Outdoor Wood Furnace - Heating with Wood

Considered by critics and loyal customers alike to be the premiere provider of outdoor wood boilers and indoor wood furnaces in the industry, the Empyre name is one synonymous with quality home heating solutions. From the Empyre Pro Series through the Empyre Elite collection of wood boilers, each furnace in the Empyre family provides the user with a one-of-a-kind fuel efficiency and BTU output which can't be beat. With flames reaching over 2,000° Fahrenheit, the fire that powers an Empyre wood boiler not only produces phenomenal BTU levels, but also consumes all fuel materials and cordwood placed into it.

Yet while Empyre wood furnaces are incredibly efficient in their design, there is always the potential for the furnace owner to further improve their experience. An Empyre wood gasifer will make full use of any materials used in the fueling process, but there are several things to keep in mind regarding the cordwood used to power the furnace. Different factors can affect the BTU yields of your boiler as well as the duration for which the fuel lasts. Fortunately, there is a set of criteria for determining whether the fuel used to power your wood-burning furnace is the right choice for your home heating needs.

Selecting Wood

Quality

The quality of the cordwood used to power an outdoor wood boiler has a significant impact on what sort of BTU output you can expect. Trees such as oak and maple will produce more heat over a long period of time than more porous trees such as spruce or pine. Conversely, you can expect a greater immediate production of BTUs over a short period of time when using porous wood.

Being able to select your cordwood from different tree types means you can customize the efficiency of your furnace's BTU output. Many homeowners opt to use the longer burning, lower BTU yield fuel in the winter, while springtime marks a perfect time to opt to use fast burning, high BTU-producing wood. What choice the hot water furnace owner makes is dependent on his or her own home heating and plumbing needs. Each fuel source has its own merits, but deciding which cordwood is best is to the homeowner.

Mositure

Regardless of the type of chosen fuel source, it is always important to check for moisture in the cordwood used to power an outdoor boiler. Moisture content affects the overall quality of your fuel as well as the efficiency of the burning process. For the best burning wood, the saturation of moisture should be between 19-25%. Any cordwood with a high moisture content will not catch fire properly and the BTU output will be low, while any fuel with a low moisture concentration will burn too quickly.

There are also measures for preventing moisture saturation. When stacking wood, you will want to do so in good weather (the summertime is preferable) and in a bright spot where the sun and wind can dry the wood. You will also want to use a tarp to stop rainy weather from damaging your future fuel source.

Size

The size of the wood used can also be a determining factor in the efficiency of your outdoor wood boiler. The larger the diameter of the logs used in the fueling process, the better the potential energy output of your furnace will be. It's important to compare the surface area relative to the overall size of the log. The higher that contrast is, the more you'll get out of your fuel.

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