Does anyone have experience with one of these boilers burning only wood? I'm having my faulty TL300 replaced free of charge from Harman and would like to go with a wood burning boiler this time around. I have an 1150sq ft. ranch house on a full basement. The basement will be 2/3 finished with the other 1/3 the boiler/water tank/etc room. The house was built in 1994 so insulation should be decent, although I do not know what R value it is. I currenlty have NG HWBB that I would tie a boiler in to. My biggest concerns with the Harmans is the short burn times it seems most have with burning wood only. If its going to burn out of wood through the night or while Im at work and the gas kicks on, its not of much use to me. Not to mention the creosote buildup from idling. Please don't say to burn coal. I get free wood and am going to stick with wood only. I know the gassifiers are much better option, but also much more $$$, and I don't have room for storage. So with that said, is the Harman a wise choice, or should I just save and go with a gassifier without storage? Can someone suggest one that is reasonably priced? Thanks for any help.
Harman SF260
- Thread starter bigbear
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this spring i bought a boiler called wasser, and it turns out it is a clone of a harman sf 360. i read everything i could find on the harmans and found some complaints on length of burn times and some had put firebrick on the grates. i put 3 on each side end to end and left the center open and i get 8-12 hr burn times. i also have 240 gallons storage in series with the pump always on. i have only wood as there is no coal here. next summer i plan to add secondary overfire air tubes to increase effeciency, as well as a baffel plate. they are well built units and i got mine for less than half the current price listed for the same size harman unit. i suggest if you buy the boiler get some storage tanks set up so the boiler has some work to do instead of just idling all the time.
This thread https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/what-to-replace-the-harman-with.109200/#post-1437769 I started awhile ago pretty much sums up my Harmon SF260 experience - I'm in the process of hooking up a new Garn Junior, A lot more $$$$$$$ than the Harmon was, but no more climbing up the roof to try to get creosote out thats like glass.
I only burn wood in mine. It pre heats the water before my gas boiler. I pretty much only run it at night or on the weekends when i am home because i don't have thermal storage so i turn down the heat on the house then bring it back up with the wood boiler. I don't have a creosote problem but i burn wide open and dry wood. In the spring and fall i don't run it much at all. It is not the most effective i unit i wish i was installing a Garn Junior but i only paided 1500.00 or so for mine used.
Big bear
Look into DS machine aqua gem 3200 160,000 btu
I have one installed indoor. Call me 203-610 7667 LUKE
I can set you up with dealer in PA
Look into DS machine aqua gem 3200 160,000 btu
I have one installed indoor. Call me 203-610 7667 LUKE
I can set you up with dealer in PA
bigbear, with only 1150 square feet and modern construction just about any wood boiler is going to be over-sized for your application (Mark Caluwe's Walltherm would be the only exception I am aware of). As you know this will cause it to idle a lot, and if it is a non-gasifier, then there will be lots of creosote in the chimney. If it is a gasifier, then the boiler will still idle a lot, but the creosote will build up in the firebox which will dramatically shorten your boiler life. If you cannot fit 400+ gallons of thermal storage then you would likely be best served with a modern woodstove instead of a boiler. Let us know what you end up with and good luck with the search.
cookiemonster
Member
I burn coal in my SF-360. I canned the wood after 3 yrs. With wood I had creosote build up, Limited burn cycles,,,ect.. You know the rest. Im gonna say it
! BURN COAL. No more creosote, Long , even burn times. No splitting and stacking. I buy 5 tons for $1200.00. My house is really warm throughout the winter, despite the polar vortex. My Buderus oil furnace is shut down throughout the entire winter . I heat a 3500 sq ft space with my 360 with half of its firebox blocked out. Dont need the whole firebox with coal. Good luck..... Stay warm....
tom dee
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