TARM ot 50 WOOD BOILER INDOOR good unit or not

[bulldogbones]

Well long story short in 6 months I have gone from an ancient outdoor wood boiler with very little insulation to a indoor Corn boiler which was a great unit now back to my outdoor boiler. So I am currently trying to get a game plan for my heating before the end of this coming fall.

I came across this unit and havnt been able to find much info pertaining to Tarm ot 50's so rather then run out and buy it I figured I would ask around and find out all I can. Here are some pics of the unit. The reason I want a wood/oil burner is because I work out of town and my wife some times goes out of town for 3-4 days at a time.
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[bulldogbones]

or what about this unit

(broken link removed to http://cgi.ebay.com/Chappee-Wood-Coal-Boiler-furnace-with-oil-back-up_W0QQitemZ260557731708QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3caa73777c#ht_970wt_1144)

 

[Singed Eyebrows]

I would recommend getting a gasification boiler which the Chapee & your pictured Tarm is not. If you need to have oil backup you could buy a separate used oil boiler for probably reasonably cheap. I know some Hearth members run conventional wood boilers with no creosote issues, this is not the norm though. A gasser will give you much better efficiency & no chimney fires if operated properly, Randy

 

[bulldogbones]

I would love to buy a gasser but I dont have the $$$$ to do that.

 

[coolidge]

For there time these boilers were probally one of the best. I dont have the one pictured but i do have the MB 55 and it loves wood. This is my first and last year with it, i figured i am going to use about 13 full cords to heat 2700 sq ft but not a drop of oil in the last four years. As mentioned above save your $$$ for a gasser.

 

[bulldogbones]

If you want to give me money to save I will save. But in the last 12 months I got married bought a house and I am currently putting my wife through Dental Hygiene school with out student loans. So I dont really have a ton of $$$$ just sitting around to go and buy a gasser. I also dont want to spend a bunch because we will be moving in about 3 years and will be moving to the VA area where I wont need a gasser. So spending a bunch of $$ on a system that I wont be using in 3 yrs is dumb. Also it wont help the resale of the house unless the person that buys the house wants to burn wood. but alot of people like there #2 oil and alot of people prefer forced air.

So Im wondering if these units are good or are they complete crap. I only have about $2,500-$3,00 to spend. I know I wont be buying a Brand new unit which is fine with me, so any info on good used units would be appreciated or what units I should keep an eye out for.

 

[WoodNotOil]

If you want to give me money to save I will save. But in the last 12 months I got married bought a house and I am currently putting my wife through Dental Hygiene school with out student loans. So I dont really have a ton of $$$$ just sitting around to go and buy a gasser. I also dont want to spend a bunch because we will be moving in about 3 years and will be moving to the VA area where I wont need a gasser. So spending a bunch of $$ on a system that I wont be using in 3 yrs is dumb. Also it wont help the resale of the house unless the person that buys the house wants to burn wood. but alot of people like there #2 oil and alot of people prefer forced air.

So Im wondering if these units are good or are they complete crap. I only have about $2,500-$3,00 to spend. I know I wont be buying a Brand new unit which is fine with me, so any info on good used units would be appreciated or what units I should keep an eye out for.

Following your logic here, I think putting in a used wood/oil boiler would put you in a similar position as far as resale etc and you would probably use the same amount of wood that the outdoor boiler is using anyway. Therefore, I would suggest putting in a wood stove in the house and using the oil forced air as your backup. A woodstove will use less wood than a traditional wood boiler and is much easier for the next homeowner to remove if they don't want it (or for you to take with you when you move). It would also fit realistically into your budget.

 

[bulldogbones]

No putting a multi fuel in that is under 3K wont put me in the same position. A gasser costs 5k+ / a used multi fuel cost under 3k and if the person that buys my house doesnt want to burn wood they can burn oil in the same unit.

I appreciate the extra help but since no one has given advice on the two units that I posted does that mean no one knows anything about them, or what older units are good?

 

[Singed Eyebrows]

If you want to give me money to save I will save. But in the last 12 months I got married bought a house and I am currently putting my wife through Dental Hygiene school with out student loans. So I dont really have a ton of $$$$ just sitting around to go and buy a gasser. I also dont want to spend a bunch because we will be moving in about 3 years and will be moving to the VA area where I wont need a gasser. So spending a bunch of $$ on a system that I wont be using in 3 yrs is dumb. Also it wont help the resale of the house unless the person that buys the house wants to burn wood. but alot of people like there #2 oil and alot of people prefer forced air.

So Im wondering if these units are good or are they complete crap. I only have about $2,500-$3,00 to spend. I know I wont be buying a Brand new unit which is fine with me, so any info on good used units would be appreciated or what units I should keep an eye out for.

Following your logic here, I think putting in a used wood/oil boiler would put you in a similar position as far as resale etc and you would probably use the same amount of wood that the outdoor boiler is using anyway. Therefore, I would suggest putting in a wood stove in the house and using the oil forced air as your backup. A woodstove will use less wood than a traditional wood boiler and is much easier for the next homeowner to remove if they don't want it (or for you to take with you when you move). It would also fit realistically into your budget.

Absolutly, that was what I was going to suggest./ Buy a decent hot air circulator, take a sawzall & cut a hole in the floor or floors & put in a floor grate(this will look decent) & duct hot air up. Boilers & their installation hdw are not cheap. You are trying to save money & who isn't? It doesn't pay to put in a boiler for 3 years use in my opinion. Good luck, Randy

 

[webbie]

Tarm OT are decent units, but were last sold in about 1980-81

That means any of them are 30 or more years old........sure, boilers can last longer, but 30 years is a typical boiler life.

I can't count your money, but it seems as if the purchase and installation of all those boilers....would not save anything off using oil or lp.

If you are gonna move in a couple year, it might be best to skip the central heating with wood all together.

 

[bulldogbones]

Well guys thanks for the input. But here is how I looks at it. Forced air in Upstate NY is the absolute worst thing to heat with. So since the house already has cast iron radiators throughout the house and 3yrs before I bought the house my buddy installed all new pex and built a brand new manifold to feed the radiators. I am going to stick with my radiators as a source of heat. I understand that some here might think I am foolish to buy an old but in good shape wood boiler, but I dont have tons of money right now to spend on a new heating system. So I am going to sell my Corn Burning Boiler and then spend the 4-5 months searching for a wood boiler that suites my needs.