Garn wood furnaces

[honestdragon]

A couple of us are wondering if anyone out there knows any details about this site and it's product: http://www.dectra.net/garn/
It sounds like a great way to heat a home and the video is compelling. We are just wanting to know if anyone has one or has ever worked with one and can recommend it.

[charner]

Not directly connected to what you are talking about, but take a look at advanced EPA certified wood stoves before you buy anything.

check out this site for some awesome info.
http://www.woodheat.org/

More specifically for what I'm speaking about this page:
http://www.woodheat.org/technology/woodstoves.htm

-Charner

[honestdragon]

Thank you for the info :D

[JeffandSara]

John--

Forgive my lack of knowledge on this, but briefly... are these the kind of separate little outhouse-sized (and -looking) wood burners that you can hook up to radiant floor heat or your water-heating system? If I so, I know someone who has that sort of thing... about a year now.

Sara

[honestdragon]

Yes, Ambarian, as a matter of fact it is just like that. What do they think of it? Any obvious problems? Please, tell me all about it.

Thanks.

[JeffandSara]

John--

they're Skip grads and just joined the forum yesterday. Their handle is Weeks. I'll drop an e-mail and tell them to look for this thread, and/or you can PM them.

We were very interested in the whole system when we visited them in Michigan this summer. Nothing like that anywhere near where we live. I know they've had some glitches, but seems like it works well overall. I'll let them give you all the details.

We just get a kick out of teasing them about their beautiful green outhouse. :P

Sara

[honestdragon]

Excellent. Thank you. I look forward to hearing from them. Thanks, Sara! :D

[Weeks]

Hi, John and others...

We have a Central Boiler system and LOVE IT!!!!!! We checked out a number of companies and talked to people with the various furnaces before we decided which one to go with, and this one seemed to get the best reviews in our opinion.

We put radiant heat in the basement (which is where we're living). The furnace heats the floor (cement) and also our water for the house. We're very pleased with the system. One glitch we had was due to our township inspector and had nothing to do with the furnace itself. He was trying to require a very costly special valve that there was no need for. We did our research and he finally backed off. Recently our thermostat was acting up but the problem was traced back to a 3-way valve that needed adjusting. Now all is well.

Our furnace is dual heat: wood and propane. (Well, the backup will be propane once we have some.) We've heated the house for over a year now. We have the house open to the upstairs now and keep that heated a bit, too. The system we got will heat our garage/workshop, as well.

We've been very pleased with our furnace and would definitely do it again.

I hope that helps a bit.

Peggy

[honestdragon]

Thanks , Peggy. We're glad it is working so well for you. This and other info on the various forums will prove invaluable by allowing us all to see so many possiblities and be informed before making any decisions. :lol:

[luthgarden]

Did you read the thread on masonry heaters? It seems to be the most efficient wood burning system. Being centrally located, it could be the focal point of your home. I am not sure if it would heat larger homes efficiently, though. Our plans are for a smaller home, i.e. 30' x 30' , making me inclined to go this route.

Luthgarden

[Fred]

Just a thought, I wandered over to a steam engine sites for hobbyists.

Lo and behold they have "hobby" steam engines up to 200 HP ( Sub 10HP is far more common) with small boilers and what not.

They use them to drive small steam launches and I don't know what else, but my thought was "what a great multifuel generator/heater".

You could run a small boiler to small steam engine to generate power (AC or better yet , DC to a battery bank) steam engines have great torque, so you can gear them up to decent rotation speeds, or run stuff off the shaft directly and with a little plumbing use the exhaust from the steam engine or condened water end of the boiler cycle, to heat your home.

Quieter by far than IC engines, boilers can be made to burn wood or (waste) oil(s)... so they can be semi automated.

The only drawback, other than price, some of them are pricey, is that you want to make sure things aren't allowed to freeze. You have to look for the ones that aren't sold as "machinists kits" though, unless your bag is fiddling with machine tools.


tinypower.com
steamenginelube.com
http//cedesign.net/steam/steam-links.htm

Still I coud see one of these chuffing away as a pretty neat thing

[farmercolby]

We have a heatmor furnice. We have had it for four years now and its been great. I get about 24 to 36 hours off one loading and i am in a older home with little insulation. I am going to put one in for our log house when i get it built. They are low maintence, and are good if you run solar or wind power. It takes a 10 amp line to run the furnace.

Its a non pressurized unit so there is no danger from it blowing up.

[nisswa]

I just ran across your post about Garn. I must disclose that I actually sell Garn heating systems so naturally I am biased. I have been a heating contractor for 25 years with a low opinion of all outdoor wood boilers untill I discovered Garn. I can assure you that it performes exactly as claimed. Garn's efficiency and emmisions have been verified by an outside independant testing lab. No one else has done that to my knowlege. At this time the industry is pretty much unregulated so manufacturerers can and have made unverified claims. I have looked at most of the wood burners available and have yet to see a better system. By the way Garn has had this sytem for nearly 30 years.

[Debby]

Weeks,
We are planning radiant floor heat in our basement and 1st floor(under wood subfloor and hardwood). We are trying to find some way of heating the water for this and our domestic hot water. We don't want to spend too much for this as we are also heating with a wood stove and fireplace, so we just want the floors to be not cold. Do you think this would be a good option for us. Would love to hear more if you would email us at all at blockhousehold . net (minus the spaces). Thanks,
Debby

[Timberwolf]

Hi, John and others...

We have a Central Boiler system and LOVE IT!!!!!! We checked out a number of companies and talked to people with the various furnaces before we decided which one to go with, and this one seemed to get the best reviews in our opinion.

We put radiant heat in the basement (which is where we're living). The furnace heats the floor (cement) and also our water for the house. We're very pleased with the system. One glitch we had was due to our township inspector and had nothing to do with the furnace itself. He was trying to require a very costly special valve that there was no need for. We did our research and he finally backed off. Recently our thermostat was acting up but the problem was traced back to a 3-way valve that needed adjusting. Now all is well.

Our furnace is dual heat: wood and propane. (Well, the backup will be propane once we have some.) We've heated the house for over a year now. We have the house open to the upstairs now and keep that heated a bit, too. The system we got will heat our garage/workshop, as well.

We've been very pleased with our furnace and would definitely do it again.

I hope that helps a bit.

At the risk of starting a flame war.

I've been looking for a wood boiler solution for our someday to be log home. Something that can provide DHW and water for heat.

We currently have a Central Boiler and I hate the thing! I've also discounted every other outdoor boiler/furnace on the market as well.

Narrowed down the already very narrow field of boilers to about 2 models of indoor boiler (TARM [not GARN] and AHS).

This is the first I've heard of GARN (not TARM) despite many hours of internet search.

The biggest drawback of the other 2 (TARM and AHS) has been lack of dealers and price (especially in Canada).

Big fan of www.woodheat.org (Canadian eh!) and have thought hard about just abandoning the whole radiant heat, DHW thing. It's just the self sufficency part doesn't want to let go just yet.

If any one has info on GARN availabilty in Canada, please let me know.

Peggy
Got land... looking for logs... Newly minted LHBA member. Class of April 2008

[pietru]

How much is a Garn unith worth?

[Timberwolf]

Likely because of the terminology I used when searching. I think I used the more common term boiler, which is of course, not correct. It's also possible I may have heard of them as WHS.

Regardless, I am interested, although in looking at the system, it's likely that the system may be overkill for what we are building.

[ecky]

Hi Timberwolf

For all intents, it is a boiler. Apparently it is a legal thing - a boiler needs to have pressure - GARN does not. I can't remember how I first found the GARN site but at any rate it is basically irrelevant now.

As to overkill - that can be taken two ways - too many BTU's or too much money. The BTU's stored makes sense because the more you store the less often you have to fire. If it is a financial thing - then I can certainly understand - they aren't cheap. Let me know if you have need of more info or help in relation to getting the thing into Canada.

Cheers,
Paul

[Timberwolf]

Actually I was thinking overkill in terms of btu's required. But now that I read thru the website and watched the video, maybe not, if it can store much of the heat in the water and masonry.

It's close to what I'm looking for, that's for sure. Price wise it seems inline with the other systems.

I do have a bunch of questions. If you have a contact e-mail, I'd be interested in taking it off-line.

Regards,

Jason.

[ecky]

Timberwolf - you can contact me at ecky14@gmail.com

Cheers,
Paul

[pietru]

Don't forget the outbuilding in the price since a garn unit in the house would take half of your basement. So maybe 12k +2K for the building + shipping + installation. I really like the concept but unless I get free wood for life, it might be hard to justify... but hey... I am still undecided

[Timberwolf]

and when you compare costs to the better OWB on the market, it's not really that far off.

Free wood for life. Yup, all I gotta do is cut it.

[nt3041]

Hi ecky

Was wondering if you are actually a dealer yet. I am looking for boiler chemical for my Garn unit.

[jklingel]

I just tuned in, and the name "Garn" caught my eye. If anyone still has any questions about Garn gasification boilers, go to the Hearth.com --> Boiler Room forum. They are very highly regarded over there, as are other gassers. I am leaning toward a Garn for my new house; have been reading over there, etc, for over a year, and still like that mini nuclear sub that burns wood. Later. j

[ecky]

Sorry for the delay, nt3041. I am now but am located in central Ontario. If I can be of assistance at this late a point in time please let me know. You can email me directly at
garn.ewhs@gmail.com

[ChainsawGrandpa]

I'm selling my steam power video.
Thought it might be viable, but after watching I decided against it.
Of course, someone else watching the video may think this is exactly
what they need.

-Rick

[rissacher]

I'd like to hear more from anyone who's tried attaching some kind of steam turbine to a wood boiler. Especially, the last post about a video available was confusing... where's the video or where can I find out more about your success?