Econoburn – How it Works

The Unique Beauty Of An Econoburn™ Boiler

Designed for use in residential, agricultural and light commercial applications (outputs from 100,000 to one million BTUs), Econoburn’s wood-fueled boiler is a closed-loop system with an innovative gasification process that delivers an 87% thermal efficiency rating. Unlike its “open” counterparts, Econoburn’s pressurized, indoor-certified boilers feature forced downdraft flow of the wood gases into a secondary combustion chamber in which the wood gas combusts, yielding more energy release for every pound of wood burned. The result is cleaner, less expensive energy without having to depend on oil, though you can always use some when needed (which is almost never).

Typical Installations

Whether at home, the farm or a commercial installation, Econoburn wood-fueled boilers can function as the main furnace, or be seamlessly integrated to work in tandem with an existing furnace or boiler. This cooperative system enables your backup system to be utilized in the event you are away or not able to add more wood.

How Wood Gasification Increases Burning Efficiency… And Saves You Money!

As wood is burned in the firebox, fresh air is blown downward through the logs and coals. This creates a mixture of hot air and wood gases that are forced through our custom-made refractory where it meets a second jet of super-heated air, creating a torch-like combustion of the retained gases. This process — known as wood gasification — results in almost all the gases being burned with little soot, ash, or creosote residue. This energy is then transferred to Econoburn’s full water-jacket heat exchanger and used to heat your home or work environment. Even when the fire burns down, the refractory chamber maintains its temperature; once the heavy-duty draft fan starts, it re-ignites fresh wood.

Burn Times

While their length varies by application — as well as wood type and moisture content) — you can expect burn times from a properly-sized system to range from six to eight hours on a cold day. An industrial-grade touch pad control unit is used to optimize combustion efficiency. Installing thermal storage may require that you only fire the boiler once daily to charge the tank.

Thermal Storage And How It’s Utilized

Simply stated, this is heat energy stored in the form of hot water. The objective is to fire the boiler at full throttle for a few hours and store whatever excess energy the heating system doesn’t immediately require in 500-1,000 gallon water tanks. As it needs, your system draws this stored heat to warm your home. This process of wood burning ensures maximum combustion efficiency by keeping your boiler in its gasification model for the entire operating cycle. It also provides greater flexibility with regard to when you need to fire up your boiler.

Commercial Boiler Systems

With models available rated up to 500,000 Btu’s, an Econoburn wood-fuel boiler can meet all of your commercial heating and hot water needs. Running two, three or more Econoburns in parallel is common and allows for best control to satisfy the heat demand.