Garn, pros and cons

[OT_Ducati]

New to the forum.
Looking to start a new project in 2 years.
Could be 4k sq' plus shop and garage. Wood supply not an issue.
Heated slab in all, plus DHW for 5.
To me the simplicity of the Garn is appealing.
Other than price, pro's and con's.
Thanks

 

[Singed Eyebrows]

New to the forum.
Looking to start a new project in 2 years.
Could be 4k sq' plus shop and garage. Wood supply not an issue.
Heated slab in all, plus DHW for 5.
To me the simplicity of the Garn is appealing.
Other than price, pro's and con's.
Thanks

Welcome to Hearth, The Garn in its firing range is a tough act to follow. I think you already said it, con is up front cost, pro seems to be everything else with the possible exception of being non pressurized(water must be monitored), lots of satisfied customers here, Randy

 

[JP11]

For ME.. and again it's just me. With the huge amount of storage.. and the fact that I'm not home all the time on a predictable schedule to fire it... I figure that I would lose a lot of wasted time bringing storage back up to temp. In my situation, it was going to have to be in an outbuilding. Chances of the wife operating it went down drastically.

Everyone has a different situation. I like the idea of just ordering something and plunking it down and hooking it up, but it wont work for me.

 

[DaBackBurner]

This is only my second season burning wood so I'm still a newbie, but for what it's worth here are my observations...

Cons:
3/4 hp motor for induction fan, so it will consume a fair amount of electricity while you are burning, for me this is typically 4-5hrs per day.
Non-pressurized so you have to monitor the water quality more often than with a pressurized system.
Wish it was a vertical tank for better stratification, but I understand why it isn't.


Pros:
You don't have to have card-sized wood to throw in it. If it fits, it will burn.
It is more 'understanding' with regards to less than desirable seasoned wood, although you will have to burn more if it's not, like anything else.
If you want storage, as I did, it was a very nice all-in-one product with less piping configurations to do.
You don't have to worry about return water protection.
The chemical analysis is free, you just have to pay for the chemicals.
I was worried that it would take a long time to heat the storage up to a desirable temperature, but I am pleasantly surprised how fast this occurs even with 2 homes, DHW for both, and a workshop load occuring.

There's probably more for both, but as I said, I'm a newbie.

Good luck

 

[ewdudley]

Cons:
3/4 hp motor for induction fan, so it will consume a fair amount of electricity while you are burning, for me this is typically 4-5hrs per day.

I wonder if the electricity consumption is actually high on a btu-per-hr-delivered-to-storage-per-kW basis.

My little boiler delivers 70000 btu per hour while consuming 165 W, which is about (425 btu / hr) / watt, or a COP of 124 if you prefer. I wouldn't be surprised if the Garn delivered more btu-per-hour per watt.

--ewd

 

[Sawyer]

Bob mentioned a lot of good points as well as cons.

The fact that the Garn needs to be in a room is a plus for my wife who likes the fact that she is out of the weather and the room is warm when she is loading and so is the wood. With the motor power venting there is no smoke blowing back at you when you open the loading door. Start the fire and you are done, with the new control it even shuts down when the flue temps are satisfied.

I fire every 5-7 days in the non-heating months for domestic hot water for two.

Cleaning the exchanger tubes is easy.

Above zero, three hours/day burn time.

 

[hobbyheater]

New to the forum.
Looking to start a new project in 2 years.
Could be 4k sq' plus shop and garage. Wood supply not an issue.
Heated slab in all, plus DHW for 5.
To me the simplicity of the Garn is appealing.
Other than price, pro's and con's.
Thanks

To do it all again ! The "Garn" would be my choice ! Simplicity !

 

[heaterman]

This is only my second season burning wood so I'm still a newbie, but for what it's worth here are my observations...

Cons:
3/4 hp motor for induction fan, so it will consume a fair amount of electricity while you are burning, for me this is typically 4-5hrs per day.
Non-pressurized so you have to monitor the water quality more often than with a pressurized system.
Wish it was a vertical tank for better stratification, but I understand why it isn't.


Pros:
You don't have to have card-sized wood to throw in it. If it fits, it will burn.
It is more 'understanding' with regards to less than desirable seasoned wood, although you will have to burn more if it's not, like anything else.
If you want storage, as I did, it was a very nice all-in-one product with less piping configurations to do.
You don't have to worry about return water protection.
The chemical analysis is free, you just have to pay for the chemicals.
I was worried that it would take a long time to heat the storage up to a desirable temperature, but I am pleasantly surprised how fast this occurs even with 2 homes, DHW for both, and a workshop load occuring.

There's probably more for both, but as I said, I'm a newbie.

Good luck

I would take some issue with one of your "con" statements Bob.
That would be the second one regarding water quality monitoring. It's a common misconception that a sealed system doesn't need to be monitored and this a bad thing.

Water chemistry should be monitored in ANY boiler system on a regular basis regardless of whether it is a sealed, open or semi open like a Garn. Lots of sealed systems have gone to the big boiler plant in the sky before their time due to water quality issues that were preventable with good maintenance.
Some operators may find that an open system requires more treatment (quantity) than a sealed system but that can depend more on the initial water fill and the habits of the user rather than being open or not.
All boilers should have water quality tested at least once a year IMHO.

 

[DaBackBurner]

For my particular setup/situation with the workshop in the middle of two homes and wanting all three buildings heated, making one fire a day during the heating season, and burning in a manner that in todays standards is an efficient and responsible way (read that-less wood) I couldn't be happier with my decision. Had they made a Froling that could output 400KBtu/hr+ the decision may have been harder, but I still don't like splitting wood smaller than I would consider 'normal', hence choice A - "Da Garn". To be perfectly honest, and this sounds like a roll your eyes, put-on-da-boots cause here it comes comment...there are no cons for me. I would buy one again in a heart-beat. People say cost is the issue, and while that is something to consider, I can tell you that for my particular situation, my ROI will be 3yrs. That's pretty darn good in my eyes. I just didn't want to sound like I worshipped the bloody thing...just don't ask my wife the answer to that question please.

(Edit: My PAYBACK is 3yrs or less, my ROI will have to wait...)

 

[OT_Ducati]

Thanks for the response.
The storage and not so fussy split size assets.
Will likely be heating 2 homes.
Thanks.
Oh anyone in the Bangor Maine area have one? Where did you purchase?

 

[bpirger]

I've had my 1500 online for about 16 months now.....here's my 1 year anniversary comments:

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/84033/

I don't think my wife or myself could be much happier....though I wish I bought the 2000.

Bruce

 

[Como]

Con

No automatic feed

 

[DaBackBurner]

Con

No automatic feed

LOL, Dave...My automatic feed is nearly ready...he's 11 right now, and thinks its awesome loading wood in the boiler. Cha-ching!