First full month with the Optirmizer 250. Although the last few days have been WARM the week before was chilly with wind chill below zero. I cant believe how much wood i have saved with this thing so far. I did have a blower issue(stopped working) and the company had a local dealer meet me at my house with a replacement that night. Customer service "check". The house is always what the thermostat is set too and wood consumption is half if not a little more than last year,i bet not even 3/4 cord for this year yet. Quite a difference compared to the old Tarm. Cant wait to see what the thing can do when it gets cold out.
Portage and Main
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Glad to hear the happy tidings.
Your post made me go back to take a look at the Portage and Main website (saw their outdoor unit in person at the NE Forest Expo and was very impressed with design and build quality) and I see that they now offer an indoor gasifier-- and it appears to use a suction blower rather than a pressurized firebox-- looks like a potentially promising unit:
See "Economizer IDM 150" towards lower part of page:
http://www.portageandmainboilers.com/gasification.html
Your post made me go back to take a look at the Portage and Main website (saw their outdoor unit in person at the NE Forest Expo and was very impressed with design and build quality) and I see that they now offer an indoor gasifier-- and it appears to use a suction blower rather than a pressurized firebox-- looks like a potentially promising unit:
See "Economizer IDM 150" towards lower part of page:
http://www.portageandmainboilers.com/gasification.html
That Scotch Marine boiler design sure looks like a winner. That is one OWB I wouldn't mind having, Randy
What impressed me the most about the P&M I saw at the Forest Expo was the extent to which it was designed to be quick and easy to clean the firetubes. If their indoor model shares that attribute, that's a major plus.
Nothing on the TV so I had a look on their site. The FAQ was interesting.
They give numbers based on a 65% efficiency but do not state which system that applies to, seems high for the non gasser and low for the gassers.
I would like to see the big non gasser in action. Looks like the firebox would take half a cord. But at its maximum output would last 8 hours or so. I wonder how long it would take to fill it up.
They give numbers based on a 65% efficiency but do not state which system that applies to, seems high for the non gasser and low for the gassers.
I would like to see the big non gasser in action. Looks like the firebox would take half a cord. But at its maximum output would last 8 hours or so. I wonder how long it would take to fill it up.
I liked the looks of the non gasser also , but i needed the gasser for the white tag. I though i read somewhere that the gasser was rated at 92% effecient, will check into that again.I did the first cleaning of the fire tubes yesterday morning, it took maybe a half hour.The company reccommends the exhuast temp to be around 250 degrees which resulted in removing two turbulators. There are a few minor things that annoy me but very easily fixed to my liking when summer arrives. Next will be the sidearm if anyone has a good site for those.
I saw one of these at the MN State Fair last year. It was up and running and was very impressive. The workmanship and quality appeared to be A-1. The only thing I wasn't impressed with was the price, which I think was in the $10,000 to $10,500 range. For not that much more a Garn could be had that has is own storage.
Doug
Doug
But, if you're looking to go the OWB route, this would be the way to go. An E-classic is more $$$'s than the Portage n Main
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