Considering buying a used Tarm Excel 2000

[wombosi]

Hi all,

My old oil system is on it's last legs and I've been considering going to wood.

I found a used Excel 2000, which is a combination oil/wood boiler. The unit is from 2004 and was installed in a parsonage. It's being sold by the HVAC technician that was hired to remove it and replace with a new system.

It was originally hooked up to a storage tank, but that tank was leaking, which was one of the reasons the church replaced the entire system.

I spoke with Tarm and it seems like a concern in terms of how long it was run without the tank, and whether I can get good lifespan out of it myself without the tank.
The seller thinks the storage tank system was insanely convoluted and thinks I'd be better off without it, but Tarm says 10-20 years without a tank.

The price seems good, and the photos make it look very clean - there's not even any soot above the door. It sounds like in the last few years it was mostly run on oil. But I'm wondering what to do here. Any wisdom from the group would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[wbragg42]

Did you ever get any advice? Did you buy it? I have one I'm considering parting with - just posted it tonight.

 

[Lance Stronk]

Just curious - how long did you have your excel 2000 that you are considering parting with? And why? I have one and with oil at close to $6/gal, I’m not parting with mine anytime soon.

 

[wbragg42]

Just curious - how long did you have your excel 2000 that you are considering parting with? And why? I have one and with oil at close to $6/gal, I’m not parting with mine anytime soon.

were you asking me or the OP?

 

[Lance Stronk]

were you asking me or the OP?

You - and sorry, I read your post selling your excel 2000 after I saw this one. I don’t have a woodlot either per se, but access to alot of dead ash and blowdowns. Plus, there’s always good old ‘wood scabbing’ like my father liked to call it.
Good luck!

 

[wbragg42]

You - and sorry, I read your post selling your excel 2000 after I saw this one. I don’t have a woodlot either per se, but access to alot of dead ash and blowdowns. Plus, there’s always good old ‘wood scabbing’ like my father liked to call it.
Good luck!

Sorry for the delay. Unit is good, runs as intended. My issue is that I do NOT have a reliable free source of wood to work on my land. I'd be dependent upon others and would need to buy wood... so the economy goes out the window for me when considering the effort to split, stack, move inside and restack, etc. So. while the unit is still 100% I'm trying to see if anyone wants it.
I love the idea of wood scabbing or befriending arbor folks but life is too complicated right now - maybe when I'm retired I will have the time.

 

[hobbyheater]

On buying wood. We have an efficient boiler with storage so even with buying wood would see a 60/70% saving over heating with electricity!

 

[Bailey in NH]

Hi all,
I have a 2007 Tarm XL2000 wood/oil boiler with American Solartechnics 800 gallon thermal storage tank with domestic hot water coil in it. In NH I pay about $180-220 a cord for wood, and burn about 5.5 a year (depending on the weather of course). If I run oil I burn about 800 gallons a year. So I basically do the math on value...right now at $6 a gallon for oil it's a no brainer. When oil has been $1.99 a gallon, I've run oil exclusively...I like wood and all, but for a couple hundred bucks a year, the labor isn't worth it.

Unfortunately, the boiler has sprung a leak, so I'm in the unfortunate situation of figuring out what to do next. We only have a couple years left in our house, and my wife is NOT a fan of wood (although she does a great job managing it when I'm not home!). So I'm probably going to go to an oil burner and sell the thermal storage tank, betting the Ukraine war and general oil situation will regulate at some point. Maybe someone would want the Tarm as well. I think someone with welding skills could probably get another 10 years of out of it. Anyone know someone who refurbishes or takes used equipment like this?