How did you choose?

When I decided to use a gasification boiler to heat my dwellings I checked all the boiler sales websites to look at what bells and whistles they come with, and the simplicity of operation and use . I also lurked around in the boiler room and it seemed to me that the Eko was amongst one of the most used boilers on the site and that there wasn't many complaints about them .

Definitely liked the more expensive models , but after spending more than $400,000 on my house shop and rental suite. A Froling just wasn't in the budget. The biggest mistake I made was buying a modcon lpg boiler. An electric boiler would of been cheaper to buy and cheaper to operate. But I needed heat and DHW right away and I knew it would take me a long time to put my Eko and storage together.

I have only had the EKO 40 going for a month and a half now, with the wife putting the majority of hours on it . It must be easy to operate because she hasn't had much trouble with it. She's a 1st class boiler woman.

One thing though is that it isn't UL. or CSA. approved . I thought the price was OK I paid $5600 online and it was delivered free to Blaine Wash. which was just a couple hrs. drive.

Huff

I went with the biomass. The price was just slightly more than the EKO and it has induced draft. An option many dont have.
It also comes with silicine door seals and those tend to last longer and seal better. The sight glass in the bottom door was
also a plus. Price was definitly a factor. If money grew on trees I'd have gotten a froling or a garn.

After first learning about wood gasification boilers in the summer of 2006, having the opportunity to see a Tarm Solo Plus 40 at a trade show in March 2007, and reading about the longevity of the Tarm in the marketplace, I bought the Tarm shortly after the trade show -- part of the deal was free delivery. I knew practically nothing else, including no knowledge on heat loss, etc. Then installed it myself, making lots of mistakes, but one of those mistakes was not the Tarm. Has performed flawlessly, now in the 5th heating season, no repairs on or replacements of anything.

You have a different world now than existed in 2007. Many brands, lots of users, lots of good experience. Choose like you would for any other major purchase. Do your research, make your deal, suffer buyer remorse, and enter or continue in the wood burning world of economy, sustainability, and not paying the fuel man.

woodsmaster said:

I went with the biomass. The price was just slightly more than the EKO and it has induced draft. An option many dont have.
It also comes with silicine door seals and those tend to last longer and seal better. The sight glass in the bottom door was
also a plus. Price was definitly a factor. If money grew on trees I'd have gotten a froling or a garn.

Click to expand...

Is that your house in your Avatar WM. No wonder you need such a big boiler ,must be lots of air infiltration. :lol:

Now looking at it a little closer with my glasses on ,(don't tell any one i'm still in denial) is it your wood pile?

Huff

While I enjoy reading, and have learned A LOT on here. I buy big ticket items mostly from PEOPLE!

I walked around the fair and talked to lots of folks. I looked at a lot of boilers. I listened to this one guy pretty much not bash any other manufacturer. When I would mention some particular detail he would say.... Well, that's not ideal. Here's how we do it. He told me about his mistakes, and things he has tried and failed. When I would suggest something... he would often times say... well the cheapest way would be this. I said, but I thought of doing it this way instead. He would agree that it was better, but would cost and be one more thing to maintain.

He was awful patient.. and I ended up speaking to him over a couple of years. I STILL haven't bought the boiler yet. He answers his phone, or returns messages pretty quick. I have got about 3 cord of wood in pallet "U" things I built. Big pile of rounds to split too. My storage tanks should be ready for pickup this week.

In the end... I'm going with Mark at AHONA. Now if he decides to stop selling Vigas tomorrow, and has something else.. I'll listen to WHY, and probably go with what he suggests. He's who I'm going with.

JP

I asked a lot of questions here for several months. Spoke to people over the phone, visited many web sites. In the end my short list was 3 boilers mainly due to the size I could fit into my basement since I decided not to go with an indoor unit in a shed although we were hesitant to go with indoor based on a lot of the comments about mess/smoke, etc.

We went the AHS facility to see their product first hand and also tooka short tour of the manufacturing area to see how they are put together. In the end cost and simplicity of design are the reasons we got the WG. It's been 3 years now and we are happy with the decisions on both the boiler and going indoor.

Not knowing if heating with wood was going to be right for us, I had decided on one of the cost effective, well known boilers imported from eastern europe. Drove to New Horizon in WV and was able to review.... I'd guess about 4-5 well known brands. Left with a BioMass for the same reasons sited by Woodmaster. Took somewhat of a risk since the BioMass doesn't have the market longevity of others, but so far so good. Had I known how much we enjoy the heat and actually enjoy the process of tending the boiler, I probably would have moved up market several thousand dollars to include the Froling and others. But back then I was totally green and didn't know if my wife would hate the process, if it would be so onerous we'd go back to propane or something else. Now 3 years in we're hooked. Love the heat and the whole self reliance part of it. You have many good choices. As you read here you'll keep seeing satisfied owners of 5-6 brands. I will add that my first year learning the BioMass offered features that I now find indispensable. Just read posts, look at what guys own on the bottom and you'll soon figure out the happy owners. Enjoy the research.

stihlwoody said:

How did you decide on the boiler you have now? Was it because of cost, ease of operation, efficiency, location of service provider, friend has one and it works good for him, etc.. Obviously output was determined for size of home/shop but most makers offer multiple sizes to cover Btu output. Are you just looking for the latest and greatest? It seems alot of times we have the Ford vs chevy going on, they both get you from here to there so why the dispute and name calling? If is just preference let's just call it that. I am becoming one that hates all of the choices at the grocery store I mean really, how many different kinds or yogurt or toothpaste do we really need?! :gulp: It is nice to have the choices, but how do you weed through all the marketing and hype to find one that is truly cost effective and performs as advertised and as needed? :grrr:

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I bought my boiler because it was cheap, my choice was easy. Randy

Price, build quality and tech support...Made in New York....priceless :cheese:

3-4 years ago I wanted to add an OWB to my house to save on fuel. I knew nothing other than that several family members had Taylor OWB's and all were very happy with them. I was in the market at the same time the State EPA wrote new rules on OWB's, effectively outlawing them unless you had a large parcel of land (setbacks of 500 ft from all property lines). I lived way out in the country and had very few neighbors. I called the guy at EPA who wrote the rules. He laughed at me and told me that there was no way around the rules, unless I bought an EPA certified stove. I asked for info on such stoves. He again laughed and said there aren't any. He's lucky I could not reach through the phone.

We then began looking at new houses with larger lots, so we could have an OWB. We could see where fuel prices were going. This ended up with my father giving me 6 acres of the 60 he had inherited from my grandfather. Most of this is wooded and allows us to harvest our own fuel. We began planning the house we were going to build.

During this time I began checking the web and found that Central Boiler had a dealer in my area and their E-Classic was EPA certified. I definately wanted the stove to be outside. I have broght wood in all my life, while using standard wood stoves. This is no longer attractive to me at all. No one in this area had anything that compared to the CB and I was very impressed with the efficiency rating. The retailer was very knowledgeable and good to talk with. I purchased the CB E-Classic 2400 this past spring and have heated exclusively this winter, plus dhw. I could not be happier. A fuel bill this winter would have been a second mortgage payment. I am preparing to add some storeage, which will only improve my situation.

2nd JP. I looked around for 2 years, then went to the state farm show, and met Mark. Not only was he the most knowledgeable vendor of the 6 or 8 I spoke to, he is honest and sincere. To this day, 3 seasons in, he remains reachable, and helpful. My wife reluctantly accompanied me on that excursion, and had the same impression.
If I were to do it again, I would be very tempted to buy a Froling. My EKO has paid for itself in fuel savings, now to pay for the piping & fittings...

woodsmaster said:

I went with the biomass. The price was just slightly more than the EKO and it has induced draft. An option many dont have.
It also comes with silicine door seals and those tend to last longer and seal better. The sight glass in the bottom door was
also a plus. Price was definitly a factor. If money grew on trees I'd have gotten a froling or a garn.

Click to expand...

I went with the biomass for the same reasons, and that it has a 6" flue. The UL listing was also a must have.

Didn't know it at the time but the access door to the primary and secondary air controls is also very well thought out. Two bolts and it swings away on hinges. Allows you to make minor adjustments easily while the boiler is running. Not something you do often but for the first month I was making changes every week or so to get the best burn.

Maybe with all the money I'm saving a garn or froling will be in the budget next time.

I went with a Tarm Solo Innova because of the UL listing (necessary in my area), the fact that Tarm has been in business for a long time making reliable boilers, their guarantee, their simplicity of operation, and others satisfaction with them. I figured in the future, parts availability might not be a problem with them. That the Tarm company was sold to Baxi and then it's operation moved to Turkey does give me pause to wonder if quality of construction and parts availability will remain the same. Its' having an induced draft was a consideration too.

I did lust after the Froling though, and would have purchased one, but couldn't justify the cost of having to send an installer up to New Hampshire for the then required installation training. Have no idea if that training is still required. I think I might buy a unit with a Lambda oxygen sensor if I had to do it over again. The Solo Innova with a Lambda unit is only available in Europe, at least was at the time of my purchase a couple of years or so ago.

Mike

I ended up with my Varmebarnonen after looking at several different boilers in person, talking with a bunch of sales reps, and reading a lot here on the forum.

My final decision was made based on the fact that I have a relatively short chimney (not a lot of draft) and a reduced head height in my basement. The Varm can operate with poor draft, and all cleaning is from the front, so I didnt need to worry about getting a brush into the Hx to clean it. Maybe this would have been a non-issue once I tried cleaning another model, but it works for me, and I had the clearances, so thats the way I went. Plus I was moving it into my basement that didnt have the easiest access, and it was the lightest of the boilers I looked at. Some think this isnt a good quality, but I had enough trouble as it was.

I also wanted a boiler that didnt have a lot of controls that could fail on me and leave the house cold, and didnt need the 240v power connection (no spaces in my panel, thats another wiring project comingup) Price factored in also after I found my storage tanks and compared to some other models.

I too lusted after the Froling, but couldnt justify the extra money.

I picked the EKO due to the number of pleased users I was able to talk to and read about before making my purchase. For me the choice came down to the Tarm and the EKO. I went with the EKO over the Tarm for very minor reasons and I suspect I would have been equally as pleased with a Tarm 40.

As someone else already stated - if I had the room I would have gone Garn. If I had money falling out of my wallet I would have nabbed a Froiling with a triple extended warranty just in case.

huffdawg said:

woodsmaster said:

I went with the biomass. The price was just slightly more than the EKO and it has induced draft. An option many dont have.
It also comes with silicine door seals and those tend to last longer and seal better. The sight glass in the bottom door was
also a plus. Price was definitly a factor. If money grew on trees I'd have gotten a froling or a garn.

Click to expand...

Is that your house in your Avatar WM. No wonder you need such a big boiler ,must be lots of air infiltration. :lol:

Now looking at it a little closer with my glasses on ,(don't tell any one i'm still in denial) is it your wood pile?

Huff

Click to expand...

Ya it's a little drafty but it's home.

woodsmaster said:

huffdawg said:

woodsmaster said:

I went with the biomass. The price was just slightly more than the EKO and it has induced draft. An option many dont have.
It also comes with silicine door seals and those tend to last longer and seal better. The sight glass in the bottom door was
also a plus. Price was definitly a factor. If money grew on trees I'd have gotten a froling or a garn.

Click to expand...

Is that your house in your Avatar WM. No wonder you need such a big boiler ,must be lots of air infiltration. :lol:

Now looking at it a little closer with my glasses on ,(don't tell any one i'm still in denial) is it your wood pile?

Huff

Click to expand...

Ya it's a little drafty but it's home.

Click to expand...

That's pretty cool!

Ah... WM you make the BioMass community proud. 'Course I've looked at that avatar a bunch since we post frequently at the same time and just thot you owned a nice log house on a hill. But I always thot your home appeared small for a 60 class boiler! Just goes to show that we BioMass guys have good taste and are artistic. Well done. Now how do you have the heart to burn from that pile?