No complaining here...and no problems with operations..easy as pie.
Heating 3,000 sq ft(lots of glass & one 26' wide glass wall(22ft high peak), all radiant in gypkreet and infloor panels.
Since Oct 1st, I have used 2 cords of wood and that includes DHW make for about 75% of the time.
I load 5/8 of the firebox(about 4.6cubic ft) once a day (when outside is 30-40), above 40 once every 2-3 days(then the back up kicks on for DHW(when my tanks are below 150f)) and when in the teens to mid 20s, once every 16 hours or so with same load(4.6cu.ft).
When there is no residual embers left(once a day fire), I re-arrange the coals around the nozzle, lay 3-4 smaller splits over it, throw a couple of pieces of cardboard, open the lightning door(great feature) light 2 pieces of paper, wait 2-5 minutes until I see the Flue gas hit 180C, then I close it and walk away. Under 10 minutes overall.
When I have embers, I load the logs, close the doors and walk away, but from having watched it, it reaches 180 within 4-8 minutes, depending on volume of embers.
In my estimates, using last year's LP prices my system will pay itself off within 4.5 years. I harvest, move, split and stack(no splitter other than my wedged maul) my own wood supply.
The only problems I have faced, where due to improper stacking(loose and too much nozzle left exposed) within the fire box, which resulted in slower starts due to higher O2 levels. I am still within the learning curve, but that is part of the fun, for me anyway.
The cleaning is ridiculously easy(I did it twice in 3 months and had very little ash(about 3/4 cu. ft total from both times). The HX tubes I did not have to clean, but did anyway so I can practice and see what was the deal in there and nothing but fly ash in there, 4-5 passes with the brush down to metal. Not even 15 minutes total(putting the coils back in took the longest).
Additionally I do not have idling issues, as in 210hours of service I have only logged 2 hours of slumber and that was due to my miscalculation.
The variable speed fan and adjustable air modulators are very well designed in controlling burn parameters, which makes my life easier.
You get what you pay for in my estimate and after much research, I decided to go for it. Having a Garn outside was not feasible for a few reasons and this seemed to be the best indoor unit, even though the extra money was borrowed, as was most of the install, but it made sense financially and otherwise.
I do not know about other down draft gassers form Europe or from wherever else, but this one is very easy to operate and puts out a considerable amount of BTUs in my tanks with a reduced amount of fuel. Obviously not defying laws of physics and material properties, but clearly very efficiently "squeezing" all the heat out of the fuel.
I salute the people who build their own gassers or any boiler and have great success with them, but I had to make a decision which took fire safety into account, as well as smoke, ash, smell issues within the basement and admittedly I am not sufficiently skilled to build a machine encompassing these parameters. Congrats to those who can and you have my admiration, but either way we are all doing something much bigger than ourselves, by eliminating the OIL/LP truck and thieves from our lives.
Best holiday wishes and a great new year to All.
Scott
