Tarm Solo Size??

[mcote]

Again, this place is an awesome resource, thank you for all of the information over the last several months! I am getting close now! I have a couple of questions to throw out there.

I am leaning toward Solo Plus or Innova with pressurized storage. I have about 3850 sq ft including the partially finished basement in Northern Maine. Cold here-several nights at -35* this winter. Fairly well insulated, with our original 1975 oil boiler cranking away in the basement we use about 1000 gallons of oil/year with our woodstove insert on the main floor as supplimental heat (3 cord/year). I was quoted by my local oil company (who is also the local BioHeat dealer) for installation of the Solo Plus 30 and 620 gallon unpressurized storage. My question is this: Should I be looking at the 40 instead with more storage? Where I am planning on storage am I better off with the Innova and which size? I know it is tough to say with such limited information and no proper heat loss calculation, but I am looking for ballpark.

I was also quoted $7500 to install a new Buderus oil boiler and direct vent kit as a backup. Is this high? Is there a less expensive option for oil boiler back up where I can skim this cost down? This is just going to be for backup when I am out of town.

Lastly, I am having a difficult time thinking about shelling out the cash on one of the BioHeat storage tanks. Although they look nice and would be the easiest route, I think there might be other viable options out there, as I have read numerous threads on DIY and propane tank storage. Does anybody have any experience with the tanks offered by Slate Valley Boilers out of Vermont? (broken link removed) They seem to be a great option and are about half what BioHeat is looking for, but I haven't heard much about them.

Thanks for taking the time to help.

 

[stee6043]

I think 620 gallons of storage is going to be WAY undersized to be usefull in your size home. I have 3200 square feet with 1000 gallons and I wish I had more. The bigger boiler will allow you to charge your storage quicker. If I were in your shoes I'd be pushing for 1,500-2,000 gallons of storage (if feasible) and a larger boiler. Dos the Tarm come in a 60? Assuming they are similar in output to the EKO line I'd almost suggest you look at the 60 for quick storage recharge. My EKO 40 takes a good 8-9 hours to bring my 1,000 gallons back up to temp. 6-7 hours would be nice....

Like you said above - you should run a Slantfin type program to get an idea of what your real heat loss is. That should be the first step....

 

[sparke]

mcote, Did you happen to grow up in Oakland?

 

[Birdman]

I have a Tarm 40 with no storage. I would like storage...I am just finishing my first year with it. If I were you I would go with at least the 40... maybe the 60. at least 1000 in storeage.

 

[Rory]

The dealer that sold me mine based the size on the amount of oil I planned on displacing. For my 1000 gallons, he recommended the Solo 30, for which I built a 670 gallon storage tank. With storage, there's probably no downside to a larger boiler, and more storage is generally better, allowing you to have less frequent but larger fires.

My setup has required morning and night fires since startup in January until the last few days, when I get by with one fire a day.

 

[kevindauch]

I have a 2700 sq ft log home with cathedral ceilings and faced the same question last year. My old oil boiler was on its way out and I needed to upgrade. It was 109,000 btu model. I ended up getting the solo 40 with 850 gal of storage. I would probably go bigger than a 30kw model. It might be able to keep the house warm in the cold season, but you won't have enough ooph to ever catch up. You’ll be feeding the fire every 5-6 hours in the cold spurts. There will be no excess heat to heat the tank. Looking back I would have went with a bigger storage tank. It would give me more options between firings. I also replaced my old boiler with a new Buderus G115. I did the work myself and it cost less than $3000 with supplies, NO direct vent though. As for sizing in general, if you present boiler is running 90% of the time or more on the coldest days in the winter, then it is sized correctly. As far as wood boilers, take 20% off their ratings for continuous use. If I were buying a new wood boiler I would go with the newer one from Tarm, the draft inducer would be nice + better efficiency.

 

[sweetheat]

2352 square feet timber frame structure and a well insulated building. new IG window + storm panels. heated to 64 degrees all winter, with a tarm solo 40 and 806 gallons open stss storage tank. wood consumption is 2.75 cord dry hardwood to date. storage tank at 175 Sunday night, I lit another fire this afternoon. storage at 124. sweetheat

 

[flyingcow]

I have a 1800 sq/ft home with unheated, but finished basement(total 2700 sq/ft). 2 story on a hill and used about 800+ gals of oil year(but was kinda cold). Put in a Innova 30 with 820gals of storage. What little I know, just started burning in the middle of Jan, I'd go with a 40 and maybe look into 1000 gals of storage. I'm located in the southern part of aroostook county.

 

[chuck172]

I believe the size of storage is relevant to the length of of your burn. You don't save wood by having more storage. You do extend the amount of time in-between burns with more storage, but when you burn, you burn longer proportionately to the amount of gallons you're heating.

 

[oldmilwaukee]

If I had it to do over again, I would buy the Tarm Solo 60. I would advise you to buy the 60 as well. Some days, it will be the difference between three fires vs. two fires a day. It could also mean the difference between waiting 2 hours vs 4 hours for your house to get warm from a cold start. I have 3900 square foot SIP/timberframe house with modern efficient windows, plus 2200 square foot basement (with 500,000 lbs of concrete), in a milder climate than yours (Kentucky, although we had a really cold February this year). Until I get the capability to shut off and insulate my basement from the rest of the house, the Tarm Solo 40 is actually somewhat undersized for me. The benefit to having a boiler that is barely big enough (and a house with a LOT of thermal mass) is that I don't need storage.

I absolutely love the Tarm - but I feel that the BTU rating is a continuous rating only if you are sitting there feeding it really dry wood every 4 hours. The bigger unit will give you some wiggle room on the quality of your wood and require less of your attention. The price was not a huge difference in the whole scheme of things, last time I checked.

 

[mcote]

Thanks for the responses. I have narrowed it down to the Solo 60 or Innova 50 and at least 1000 gallons of storage. I found a place to get new propane tanks 500 or 1000 gallon. I was thinking of going with (2) 500 gal tanks. Would one 1000 gal be better? Do I need to stack them or can they go next to each other? Will they need to be welded or could I use the existing fittings to connect to? I will want to set up to run to my current indirect hot water heater for DHW.

 

[Maineiac-Jay]

mcote, where abouts did you find a place to get the propane tanks? I have been looking but haven't found anything yet.

 

[mcote]

Webber Fuel in Bangor. $1233 for new 500 gal, $2300+ for new 1000 gal. He said they have a few used ones, but wouldn't want to sell it to me for my application as they have small holes in them. Has anyone found any better in the New England area?

 

[flyingcow]

call katahdin welding, located in Patten.He had some earlier this winter. 528-2924.

Why wouldn't you want to hook this up to your DHW? Unless you don't want to run a fire in the summer?

 

[mcote]

I definitely do want to run my DHW from the WB/storage. I am not the only one in my house that thinks an unlimited amount of "free" DHW would be wonderful. I'll give them a call and see what they have and how much. Thanks.