EKO owners near north central massachusetts

[Brialin]

I have a tarm gasifier that just started to leak after 19 years of use. The prices of the new ones seem very high compared to the EKO 40. Does anyone near me own an EKO that I could look at? Is this a good boiler or should I spend the extra to buy another Tarm? The tarm refractory was getting expensive since I had to replace every 2 to 3 years. The Eko seems to be a lot more reasonably priced .

Brian

 

[stee6043]

You'll find boat loads of EKO users on this site. And I think I've only ever heard of 2 not being 100% happy with them. I consider Tarm, Econoburn, Biomass and EKO to be very similar in terms of quality and operation. For me, Tarm and EKO were my top two picks. I went with the EKO for controls ultimately. I don't think you can go wrong with either. I personally highly recommend EKO. It's a great boiler.

 

[Brialin]

Thanks for the information. I am going to go with the eko. Do you see any problems buying it sight unseen.

Brian

 

[nrcrash]

If you had a little more money in your budget you might want to consider a Vigas with lambda, they are not crazy expensive like the Froling but still give self adjusting burning. I've been running mine for a couple months and love it. I'm in southern/central mass if you wanted to see one in operation.

 

[stee6043]

Thanks for the information. I am going to go with the eko. Do you see any problems buying it sight unseen.

Brian

As long as it's new and you're buying from a reputable dealer I wouldn't worry about buying an EKO sight unseen. That's how I bought mine...

 

[kopeck]

I looked at both and went Tarm.

Not saying the EKO is bad, it's not, there's a lot of guys on here with them that are very happy I just think the Tarm Solo innova is a more modern design. The EKO can have smoke issues with the door open, they way the Tarm is designed that's more or less not a problem. Two rocker switches control the whole thing, no by pass levers or anything like that. You do have primary and secondary air setting (as does the EKO) but once you find what works for your wood you really don't have to mess with them. Really the Froling and the Tarm have a very similar design, it's just the Froling adds the bells and whistles.

Probably the most important part is a good retailer/support.

I would also look at Vigas. Had a better retailer been around when I was in the market I would have given them a closer look.

K