My install - Tarm HS4.0 and Harman Accentra Insert

[turbulator]

Well it's been a long time coming, but we are finally at the stage of remodeling an old 1800's farm house and putting our Tarm in. I've had it for a while, and the house purchase had been hung up over previous owners divorce, etc - but finally moving along.

Its about a 3,000 sq ft house with old cast iron radiators. Had an old oil boiler that wasn't zoned. I added an attached garage and a large breezeway addition that will house a boiler room for the Tarm and a family room with the Accentra. The Harman insert will go through the wall and the back side will be into the boiler room so all venting etc is in the same general area. We added a 5-zone manifold and radiant floor heat in the addition w/ mixing valve. The 5th zone is a dump zone which will be in the garage, but will also have a thermostat if we decide to use it for that. We also put in a complete forced-air system both in the attic and basement for backup heat (propane) and central ac. I am pumped to finally have this project in the works.

These are some of the first pics as we are getting started - I'll be posting more as the project moves along.

Manifold going in.

Starting to get the insert fit. Need to get the zero clearance surround to finish up the roughing in. Boiler room is directly behind the insert, and garage behind that.

 

[turbulator]

Boiler was set today. I built a riser so the auger motor is at floor level with the garage for service. Worked well this way because the hopper will be right at the back side of the door and easy to access. The hole in the wall in the front side of the boiler is the back side of where the Harman insert is going in which is facing into the family room as shown above. Recent pics of the manifold as well. Haven't installed the Harman yet, we are finishing moving this weekend. I expect to get the Harman in this heating season. The boiler will be our main heat source this year.

 

[velvetfoot]

Looking good!
Is the oil boiler, or any other backup, still in the mix?

 

[turbulator]

Than you....

Oil boiler is out. I had 2x 70k BTU propane fired forced air systems installed with central air. Propane was horrifying last year however. There are natural gas wells all around me with what I understand a commercial line nearby. I am working on contacting them to see about tapping in with a meter. They'll probably tell me to pound it but it's worth a shot.

But yes, we do have backup albeit propane. I still have a Chappee oil/wood/coal boiler that I could set in next to the Tarm if needed. I still have the underground oil tank as well. I thought about running the Chappee in tandem with wood, but decided not to right now. I could re-set the Chappe back in the basement and run lines over to the manifold if I had to. Just a lot of screwing around really.

I also have a 100k BTU electric boiler that I could put inline with the Tarm for backup, but man is that thing expensive to run lol.

So counting I have pellet, wood, coal, oil, electric, and propane options lol...Hoping that will do it. Now if I could just get some broadband out here instead of 4G hotspot, but that's for a different forum lol.

 

[velvetfoot]

You indeed have a lot of options.
Since you already have the ductwork, you could also put in a heat pump, lol.
I think it'd be nice to have two separate systems like that. Integrating the oil boiler for seamless backup hasn't been that easy on the grey cells for me, but getting close.

They say underground oil tanks could turn into a big problem.

I hope it works out with the gas; it's worth a shot.

I hear you about the broadband: we only get 3G.

Anyway, got to tend to the fire, since it's 37 outside and there's NO OTHER SOURCE OF HEAT....yet, lol.

 

[turbulator]

Fired it up today. Bout 42F outside. It quickly heats the entire house, addition, and the 28 x 40 garage (addition and garage are insulated but not drywalled yet)....goes into low mode and jumps into pilot occasionally even with dump zone going. It's prob a bit too warm out for it yet, but I wanted to run it some today. Here's the first vid:

 

[turbulator]

Well I've run this thing a bit - still not really cold out yet so it goes into pilot mode a lot....sure heats up the garage though w/ the dump zone. Garage is 28 x 40, 10' ceilings, and an upstairs lol. Keeps it 60+ just from the dump. Bad thing is this sucker is hungry and eats pellets....a lot of them...

I was a dealer for Eden, but they are gone. Called a few local mfg's and nobody can take on another dealer yet because they are still behind from last year.... Maybe spring time. Green Team looks very promising as they are only about 1.5 hrs from me....I am looking forward to working with them actually.

Anyway - this Tarm seems like it'll burn just about anything compared to a smaller pellet stove or insert....it has a 3" auger and massive fire chamber with eleventybillion holes for airflow from the fan. It makes a wicked large fire, roars like a gasification wood boiler.... I am wondering if I could experiment with making my own pellets? I know some units are finicky, but man I think I could burn turds in this if I wanted to.... Anyone ever try a small mill? One thing I have plenty of is leaves....would be very cool to be able to make pellets out of leaves... Drying would be the issue I suppose, but it almost seems worth the try??

 

[velvetfoot]

I just don't think there's enough weight in leaves. That thing burns corn too, no? What's the price on that? So, it doesn't have an electric ignitor, or you can't depend on it or something? Would a buffer tank instead of a dump zone help at all? Maybe load the tank first before the dump zone in case of low load? Might even things out some.