Coming Soon: More Efficient, Cleaner Outdoor Wood Boilers

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Photo by Vermont Dec
Outdoor wood boilers are undergoing improvements to become cleaner, more efficient sources of heat.

Say goodbye to the old, inefficient, smoky wood boilers — there may soon be a better option: cleaner outdoor wood boilers. While they are a popular water and space heating device for many rural areas, outdoor wood boilers emit at least 20 times more smoke than Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-certified woodstoves, and have been virtually unregulated.

Cleaner Outdoor Wood Boilers

Outdoor wood boilers are a popular heating solution in some rural areas, but they’re also controversial. While the boilers are fueled by renewable resources if the wood is sustainably harvested, current designs are woefully inefficient and polluting.

What exactly is an outdoor wood boiler? Also called an outdoor furnace, water stove or outdoor hydronic heater, it looks like a metal-clad shed with a short chimney poking from the roof. It’s basically a large firebox surrounded by a water jacket. Two insulated pipes run underground to the building it heats. One pipe delivers the heated water for space heating and domestic hot water, and the other returns the cooled water to the boiler for reheating. A single boiler also can heat a second building, such as a workshop.

Unlike other heating equipment, outdoor wood boilers have been virtually unregulated. Unfortunately, they emit at least 20 times more smoke than EPA-certified woodstoves, according to the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management.

  • Published on Dec 1, 2007
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