Your bring up some points that merit discussion. I will speak for me and might make some assumptions about other users on this forum
As mentioned in the post above, I heat 1500 sq ft with a free-standing, 18 year old wood stove. This is the primary heating, with electric backup when we may be gone for a few days. No plan to change this.
I also have an old barn converted to a workshop that was heated by the old style OWB, a smoking, fire-belching dragon. That boiler gave out late last heating season, and I needed something new for heat. Only practical option was electricity, which is sky high, or putting in an LP unit heater, buying a tank ($1200-2400 depending on size), having it installed, etc., and then being a slave to the peak oil burnout and oil magnates.
We own land with lots of trees, free wood, and another wood boiler was my choice. Not a wood stove, because I wanted the boiler with storage to be able to keep the barn above freezing for at least a week during the dead of winter if we should take off for awhile. After some research, I learned that the old style OWB (the only one I was familiar with) was not the only option, and I became sold on the wood gasification boilers. For a variety of reasons I bought the Tarm, got three old fuel oil tanks for water storage ($125 - 800 gallons), and installed it myself inside the workshop. Except for having to put in a chimney, the cost of the Tarm was competitive with replacement old-style OWB’s.
Could not he happier, free heat, it will keep the barn above freezing for a week based just on storage, and $-wise the Tarm will pay for itself in a reasonable time. Also, I’m not burning or supporting fossil fuels. As you can see, I’m not heating DHW, no pool, no hot tub, just plain heating. And a reasonable choice in my situation. Plus, I’m a DIY experimenter by nature, and leaning about and installing the Tarm was a real accomplishment.
As to others, many also are DIY experimenters. I think many, including myself, are not overly financially challenged, and the decision to give up fossil fuels is good. Many have their own wood supply or access to inexpensive wood. Many are rural or semi-rural, and live in a culture used to wood heat and wood boilers. Hydronic heat serves many purposes better than a wood stove, even though the up-front cost is higher, and many would have opted for a hydronic oil or gas fired system if they had not decided on a wood gasification unit. A gasification boiler with storage can provide heat for several days while a person takes a few days off. A gasification boiler actually can pay for itself, and an oil or LP fired boiler never will, the only thing being certain is that oil and LP will continue to rise in price. And last is that wood heat is sustainable with no fossil fuel CO2.
My concerns are that gasification boilers might be a little challenging to the crowd used to “turn-it-on and forget it” heat and that the up-front cost may be higher than many can afford, even though in many areas the fuel cost saving will quickly make up the difference. But, I doubt Europeans are smarter than US, and they have used this technology in the home for a long time. So, a gasification boiler definitely is a reasonable to very responsible choice in many situations.
