I am in the process of purchasing a wood boiler system. I have decided to integrate heat storage into the system, but having trouble deciding between a system that has the heat storage integrated with-in the boiler(Garn 1500) and other wood gasification boilers with a seprate vessel to retain the heat. I like the idea of the integration of the two processes together, but wonder if there would be an advantage to having the two seperated for the posibility of repair( boiler is at the end of it's service life so it would be easy to exchange it for another) Anyone have some experiences with either of these two synerios that would be usefull feedback?
Heat Storage considerations
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I have a separate-type system (Econoburn gasification boiler and 1200 gallons of storage) and I'd not have been able to fit a Garn into my old farmhouse cellar. I've seen the Garn, and it has considerable attractive simplicity- no pumps, controls, piping, etc., between boiler and storage.
I'd guess for most this decision comes down to one of space. If I had the room for a Garn I probably would have gone that route. I don't think it's necessarily a better or more efficient wood burner than my EKO but I really do like the idea of having one complete unit. On the other hand - my setup allows me a fair amount of flexibility since my storage is separate.
It's worth noting that the cost between the two (Garn vs. gasser with storage) is almost the same at the end of the day....
It's worth noting that the cost between the two (Garn vs. gasser with storage) is almost the same at the end of the day....
Thanks for your input. My gut feeling of going with the Garn runs parallel to your input. I don't have any space restaints, so that isn't issue. I'm just in the process checking into the manufacturer's support and service as well as technical knowledge. The other boiler I am considering is the Econoburn. Pybyr - are you completely satisfied with the overall performance of your Econoburn as well as the service from the company?
If there is anyone else out there with a Garn who feels comforatble giving feedback, I all ears.
If there is anyone else out there with a Garn who feels comforatble giving feedback, I all ears.
trees said:
The design, and the build quality, of my EWB 150 are both impressive to me-- both the outsides and insides are more in the nature of what you'd see in some demanding commercial application than what you'd expect in a residential item. The company has been extremely responsive to any inquiries I've made- as to service- no sign of any needed yet, or anything on the horizon.
A fellow down the road from me has a Garn- it's indeed an impressive unit in its own way. Only particular downside I can think of (as long as you have the space) is that if it's not uphill of all of your heat zones, then you have to run a big heat exchanger
Space is certainly an issue for some, I would say more on the side of of a reason to not do a Garn if you don't have the room... Another thing that might be worth more analyzing, and I'm not sure what the full answer would be, is how does the electrical energy consumption compare between the Garn and the typical gassers given a comparable install?
One of the issues that I keep thinking about is how much power does a gasser system take - it makes no sense to me to go to wood burning to reduce the dependence on the gas / oil co. and then have to turn around and give a big chunk of the savings to the electric co...
From this regard, one of the downsides of the Garn is that it has a BIG honking blower on the front of the unit in order to drive the draft. Most gassers just have a couple of relatively small fans. I'm not sure what the conclusion was, but we had a thread a while back with an off-grid member that was debating between the Garn and the gasser + storage approach, and was worried about power consumption. I think the numbers that were quoted from electrical data plates (and NOT actual power consumption) had the Garn drawing a lot more juice, but I don't know if that was just to accomodate the inrush surge demand of starting that big blower, or a reflection of the actual running power draw...
If running external storage, or a heat exchanger on the Garn, you would also need to figure in what the power draw was for whatever circulators it took to get the hot water from the boiler to the storage and then into the house, etc... (Presumably the house itself would be using the same setup either way since it doesn't matter to the house what the source of the heat is...)
I wouldn't necessarily make a decision based soley on the power consumption question, but I think it's another factor that is worth considering.
Gooserider
One of the issues that I keep thinking about is how much power does a gasser system take - it makes no sense to me to go to wood burning to reduce the dependence on the gas / oil co. and then have to turn around and give a big chunk of the savings to the electric co...
From this regard, one of the downsides of the Garn is that it has a BIG honking blower on the front of the unit in order to drive the draft. Most gassers just have a couple of relatively small fans. I'm not sure what the conclusion was, but we had a thread a while back with an off-grid member that was debating between the Garn and the gasser + storage approach, and was worried about power consumption. I think the numbers that were quoted from electrical data plates (and NOT actual power consumption) had the Garn drawing a lot more juice, but I don't know if that was just to accomodate the inrush surge demand of starting that big blower, or a reflection of the actual running power draw...
If running external storage, or a heat exchanger on the Garn, you would also need to figure in what the power draw was for whatever circulators it took to get the hot water from the boiler to the storage and then into the house, etc... (Presumably the house itself would be using the same setup either way since it doesn't matter to the house what the source of the heat is...)
I wouldn't necessarily make a decision based soley on the power consumption question, but I think it's another factor that is worth considering.
Gooserider
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