wood burning furnaces need to be built for the outdoors in order to withstand the harsh elements and continue to heat your home in the most efficient manner possible.

The best outdoor wood furnace will have several important features but first and foremost it will meet all industry standards and will be approved by the requisite government agencies depending on where you live. Important features to look out for include:

Parts made from high quality stainless steel
Automatic but simple controls
A thick firebox door that will maintain heat and not let it escape
Safety latch on door to prevent children from access and also blowback risk
Insulation from thick, quality fiberglass
Legs to keep out rodents and other bugs
Controls that are in the front of the furnace for easy access
A large door for ease of loading the wood

Wood Burning Furnace Types

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 04:49:14 +0000

If you are trying to cut energy costs or are concerned about the type of energy you use in your furnace to heat your home and its effect on the environment then a wood burning furnace may be for you. Wood burning furnaces will save you a considerable amount of money in energy bills however, you need to keep in mind that it does require stocking up on the proper type of wood or coal which requires more work than using fuels like gas or oil that are supplied by your utility company.

For best results with your wood furnace, it is best to use seasoned hardwood or coal for burning. Seasoned hardwood is wood that has been split for use as firewood. Seasoned means it was split last season and not this season. In short, if you want clean burning and wood that burns as hot as possible then you need last year’s wood and not this year’s firewood.

Indoor Wood Burning Furnace

There are two main types of wood burning furnaces these include the indoor wood burning furnace and the outdoor wood burning furnace. An indoor wood furnace works in the same way as furnaces that use other energy sources like oil or gas. They are most frequently installed in an out of the way area such as the basement. Many people are concerned with air quality from a wood burning furnace. A quality furnace will use furnace filters just as any other type of furnace does which will ensure air quality in your home as long as the filter is cleaned or replaced regularly. Thermostats in the wood furnace control heat distribution. These types of furnaces generally use forced air as their system for heating and this type of system uses any standard type of heating ducts.

Outdoor Wood Burning Furnace

People who live in mobile homes or in a home without a basement may think that they will not be able to utilize a wood burning furnace for lack of a place to house it. Outdoor wood burning furnaces solve this problem. This type of furnace takes your space (or lack thereof), safety and also your convenience into account. By using your outside space, you can easily install your furnace and also store your firewood. You need to make sure that the unit you purchase is built to weather the elements. An improperly insulated or weatherproofed furnace will both rust or otherwise get damaged and also run much less efficiently.

Add On Wood Burning Furnace

If you want to cut your energy bills but don’t want to completely re-do your furnace set up then you should consider an add on wood burning furnace. The unit itself may be cheaper but where you save most of your money is in the fact that it uses the duct work that you already have installed without the need for installing a new system.

An add on wood furnace uses your current furnace’s infrastructure to heat your home with wood heated air instead of the gas or oil that your primary furnace ordinarily uses. You connect your add-on to your existing furnace. As long as it keeps the temperature above what is set on your thermostat of your original furnace then no gas, oil or electricity will be consumed. The only non-wood type of energy that will be used is what is required to operate the blower that distributes the hot air to your home. What is nice about this system is that if you run low on firewood or the wood does not produce enough heat, your original furnace will kick in and heat your home instead.

The Furnace Filters » outdoor wood burning furnace

The Advantages of An Outdoor Wood Furnace

Wood Burning Furnace Types