Interesting boiler design

[Eric Johnson]

I just got back from the Northeastern Forest Products Equipment Expo in Essex Jct., (Burlington) Vermont, where I saw an interesting boiler design. I have the lit at home and will dig it up and give you all some details, but it's basically a 120,000 btu/hr boiler that looks like a glass-front wood stove. In fact, it's designed to be installed in living space. It doesn't have much water storage to speak of at all--just a bunch of tubing around the firebox and at the bottom. Takes an 8-inch chimney and has a huge glass loading door. The Swedish guy selling it said that you would need water storage, but that a standard 50-gallon water heater would work well. It had a half-inch tapping for the water return and what looked like a 3/4-inch supply tap(!). Natural draft by way of a bimetal draft regulator.

Interesting rig. Looked like your typical weird-but-effective European design.

My guess is that if it works at all, it would work best with a high-temp/low water setup like baseboards. I have trouble believing this thing, which sells for about $4,000, can crank out 120,000 btus per hour, but that's what it's rated at.

Anybody know what I'm talking about?

 

[carpniels]

HI Eric,

The principle sounds exactly like a Tarm boiler. Heaterbox, pipe in an out and a large water vat nearby. Except Tarm uses them up to 800 gallons and keeps them at 180 or so degrees. From this vat a line goes through the house. Once enough heat is lost in your living space and the vat temp goes down, the heater kicks on and heats the vat up again. But it always burns at perfect temp and efficiency.

The glass door is kind of interesting. The in house install too (free radiant heat).

The price seems high, but low compared to TARM boilers. Is it UL and EPA approved? or is the latter not needed for these machines? Do you have a brand name?

Carpniels

 

[Eric Johnson]

The Tarm has about 50 gallons of water capacity in a jacket around the firebox. This thing has maybe a gallon or two, from what I can see. But yes, the efficiency principle is the same, I believe.

The guy manning the booth said that it is UL approved and that it would pass EPA emissions regs, if they applied, which they don't. He said something about secondary combustion. Since it's a European design, however, I assume it passes whatever standards are in effect where it is manufactured and sold. And I believe they're fairly strict in most European countries.

I'll dig up the brochure with the name and more details tonight when I get home.

BTW, I didn't have a chance to drop your trailer ball off the other day, but I will next time I'm in town.

 

[Eric Johnson]

It's right in the ballpark, Dylan. My boiler is 150,000 btu/hr and I believe Tarm makes a range from 100,000 up to roughly 200,000.

When I saw the thing, I was reminded of the people who occasionally post with questions about putting a DHW coil into a wood stove. I don't think this thing has a dedicated DHW coil, but you could easily hook up another kind of heat exchanger, or get a storage tank with a coil.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Here's a link to the importer/distributor with a gallery showing the stoves. The one I saw is the one with the wood on the bottom and the stovepipe (and ss chimney section) showing in the photos.

http://www.hydro-to-heat-convertor.com/

Nice looking appliance. I wonder how well it works.

 

[Turner-n-Burner]

Their retail location is only 2 miles from my house . I'm going to have to check this out.


-Dan

 

[carpniels]

Hi Dan,

Please do and let us know how it went.

Carpniels