Hi all,
First, let me introduce myself, my name is Chris Hoskin and I am the Dealer Coordinator at BioHeatUSA. I have been a lurker here for a while and frequently send folks to this forum. I don't know of another place where homeowners and contractors can get access to such a wealth of experience and opinion. Thanks for being here.
I have read this post with interest and noticed that the information is mostly correct, with a few minor corrections needed:
First, it is correct that the Solo Plus is now being produced by Scandtec (say "scan-tech"). This is essentially the same Solo Plus that Tarm used to make with some improvments (same name, same models, same warranty, same UL / ULc listing, etc.). Chief among these improvements is that the doors are now put on the boiler at the factory. In the past the door frame had to be mounted to the boiler by the installer and we would occassionally see difficulties with getting a good seal between the boiler body and the door frame. With the frame now welded to the boiler body this issue has gone away. It is also correct that Scandtec was founded by Hans Sorensen, the grandson of the original HS of HS Tarm and they are now producing the Solo Plus for us. Scandtec is located in Skjern, Denmark and is one town north of Tarm, Denmark. Most importantly, the Solo Plus, with the exception of some improvements, is the same boiler and almost all parts are interchangeable with the previous version. We expect the Solo Plus to remain a mainstay of our line-up and will have parts and accessories for all versions for many years to come.
Second, it is correct that the Solo Plus is no longer produced by Baxi (parent company of Tarm) and has been replaced by the Solo Innova (say "in-nova"). The Solo Innova is the next generation of Solo boiler with some additional features and higher efficiency. One of these features is a series of steel aprons lining the inside of the upper firebox. These aprons direct combustion air to the bottom of the fuel load and reflect heat back into the fuel load for a more even burn. These aprons also keep the walls of the water jacket cooler than in a Solo Plus, for example. Because the firebox walls are shielded by the aprons and cooler it is more likely to have creosote and moisture condense there during standby / idle periods. This would, of course, prematurely rot out the boiler if allowed to happen over an extended period of time. The short version of all of this is that the Solo Innova must be used in conjuction with storage. As you know, when using heat storage tanks the boiler burns through the entire fuel load without periods of idling so the opportunity for condenation on the boiler walls is virtually eliminated. This boiler then, is appropriate for the person who is putting their wood boiler and storage in simultaneously. Many people, of course, do not put storage in at all and many more add storage to their systems a year or two or three after the boiler goes in. For this customer the Solo Plus and Fröling will still be excellent choices.
Third the Turbo 3000 is made by the Austrian company Fröling (rhymes with "bowling"). Fröling has no relationship to Tarm, Scandtec or Baxi. We are very excited to be able to offer the Turbo 3000 - with a whole host of features and efficiency in excess of 90% boiler geeks everywhere rejoice! We look forward to offering the P4 pellet boiler in Spring 2009.
Since the founding of Tarm USA, Inc. we have handled the Tarm boiler line exclusively. With the addition of the Scandtec and Fröling products we felt a new name was in order so, BioHeatUSA was born. Same folks, new name. Hope this doesn't come accross as too much of a sales pitch, just wanted to take the opportunity to clarify the relationship between each of the companies and where each product fits in the sales and application spectrum. Hope this clarifies things a bit. Thanks again for being here,
Chris
