Portage & Main wood boilers

[beefalocows]

Has anyone have or used a portage & main woodboiler? They say they burn 1/3 to 1/2 the wood of other OWB's. They have been making them in Canada for 30 yrs. Would like to hear from anyone that has any info on these boilers or has one. Are they close to meeting NYS emissions? Thank you

 

[altheating]

Portage & Main water furnaces have been manufactured in Canada for about 30 years. The traditional furnace will not be certified for emissions in NYS. The Optimizer 250 will be tested for emissions and will most likely do very well. I have several customers who are very happy and would be willing to give you a testimonial on the product. We sold many units last year of the P&M;brand and all liked them a lot. I only had one issue with one unit and that was a fan motor had gone bad. It was replaced and continued on for the rest of the heating season. I know of two other dealers and they too had no problems with the units. The P&M;furnace is probably the heaviest built unit available. The new gasification unit is built every bit as well and will serve anyone well for years. The final warranty period has not been set, but it will carry a full five year warranty for starters. Most likely they too will extend it out to be a 20-25 year warranty. Gasification is and will be the way that NY will have to go if you want to burn wood in an outside furnace. Do it efficiently, clean and safe with a high quality unit. I think you will see P&M;at the top of the list in a few years.

 

[Eric Johnson]

It's a good thing. OWB gasification is long overdue, both here in NYS and everywhere else.

 

[altheating]

One thing that I did notice at the show, many people were only looking at the gasifiers and when asked most stated that they were afraid of New York State shutting down the traditional OWB when the new regs take effect. One guest of the show even went as far as telling us that there were almost 30 OWB owners who have been shut down in the past few weeks in either Rochester or Buffalo (I can't remember which) after the DEC followed up on smoke complaints. The gentleman stated that DEC was using the "noxious smoke" law that New York already had on the books to enforce the issue. If there is anyone in that area who has any more first hand knowledge of this happening, more info would be greatly appreciated. I would bet that we will see the same crowd and the same thoughts at the Woodsmen's Show next weekend.
Eric, are you going to be there? If so stop by the booth and say hello.

 

[Eric Johnson]

I'm not going to be there, unfortunately. It will be the first one I've missed in a long time. But it's a good thing--I'll be in the hospital in Syracuse getting my guts hooked back up, and I'm sure looking forward to being "de-bagged."

Otherwise, I sure would stop by and hang with you guys for awhile.

That's a good show. I'm sure you'll get lots of interest and probably sell a few boilers at the show.

 

[altheating]

Sorry you won't be there, good luck on the de-bagging!

 

[Eric Johnson]

Sounds like a big deal, but it's a pretty minor procedure compared to the first op. Ten weeks is long enough to be brown bagging it.