Considerations, smoke, cleaning & noise.

[BillsWS]

I could use some help in my search for a boiler (with storage) to install in my basement. My first thoughts are for a unit with no smoke spillage on refills, easy cleaning & maintenance and minimal noise. There is also the need for a solid unit with available parts, warranty, longevity, etc... My only access to the basement is a 3' man door with 4 steps into the basement. The house is very air tight (ICF) 2000 sq ft main floor, 2000 basement, both with in floor heat, and an attached two car garage where I plan to put a modine heater loop from the house system. Thanks in advance for your suggestions on boilers or anything I might be overlooking.

 

[skfire]

Froling worked for me, had pretty much the same criteria, especially the smoke issue.

Research this site, no better source of REAL info and very knowledgeable members.

36" door...tight fit for tanks, try air tanks, vertical.
Do you have a heat loss calc and existing heating system layout schematic?

Scott

 

[maple1]

How tall is your chimney?

In all seriousness, for the criteria you listed - mine fits to a T. And while not exactly 'light', it's likely quite low on the scale compared to others.

With no fan, the only thing I hear when it is at full honk sitting in the living room right above it, is a faint rumbling sound of gassification - quite a comforting sound, I might add. I would also argue the easiest to clean & maintain, and with the chimney providing the draft it is like a constant fan pulling everything through the firebox which virtually eliminates smoke spillage.

Also, propane tanks up to 330 gallons are 30" in diameter - 500's are 36".

 

[kopeck]

The Frolings and the Tarms are very good at not letting smoke escape. I think the Vigas and Varmebaronen are also negative draft boilers so they would work as well (maple1 Varmebaronen is natural draft, ie no fan!).

My Tarm Solo Innova is pretty darn quite. I can't really hear it at all with my basement door closed, with it open I can but it's not a all annoying.

Not sure what you want to know about cleaning.

K

 

[Rory]

I understand that the Tarm Solo Innovas don't spill smoke. However, the original Tarm Solos, which are still sold, definitely do. I kind of wish I had bought an Innova, which had just come out when I bought my Solo 30. My dealer really didn't detail the difference for me.

 

[stee6043]

If you can't deal with a bit of dust/smoke you may want to reconsider putting the unit inside your house. Even with a "smoke free" unit you're bound to do something wrong once in a while. And no matter how smoke free they are they still make ash. I run my EKO very nearly smoke free but I can almost guarantee I'll set off the smoke alarm twice per heating season. It's inevitable.

You've got a solid dealer just south of the bridge in Indian River. They carry a host of brands worth considering. You'll find that most folks are going to recommend the boiler they own, not surprisingly. You'll be better off talking to the dealers that have experience with many brands.

 

[flyingcow]

I agree with stee6043.

I agree with maple1

skfire has a nice unit.actually the Cadillac unit.

I agree with Kopec...but he has the same unit as me.

But seriously, I do like my unit outside my house.

NOTE, once you learn burn times, you wait until boiler is almost out of wood, and shouldn't be much smoke roll out/.

 

[BoilerMan]

If you can't deal with a bit of dust/smoke you may want to reconsider putting the unit inside your house. Even with a "smoke free" unit you're bound to do something wrong once in a while. And no matter how smoke free they are they still make ash. I run my EKO very nearly smoke free but I can almost guarantee I'll set off the smoke alarm twice per heating season. It's inevitable.

No, and Yes...........

No: Ash and the dust from it are not an issue if cleaned with the correct equipment. I use an ash vac to clean the boiler once a week with the induced draft fan running and I get no dust buildup on anything in the boiler room. The only dirty part of having the boiler inside (other than the occasional smoke spillage) is the annual cleaning and that is in the spring.

Yes: Something wrong always happens a couple of times a year and smoke is spilled in the house.

Personally I'd only consider an induced draft boiler (suction fan) for this reason. This had bee discussed in numerous threads.

Disclaimer: The only gasser I have real world expierence with other than my own if a forced draft Econoburn.

TS

 

[BillsWS]

If you can't deal with a bit of dust/smoke you may want to reconsider putting the unit inside your house. Even with a "smoke free" unit you're bound to do something wrong once in a while. And no matter how smoke free they are they still make ash. I run my EKO very nearly smoke free but I can almost guarantee I'll set off the smoke alarm twice per heating season. It's inevitable.

You've got a solid dealer just south of the bridge in Indian River. They carry a host of brands worth considering. You'll find that most folks are going to recommend the boiler they own, not surprisingly. You'll be better off talking to the dealers that have experience with many brands.

stee6043, I'd like to take your advice and contact the dealer in Indian River. Could you provide a link or business name?

I appreciate the advice from you other members too, which will help direct my research.

 

[kopeck]

I understand that the Tarm Solo Innovas don't spill smoke. However, the original Tarm Solos, which are still sold, definitely do. I kind of wish I had bought an Innova, which had just come out when I bought my Solo 30. My dealer really didn't detail the difference for me.

Yes and no. Last I checked the old Solos were still made but not by Tarm (they licenses the design).

But yes if you went with a Solo and not a Solo Innova you would have the same problem as the older positive draft boilers.

K

 

[Fred61]

I could use some help in my search for a boiler (with storage) to install in my basement. My first thoughts are for a unit with no smoke spillage on refills, easy cleaning & maintenance and minimal noise. There is also the need for a solid unit with available parts, warranty, longevity, etc... My only access to the basement is a 3' man door with 4 steps into the basement. The house is very air tight (ICF) 2000 sq ft main floor, 2000 basement, both with in floor heat, and an attached two car garage where I plan to put a modine heater loop from the house system. Thanks in advance for your suggestions on boilers or anything I might be overlooking.

I can't speak for other popular boilers on the noise issue but my Eko is no louder than my refrigerator. It's in my basement and I can't here it running "till I get to the bottom of the stairs. Much of the time it's drowned out by the refrigerator and freezer down there. My oil burner can be heard throughout the house.

On the smoke issue, many here complain of smoke coming from the loading door. On mine if I load smart and/or are careful I don't get smoke. If I'm having a brain cramp and stupidly whip the door open I will get smoke until my reaction kicks in.

On dust. If I keep my flue pipe joints sealed and all door gaskets in good shape dust is no problem What dust I do generate is again of my own making. I batch burn and so I rake out the lower chamber into a brownie pan every day. Again when stupidity takes over and I dump the pan into a steel bucket inside the basement I will get a cloud of dust. It's best done outside.

Is your house totally ICF? If so there may not be a need for even the smallest gasser available. It's a lot of hardware for a home that will more than likely be on the way low end of the heat loss scale. Your break even point will be way out there in the future. Do you have a heat recovery ventilator installed?

 

[stee6043]

stee6043, I'd like to take your advice and contact the dealer in Indian River. Could you provide a link or business name?

I appreciate the advice from you other members too, which will help direct my research.

Well I feel a bit foolish. It looks like the place I bought my boiler from, as did several others on this site, is no longer around (at least not by the same name). It used to be Cozy Heat in Indian River. A quick google search did not lead to any quick answers other than one rather mysterious post here on Hearth.com back in 2010/2011.

Sorry for the misdirection here. New Horizon is the importer for a handful of EU boilers (including my EKO). Their website is pretty decent but this does not help you kick tires, per se. http://www.newhorizoncorp.com/

 

[stee6043]

Ohh and for the record, I have my boiler inside my house and I wouldn't have it any other way!

I had a good laugh last night due to this thread. I had dinner plans that I forgot about and wanted to top off my EKO mid-run before we left, and sure enough I set off the smoke alarm. I couldn't have timed my post above any better. That's two for this year so now I should be good to go for the balance.

I told my wife I was just testing the new smoke alarms. Happy to report they all work...every single one of them. ha.

 

[mr.fixit]

Looks like cozy heat is still around,just moved to Wisconsin. http://www.cozyheat.net/

Also isn't Up North energy still around? (broken link removed)

 

[skfire]

I have absolutely no smoke, noise or ash issues in 3 solid years of operation, even through the 1st year of acclimation.
If there was any inkling of operational (leaky gaskets etc), smoke/ash problems, the boiler would not have never been introduced into my house, it is a serious health concern.
With any wood burning device one has to allow for for accidental spillage or God forbid a serious malfunction creating such a scenario, thus I opted for the boiler with the most failsafe engineered design and safety record as tested and in proven operation under stringent standards(Europe, especially Germany and Austria)).
During reload(even with a partial coal bed) we get no smoke escaping, since the boiler has a smoke extraction channel over the loading door.
Also I did not have the desire to re build aspects of my boiler or "field test" operational parameters. I wanted a unit that was built under extensively engineered protocol. That work was done by the pros, my work is to get the wood and keep my family safe and warm.

Having said that, I did personally 5 visit homes with Eko set ups and it was not for me, based on my aforementioned criteria.
The financial aspect for it was a consideration but everything has a price and associated recompenses. We are all masters of our own vessels and nothing is one size fits all.

My advice is to do your homework carefully, seriously consider all your criteria in order of importance and plan accordingly.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Scott

 

[BoilerMan]

VERY well said sir!

TS

 

[huffdawg]

After having owned an EKo 40 for three years now I could tell you I would never ever put that thing in a house. I built an add on at the back of my shop with an exterior door access to it so that I get virtually no smoke in my shop.
A Garn Jr. or FHG 50 will be my next boiler if I ever decide to upgrade.

Huff