Tarm not EPA cert.

[dougcarlo]

I just looked at EPA friendly list of boilers and did not notice Tarms on there, did they not test them or what? Here is the link:http://www.epa.gov/woodheaters/models.htm Does this list mean anything? Here in Fairbanks Alaska there has been some talk about outdoor boilers lately. Thanks Doug

 

[BrownianHeatingTech]

I just looked at EPA friendly list of boilers and did not notice Tarms on there, did they not test them or what? Here is the link:http://www.epa.gov/woodheaters/models.htm Does this list mean anything? Here in Fairbanks Alaska there has been some talk about outdoor boilers lately. Thanks Doug

That lists only includes outdoor boilers. Tarm is an indoor unit, so it's not covered under that particular program.

Joe

 

[dougcarlo]

OK I understand now. Are they rated for indoor by the EPA? Thanks

 

[ford351]

It appears that Tarm, Eko and others wold not pass the phase II limits, (unless they had storage to let them run long and clean), so the by some state guidelines, they cannot be placed outside in a shed, barn, they would have to be in the house (this makes a lot of sense). Garn is a different beast to test, one long burn. The test is not set up for all the different types of units, so outdoor choices for people are very limited.

 

[webbie]

OK I understand now. Are they rated for indoor by the EPA? Thanks

They would automatically be exempt (pass) on EPA due to:
1. Weight
2. Central Heat

EPA tests are ONLY set up for space heaters with controlled combustion. Downdraft boilers are neither.....

However, if one were to measure the output of smoke per KG of wood burned, most of these boilers would pass with flying colors.

 

[heaterman]

It appears that Tarm, Eko and others wold not pass the phase II limits, (unless they had storage to let them run long and clean), so the by some state guidelines, they cannot be placed outside in a shed, barn, they would have to be in the house (this makes a lot of sense). Garn is a different beast to test, one long burn. The test is not set up for all the different types of units, so outdoor choices for people are very limited.

The testing is definitely kind of a mishmash right now. The more the EPA folks get into it, the more they find out that "one size does not fit all".
They are trying to apply the same testing criteria to all wood burners from typical OWB's to more sophisticated units like Econoburn and Froeling............go figure.......the government is screwing something up. Then throw in a unit with a completely different burn cycle like the Garn and you can see this is all headed downhill fast. I think the best thing they could do is eliminate the indoor/outdoor and boiler/stove differentiation and make them all hit the same mark regardless.

I'm going to find out more about emissions and testing at a meeting later this month and I will gladly share anything that's meaningful.

 

[Nofossil]

As much as I tend to be leery of giving the government a role in anything, there seems to be a legitimate benefit here. It's in everyone's interest for consumers to have the information to make good decisions. Perhaps we could have a tag something like the Energy Star tag on appliances that shows how a given model compares to others on a scale. You could even have two scales - one for efficiency and one for particulate emissions.

A little accompanying text could describe the range of results and the unit's score burning green wood or idling 50% of the time.

That way, customers would be aware that there might be better models, and could make more informed decisions.

 

[boilermanjr]

Until late last fall, indoor boilers and pellet fired boilers were not included in the voluntary EPA hydronic heater program. Only outdoor hydronic heaters were included in the language as the program had been created to clean up the outdoor boiler industry. The voluntary Phased hydronic heater program is the only EPA standard that exists now for wood and wood pellet burning boilers. BioHeatUSA learned about the additional language in February. BioHeatUSA plans to test boilers to the phase II standard as is possible and is sensible. Due to a recent lawsuit, the EPA will be changing its regulations for all commercial boilers. It is expected that the first draft of the regulations will be available in July. Given that BioHeatUSA also sells boilers in commercial applications, it is difficult to know when to pull the trigger on emissions tests. Emissions laws have been frustrating to navigate. As they are ever changing, it can get very expensive to keep up with them. As an aside, all of the boilers in the BioHeatUSA catalog have had extensive emissions testing. However, the tests of course were not made to with the EPA standard. When BioHeatUSA boilers are tested, we think they will easily pass EPA phase II limits.