Read this before you buy a wood boiler in Wisconsin
The Econoburn is available with the H stamp, or ASME certification.
Just got this in from our Econoburn rep:
“I just got off the phone with Rick Merkle, Boiler Chief for the State of Wisconsin. He did verify that any pressurized boiler, regardless of installation location (indoor or outdoor), needs to have the {H}-Stamp and a National Board number.”
In case you’re not familiar with it, the H stamp he’s referring to is the mark indicating ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) certification. ASME certification is the gold standard for safety in pressurized boilers.
Econoburn is one of only two (as far as we know) gasification boilers available that are ASME certified. If you are currently running one that’s not, be warned: boilers not bearing the H stamp (presently including all foreign-built wood gasification boilers) can and will be shut down by the State of Wisconsin.
If you’d like to see an Econoburn boiler in person, please call us at 715-218-1373 and we’ll be happy to set up a viewing.
Tags: ASME, Econoburn, H stamp, Wisconsin, wood boiler, wood gasification, Wood heat
EconoBurn Boiler on display in Wausau
Our first EconoBurn wood boiler unit is now on display at 1699 Schofield Ave. Suite 304 in Schofield, Wisconsin. It is solid. I just learned today that it is the only pressurized wood boiler to meet code requirements. All the outdoor wood boilers are open vessel, which means they rust out fast. A pressure vessel has no air and always the same water so there is no internal rust.
To view the boiler, please call me at 715-218-8654 for available times.
Dan Michelsen
Tags: outdoor wood boiler, outdoor wood boilers, Renewable Wood, Wausau, wood boiler, wood gasification, Wood heat
Econoburn Wood Boiler on the Way
Hooray!
We’ve been waiting with baited breath ever since placing our first dealer’s order with Alternative Fuel Boilers, the manufacturer of Econoburn wood gasification boilers. It hasn’t been that long, but it seems like it!
Anyway, the Econoburn folks just notified us that the EBW 150 we ordered has been shipped. So we should have a wood boiler in stock within a few days.
Tags: Econoburn, wood boiler, wood gasification
What is wood gasification?
Why are some wood- burning boilers more efficient than others? Understanding how wood burns helps to answer this question.
When wood burns, it undergoes a process called pyrolysis, or thermal degeneration. That means the wood actually begins to break down as a result of exposure to heat. In the process, the wood gets separated into its solid components, such as charcoal and ash; and gases, including water vapor, carbon dioxide, formic and acetic acids, and others.
What happens to wood gas when you burn wood?
Under normal conditions, many of these gases simply escape unburned – carrying with them droplets of creosote. As the gases cool, they deposit the creosote on any available surface – such as the sides of your chimney – or into the air as particulate.
Most of these wood gases are combustible. In fact, they can account for 50% of the energy available in the wood!
Unfortunately, most wood-burning boilers fail to take advantage of the energy in the wood gas. They allow most of these valuable gases to escape up the flue. This results in wasted energy and frequently a dangerous buildup of creosote and other particulate in the chimney and in the air. That is why wood fired boilers are often associated with poor air quality, messy cleanup and the danger of chimney fire.
Wood gasification: the clean, efficient alternative
Wood gasification is a special technology that takes advantage of these energy-laden wood gases. In a wood gasification boiler, the wood is burned completely – combustible gases and all. The boiler captures, extracts and transfers the energy that typical wood boilers simply waste.
A wood gasification boiler results in such a complete burn that typically all that is left is a small amount of residual ash.
The result is a much higher efficiency. Efficiency ratings for wood gasification boilers are typically in the high 80′s to low 90′s in terms of percent – close even to what you’ll get out of a natural gas boiler!
That translates to better air quality, much easier cleanup, safer operation, and of course, substantial savings in terms of fuel and operation costs.
Econoburn: A clean-burning alternative to outdoor wood boilers
The Econoburn wood boiler boasts an impressive 87% total thermal efficiency.
When you live in Wisconsin, one of the most abundant sources of renewable energy around is wood! Trees are everywhere. Even if you don’t have a wood lot of your own, you can most likely beg, borrow or buy inexpensive wood fuel from a friend or neighbor.
Trouble is, “renewable energy” doesn’t always mean “clean energy.” There’s been a big bruhaha in recent months about outdoor wood boilers. Seems that the neighbors of outdoor wood boiler owners don’t appreciate the fact that said owners are saving money. Rather, for some reason the neighbors are upset by the great clouds of noxious black smoke that regularly engulf their homes and yards whenever the aforementioned outdoor wood furnaces are fired up.
Imagine.
Seriously, I’m being a little snide here, but smoke from outdoor wood boilers really is a big problem in rural neighborhoods. According to the State of Washington Department of Ecology:
(T)ests done by the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) found that the average fine particle emissions (a particularly harmful pollutant) from one OWB are equivalent to the emissions from 22 EPA certified wood stoves, 205 oil furnaces, or as many as 8,000 natural gas furnaces. One OWB can emit as much fine particle matter as four heavy duty diesel trucks on a grams per hour basis.
Yuck.
And think about it – if outdoor wood boilers burn that dirty, surely their owners must be spending twice the amount of time they really need splitting and shoveling wood.
A clean-burning wood boiler alternative
In the interests of upholding wood as a viable renewable energy source, we decided to look for a cleaner-burning alternative to outdoor wood boilers. And we found one we think is a real winner.
We’d like to introduce the Econoburn wood gasification boiler to Central and Northern Wisconsin. It’s got a lot of endearing features, which we’ll highlight in future posts. But for now I’ll start off by mentioning that Econoburn wood boilers get an amazing 87% total efficiency – approaching the efficiency of a natural gas boiler.
Now that’s making clean energy out of a renewable resource!
Visit our website to find out more.
Tags: Econoburn, heating with wood, high efficiency wood boiler, wood boiler, wood boilers, wood fired boiler, wood gasification, wood gasification boiler, wood gasification boilers, Wood heat
