Outdoor Wood Stoves
Some households have found using indoor wood stoves to be perilous that it do not only increase risks of fire but pose hazard to health as well. Not well maintained wood stoves can produce very unpleasant smoke that spreads throughout the house and cause suffocation in the dwellers. Leaky smoke pipes can also cause such and reduce efficiency. The very thought of loading and cleaning the dirty and messy ashes is also a burden to some household owners. To remedy this, several home owners have resulted to using the outdoor wood stoves.
Among the other reasons why Americans have resorted to this method of heating is the unpredictable prices of natural gas. Where log fuels are free or common, large interest on outdoor wood stoves can be seen. This new approach in heating uses a firebox that relies on special water tanks and piping to distribute heat. Installation of outdoor wood stove is done typically at a distance of 500 feet from the house. Installing of pipes may go along with other pipes like gas, electricity or water source. The boiled water in the tank is being flowed through the pipes and into the house. The hot water is then circulated through heat radiators. Once the heat from the water is dispersed, it is then flowed back to the water tank of the outdoor wood stove. And the whole process of heating is repeated.
In places where there is much availability of wood, the outdoor wood stove is a big favorite, literally. Another key feature of the outdoor wood burning stove is its huge size. Since most people find it a difficult task to axe big barks into smaller logs, the considerable size of outdoor wood stove allows them to place large chunks of wood and other unequally-sized wood pieces. To top it, this outdoor stove also works effective with young and wet wood logs. Because of its monster size, it can readily ash even the wettest log there is.
Cleaning is also a tough work for most households. With outdoor stoves, people will not have to worry about the mess the ash dumps may bring about. Safety is indeed a great concern for most dwellers that is why outdoor wood stoves are a great option. Fire that is set outside the home gives a comfortable feeling for the people inside their house.
Despite all these benefits, the outdoor wood stoves also carry with its setbacks and disadvantages. The relative distance of outdoor stove may miss the households of that old nostalgic feel of a burning wood inside the house. Outdoor stoves are also intricate and costly to install. Because of the much needed pipes used to circulate water, it is faster and less expensive to install ordinary indoor wood stove than the outdoor wood stove. Another contributing factor to its expensiveness is the electricity needed for the water circulation system.
While it is a fact that the monster size of outdoor wood stove burn larger wood logs, the surrounding water tank makes it less effective in radiating heat. The coldness of water in the tank decreases the temperature of the fire box resulting to lesser combustion of wood. It is said that the effectiveness of outdoor wood stoves is only 50% compared to the traditional indoor wood stove. Because of less combustion, huge, black and odorly smoke is produced by this outdoor wood stove.
When buying or installing on outdoor stoves make sure you invest on safety and quality. Among the list of things to be checked are the chimneys or smoke pipe length, smoke exhaust location, proper insulation, water tank location, firebox weight and size, capacity to radiate heat and wood burning consumption. Always remember that outdoor wood stove’s job is to provide heat to your home and not risks to safety and health.