# New Tarm Website - New Brands



## penfrydd (Sep 25, 2008)

I have a Tarm on order, but now see different brands on their new website.  Is anyone familiar with Scantec, or Froling?  I'm concerned that the Tarm I ordered is being discontinued and will no longer have parts available.  I've no idea about relative prices at this point.

I'm hoping to squeeze together a few hours to drive up to Lyme, NH for a look see.

penfrydd


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## Ron Lloyd (Sep 25, 2008)

It looks to me like the Scandtec is going to be the new name for the Tarm Solo Plus line and Innova is going to be the newest line of boilers from Tarm. Froling was a separate company (as far as I knew) but maybe Tarm and Froling combined forces. That might explain the new name "Bioheat".

Ron


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## BrownianHeatingTech (Sep 25, 2008)

The Solo Plus will have a few changes (mostly to the door layout), but I expect they will have parts available for many years to come.

The two new boilers (Solo Innova and the Fröling) are nice pieces of equipment, but they don't work without thermal storage, so I expect that the Plus will continue to be sold for Americans who just don't want to do thermal storage.

The Innova is only a bit more expensive than the Plus.  The Fröling is about 50% more than the Plus, but it's worth it for those who want the Rolls Royce of wood boilers...

Joe


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## Jim in CT (Sep 26, 2008)

penfrydd said:
			
		

> I have a Tarm on order, but now see different brands on their new website.  Is anyone familiar with Scantec, or Froling?  I'm concerned that the Tarm I ordered is being discontinued and will no longer have parts available.  I've no idea about relative prices at this point.
> 
> I'm hoping to squeeze together a few hours to drive up to Lyme, NH for a look see.
> 
> penfrydd



which Tarm is being discontinued? I have an excel2000 on order, and don't want to be screwed with no parts availible.


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## EricV (Sep 26, 2008)

Tarm is known for having parts for many, many years after the sale.  Another reason i went with Tarm.


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## Jim in CT (Sep 26, 2008)

Thats good to know, thanks... should be getting mine next week.


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## BrownianHeatingTech (Sep 26, 2008)

Jim in CT said:
			
		

> penfrydd said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



The Solo Plus is made only for the US market (that's the Scantec), and the Excel is also based upon that platform.

Its conceivable that those models may be discontinued at some time, as they are the lower-tech systems that Tarm offers.  However, I don't think there's any reason that would happen, unless they just aren't selling any because folks don't want to bother.  Still, they sell very few Excel boilers, and still stock them.

I'm not aware of any plans to drop the Plus or Excel, and I doubt that would happen any time soon (I expect that any decision would be made only after several years of seeing what the market for the various models actually ends up being).

As EricV notes, Tarm stocks parts for other discontinued boilers, so I wouldn't expect that to cause any parts problems, even if it eventually happens.  There are also a number of interchangeable parts between the Solo Plus and the Solo Innova.

Joe


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## penfrydd (Sep 29, 2008)

I ended up driving up to NH last Friday.  Tarm did, indeed, discontinue the Solo 40.  Tarm was sold several years ago to another company.  Mr. Tarm's grandson, noting that the Solo 40 is the most popular US model, started a new company (Scantec) and is selling the old Solo 40 with no changes except for an outer door, from what I could see.  The Innova is a totally different company (Froling) of Austria.  

I'm comfortable sticking with my original order of the Solo 40.


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## BioHeat Dealer Guy (Sep 29, 2008)

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


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## garysec (Sep 29, 2008)

I'm also one waiting on delivery of my Solo Plus 30 and checked the site the other day and said where did my boiler go??

It looks great and I can't wait to get it fired up. Are we still looking at mid October deliveries??


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## mlyons (Sep 30, 2008)

Hi Chris,  

Thanks for the information/clarification regarding BioHeatUSA.   How is the Fröling P4 different from the P2?  Can you provide a ballpark price for  Turbo 3000 and P4 pellet boiler?

Thanks!

Link for P2 in case anyone else is interested:  http://www.froeling.com/en/products/pellet/p2_pellet_burner.html
It is an interesting product as it can burn pellets or cordwood.

Best regards,
BurnMeOnce


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## tyler drew (Nov 16, 2008)

I can honestly say that dealing with the guys from TARM or now Bio-Heat USA has been a treat. I had put a 500.00 deposit down on a solo 40 back in the spring and was waiting for a loan to go through with the state of Ct. As I waited, I realized the economy might have put my job in jeopardy and not wanting to take on risk at this point I called Tarm and they refunded my money. My goal is to get a Solo plus and I will not hesitate when the time is right to call Bio-Heat in the future.  Thanks again!


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## Stickler (Nov 16, 2008)

Still using a 1978 Tarm, still getting parts from NH (what few it needs).  Not to worry.


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## BrownianHeatingTech (Nov 26, 2008)

I have to say, having tinkered with the Fröling that BioHeat/Tarm has running up in Lyme, and playing assembling one from the bare steel, it's an impressive machine.

It's certainly a big price jump from the Solo Plus or the Innova, but... wow.  You can open and close the loading door, then watch the boiler operate the servos to change the primary/secondary air ratio in response to the surge of oxygen that the lambda control detects.

Plus, being Austrians, they go a bit overboard, and include a full set of cleaning tools, _and a tool rack_, right with the boiler.  A wee bit overboard, but definitely cool.

The "vortex" flame is pretty impressive, too.  I don't know that it will do anything a straight secondary chamber won't do, but it's certainly an impressive sight.  I think I'm going to work out a glass secondary door, when I put one in for myself...

Joe


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