Eko 60 or econoburn 150

[woodsmaster]

Hi, I've narrowed my boiler choices to Two, based on price and btu and would like your opinions.
I have a design heat load of around 78,000 BTU with shop and house, plus domestic water for family of 5 (3 girls that take long showers.) and also a small hot tub.
I will also have 1000 gal. presserized storage. I like the idea of the longer firebox on the Eko 60 but I like that the econoburn is made in the usa. Ive also heard
you dont need a termover valve for the econoburn which would put the 150 at $800.00 less than i can get the Eko 60 for.
Cant afford the econo 200. What would you choose.

 

[ihookem]

The eko 60 is a 210 k boiler, the Econoburn is a 150k boiler. An Eko 40 is closer in size and 1000 dollars less than the Eko 60. The only thing I don't like about my Eko 25 is a 20" log is max. I think that's stupid, they could have easily made it for a 24" log, huge difference.

 

[wantstoburnwood]

There is a used Econo 200 for sale in PA

 

[woodsmaster]

There is a used Econo 200 for sale in PA

Do you have contact info?

 

[WoodNotOil]

Hi, I've narrowed my boiler choices to Two, based on price and btu and would like your opinions.
I have a design heat load of around 78,000 BTU with shop and house, plus domestic water for family of 5 (3 girls that take long showers.) and also a small hot tub.
I will also have 1000 gal. presserized storage. I like the idea of the longer firebox on the Eko 60 but I like that the econoburn is made in the usa. Ive also heard
you dont need a termover valve for the econoburn which would put the 150 at $800.00 less than i can get the Eko 60 for.
Cant afford the econo 200. What would you choose.

I would say that both are great boilers, so you win no matter which you choose. If you go Eko, make sure you get the new door gasket (if they even come with the old anymore). Either way you can actually use a circ for boiler protection instead of a termovar vavle. Danfoss makes a valve as well. I know NoFossil runs his eko with a circ for protection, you can check out his site to see how he does it. Supporting an American Manuf. is always a good idea. I would like to see more of this technology being built on this side of the Atlantic...

On the other hand, I have been hearing good things about Biomass boilers and they have negative draft which means smokeless loading... they also can burn some other fuel choices. Perhaps they deserve another look...

 

[woodsmaster]

As far as BTU rating Which range would work better for my heat load and storage.

 

[WoodNotOil]

As far as BTU rating Which range would work better for my heat load and storage.

The more btus the boiler puts out, then the less often you have to fill it... Also the the Eko 60 and Econ. 200 would have larger fireboxes than the 40 & 150, so one load holds more wood...

 

[woodsmaster]

Hi, I've narrowed my boiler choices to Two, based on price and btu and would like your opinions.
I have a design heat load of around 78,000 BTU with shop and house, plus domestic water for family of 5 (3 girls that take long showers.) and also a small hot tub.
I will also have 1000 gal. presserized storage. I like the idea of the longer firebox on the Eko 60 but I like that the econoburn is made in the usa. Ive also heard
you dont need a termover valve for the econoburn which would put the 150 at $800.00 less than i can get the Eko 60 for.
Cant afford the econo 200. What would you choose.

I would say that both are great boilers, so you win no matter which you choose. If you go Eko, make sure you get the new door gasket (if they even come with the old anymore). Either way you can actually use a circ for boiler protection instead of a termovar vavle. Danfoss makes a valve as well. I know NoFossil runs his eko with a circ for protection, you can check out his site to see how he does it. Supporting an American Manuf. is always a good idea. I would like to see more of this technology being built on this side of the Atlantic...

On the other hand, I have been hearing good things about Biomass boilers and they have negative draft which means smokeless loading... they also can burn some other fuel choices. Perhaps they deserve another look...

Originally I wanted a biomass, but after price shoping decided that I didnt want to pay the extra $2,000. Not concerned with smokeless loading becouse it will be in a shed.

 

[woodsmaster]

Maybe it was only $1200 more, but still a considerable amount.

 

[pybyr]

Hi, I've narrowed my boiler choices to Two, based on price and btu and would like your opinions.
I have a design heat load of around 78,000 BTU with shop and house, plus domestic water for family of 5 (3 girls that take long showers.) and also a small hot tub.
I will also have 1000 gal. presserized storage. I like the idea of the longer firebox on the Eko 60 but I like that the econoburn is made in the usa. Ive also heard
you dont need a termover valve for the econoburn which would put the 150 at $800.00 less than i can get the Eko 60 for.
Cant afford the econo 200. What would you choose.

I have the Econoburn 150 and am very pleased to date. FWIW re: termovar or other tempering valve, whether or not you need one with the EBW is, in my experience so far, an "it depends" -- running my EBW directly into my water-air heat exchanger by which I need the house, the boiler's own controls for the load circulator and bypass circulator do a perfectly adequate job of protecting the boiler from low temperature return water. On the other hand, in trying to load my 1250 gallon storage from a stone cold start, I've found so far that the storage can draw the boiler's temperature down too far, too quick. Perhaps that can be managed by some use of manual oversight with controls or valves when first bringing storage up from cold, but for those who don't want to spend the time and attention managing that "charging storage from cold" you may need to implement some form of return temp protection. As Andrew (WoodNotOil) mentions, that can be done with circulators and appropriate controls rather than a mix valve.

The Econoburn is constructed in an incredibly stout manner, but, having seen an EKO 60, I was also impressed with many of its features, even if it may be slightly less robustly built.

You won't go too far wrong with either. Good luck in your decision and implementation.

 

[killick]

And there are still two Econoburn 150s on E-Bay for US $4995.00 plus shipping available from Aqua-Therm. I believe you folks in the US have a $1500 rebate available which would make this an exceptional deal. Of course you would have to insure the 150 is adequately sized for your needs.

Earl

 

[woodsmaster]

And there are still two Econoburn 150s on E-Bay for US $4995.00 plus shipping available from Aqua-Therm. I believe you folks in the US have a $1500 rebate available which would make this an exceptional deal. Of course you would have to insure the 150 is adequately sized for your needs.

Earl

Earl,
The e - 150s on e-bay were $5495. I see they have come down to 5,295.00 Thats a great deal, Just not sure if I would be better to go with a larger unit or not? I can get the eko 60 for just a little more.

 

[WoodNotOil]

The prices seem to vary quite a bit from retailer to retailer, so make sure you get quotes from multiple places. Years from now you won't really remember a few hundred dollar difference, but you will notice a difference in the way your unit operates. Look at the controls these units use and other features and base your decision on that. In the end they will all get the job done, but each operate just a little differently from one another. Try to get out to see some in action, some of the dealers have them setup for demos and even travel around with them to different types of events. The differences are sometimes subtle...

 

[Chris Hoskin]

I would, of course, recommend the Tarm Solo Innova 50!

really just wanted to say, whatever boiler you choose, I would strongly recommend you use a Termovar or similar mixing valve. It's less than $200, you use one less pump and it works better.

An over-sized boiler with 1000 gallons of pressurized storage will be an awesome system!

 

[Tennman]

Can't imagine the BioMass is not competitive price wise. Not trying to push it, although I really like mine, you should make another call to New Horizon to get a current price. But not going to discourage you from buying American either!

 

[killick]

woodmaster.That's interesting, the one I bought from them in February was $4995 US. I see there are two 150s left. Apart from the price and good reviews a deciding factor for me buying the Econoburn was the fact it is made in the US. There were no import duty charges for me which would apply to the European made boilers. Finally, 'Free Trade' did something for me! In any case either of the brands you are considering get good reviews so you shouldn't go wrong either way.

Earl

 

[woodsmaster]

Can't imagine the BioMass is not competitive price wise. Not trying to push it, although I really like mine, you should make another call to New Horizon to get a current price. But not going to discourage you from buying American either!

Did some more checking around and found a biomass is fairly competitive price wise. About $400.00 more than an eko 60. May have to reconsider it.