Garn Dealers?

[jimnorth]

Hi all. I'm a new member here, and have been devouring all the interesting threads.

I've seen a few threads about the Garn here, and also have been to their web site. What I can't seem to find out (since the Dectra folks are so slowwww to reply) is if they have any dealers here in the East. I'm located in Maryland. I have a few dozen questions about the unit, but can't seem to find a warm body to ask.

Does anyone here have info on a contact (Dealer, whatever) for Garn who actually answers their phone?

Thanks!

 

[Eric Johnson]

Welcome to the Boiler Room, Jim.

I PM'd you the Garn contact information that I have in hopes that it's different from yours. Somebody else around here may be able to provide more help.

I've never seen a non-responsive (or perhaps non-existent) sales staff generate so many hot leads as the Garn guys.

 

[jimnorth]

...

I've never seen a non-responsive (or perhaps non-existent) sales staff generate so many hot leads as the Garn guys.

I suppose one could argue that a great product sells itself. The fact that they've survived for over 30 years, without a sales staff is the only thing keeping this particular "hot lead" interested right now... but my "jacket losses" are not zero. Soon I will become a not-so-hot lead.

Thanks for the quick response and the warm welcome

 

[bjleau]

Jim

Hey Join the club, they are slow to respond but everything I hear about the product is very impressive.

The Guy that I spoke with was Ken Oaks 218-820-2415 and he put me in touch with a dealer about 15 miles from my house in MN, but the process took a week.

I am heading over to the dealers place (he has on at his house it replaced a CB OWB )to see it next week so I'll have more info then....

I asked about the crappy website and the fact that no one answers their phone but they said that they have never had so much demand, people are waiting weeks to get them made...

Cheers
Brian

 

[jimnorth]

Jim
...The Guy that I spoke with was Ken Oaks 218-820-2415 and he put me in touch with a dealer about 15 miles from my house in MN, but the process took a week.

Brian,

Are you sure about the number. I just called it and got a construction company called High Tech, or something like that. The person who answered didn't know anybody named Ken Oaks.

I'm looking forward to hearing your impression of the unit after you have the chance to take a look. I'm considering several units from different manufacturers. The biggest appeal Garn has for me is its simplicity. Tending to one burn a day is nothing.
It also seems the installation would be must less dependent on controls. Some of the other units, like Greenwood, need controls to prevent temperature spiking, and a backup power supply.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Belfort1]

Hi all. I'm a new member here, and have been devouring all the interesting threads.

I've seen a few threads about the Garn here, and also have been to their web site. What I can't seem to find out (since the Dectra folks are so slowwww to reply) is if they have any dealers here in the East. I'm located in Maryland. I have a few dozen questions about the unit, but can't seem to find a warm body to ask.

Does anyone here have info on a contact (Dealer, whatever) for Garn who actually answers their phone?

Thanks!

Go to This Warm House website and there is a dealer selector there. It will give any dealers in your area

 

[leaddog]

Hi all. I'm a new member here, and have been devouring all the interesting threads.

I've seen a few threads about the Garn here, and also have been to their web site. What I can't seem to find out (since the Dectra folks are so slowwww to reply) is if they have any dealers here in the East. I'm located in Maryland. I have a few dozen questions about the unit, but can't seem to find a warm body to ask.

Does anyone here have info on a contact (Dealer, whatever) for Garn who actually answers their phone?

Thanks!

Go to This Warm House website and there is a dealer selector there. It will give any dealers in your area

This is for dealers for the greenwood not garn. BIG DIFFERENCE
leaddog

 

[heaterman]

Jim:

I'm a Garn dealer in Michigan and I will admit that sometimes they are slooooooow to respond to a request for information. I'd be glad to get you in touch with someone in sales if you'd like. I have no idea what the dealer base is like in Maryland but I'm sure they can have someone contact you.

Regarding the product itself, I'll say this. All things considered, I've not run across anything else on the market works as well. We've installed probably a dozen or more different brands and types of wood boilers ranging from the common "ice shanty" type OWB's to other gasification equipment, both pressurized and open types. I haven't run across anything that is as simple to operate or as well thought out as a Garn. They just flat out work as advertised and will do so for a very long time with minimal maintenance and upkeep. There's really very little on the unit to actually break or wear out.

Rigging one into place and then enclosing it presents a different set of logistics than a more typically sized unit but having the storage integral to the boiler itself greatly simplifies the rest of the install. Martin Lunde, the guy who designed the Garn put it to me this way. " The Garn is for someone who is serious about burning wood". .......and he's right. There are others that are less expensive but if you're looking for long term service, that's your boiler.

My e-mail is [email protected] if you'd like to contact me directly.

 

[Belfort1]

Hi all. I'm a new member here, and have been devouring all the interesting threads.

I've seen a few threads about the Garn here, and also have been to their web site. What I can't seem to find out (since the Dectra folks are so slowwww to reply) is if they have any dealers here in the East. I'm located in Maryland. I have a few dozen questions about the unit, but can't seem to find a warm body to ask.

Does anyone here have info on a contact (Dealer, whatever) for Garn who actually answers their phone?

Thanks!

Go to This Warm House website and there is a dealer selector there. It will give any dealers in your area

This is for dealers for the greenwood not garn. BIG DIFFERENCE
leaddog

They are a dealer for Garn as well. Look before you leap!!

 

[Belfort1]

They are dealer for Garn as well. Thanks.

 

[allan]

I guess that I got lucky, because I called and left a message about two weeks ago and the call was returned the next day. I talked to the main company and they referred me to a more local dealer. Happens that they are installing a boiler right in my city. I was able to go and look it over very carefully. It looks really impressive.

 

[TCaldwell]

heaterman, im thinking of a motorized damper in the air inlet controlled by the fan blower timer, seems like alot of heat up the stack the other 20 hrs a day, as a garn installer what is your opinion , thanks tom

 

[heaterman]

Good question TC

I've never put a draft gauge on one when the combustion blower is off. My gut reaction is that on a horizontal discharge there will be little loss, on a vertical there may be some minimal draft but the combustion blower wheel is going to impede airflow through the boiler to a substantial degree. I'll check that out when I get a chance to play with one that we've installed.

 

[TCaldwell]

heaterman, with the boiler water temp at 180, blower off for about 2 hrs, i recorded 173 fpm in a 7'' duct the free air of .34 i think represents about 43cfm at 40 deg f on the exhaust 188 fpm in a 6'' duct the free air coefiecient of .25 about 60 cfm at 94 deg f , so basically im heating 40 deg air to 94 and through convection exhausting it at a rate of 60 cfm per hr . that is about the worst scenario as the boiler temp drops i assume the 94 deg air will also, i will test before i fire tonight and let you know it is now 8 pm boiler temp 155 , the exhaust temp and volume still the same!

 

[bjleau]

"bjleau - 25 January 2008 06:19 PM
Jim
...The Guy that I spoke with was Ken Oaks 218-820-2415 and he put me in touch with a dealer about 15 miles from my house in MN, but the process took a week. "

Guys I have to apologize I got that number wrong…. Ken Oaks 218-820-4815
Sorry about the confusion

Brian

 

[jimnorth]

Just spoke to Ken Oaks. Thanks for the phone number, Brian.

Once I explained to him how I got his number, Ken spent 10 minutes answering my questions. He didn't know the local dealer (I put a call into This Warm House...waiting for reply).

Ken said that Dectra is in the process of tripling their production capacity, and admitted that the response during the transition has been slow.

For anyone who is looking for ballpark pricing and lead time info (as I was)...
... the 1500 with vent kit and chemicals is listing around $12,300.
... a 5% price increase is in the works due to increased steel prices (not sure when this goes into effect)
... lead time right now is about 8 weeks

Compared to a TARM 30 with 600gal storage (copper heat exchangers, and control) listing at around $11,000, a 1500 gallon Garn is looking better all the time.

 

[brad068]

Glad to see yet another cult member. Jim, these boilers are the sh**!. I built my own and so did a neighbor of mine, High EEEEEEEE! I had to report in that another vessel is about to be crissened with a bottle of Merlot. She appears to be a big ol' beast @ 2800 gal. In total disregard of my own life, I snuck in past the guard dog and The Elm Buster 6000 and was able to snap some top secret pics of her. I'm not so sure a guy couldn't go on Google maps and see spy satellite photos of her like the photos of the old Russian air fields. I'll try posting latter, over and out. ;-)

 

[allan]

Garnification, I see that you had mentioned in an earlier thread that you had a smaller Garn. Do you still have it?

 

[brad068]

Its gone.

 

[heaterman]

TC

Given those parameters the math is pretty simple for computing BTU's lost/gained/ delivered or what ever.

CFM X Tdelta X 1.08 = BTU''s. In your case it would look like this 60 x 54* x 1.08 = 3,499.20. That'd be per hour.

It would definitely add up over a 24 hour period but whether it would be worth the effort and additional complexity of fabricating and installing a damper would be your call. To me, the Garn is so utterly simple the way it is that I'd hate to mess with it myself.