I have not seen a TARM unit but I do own a Central Boiler. One of the best features of the unit is that it is located almost 200 feet from the house. Keeps all the wood, bugs, dust, ash, flame, smoke, and filth outside. I donât bother to cover the wood and I burn scrap pine and âtrash woodâ. The unit will take a 56â piece of wood, lumps, scarf cuts, stumps, roots or pallets cut in half. I fill it 2 times a day, once in the morning going to work and once coming home. The ash is a very fine power and I remove some ash every other week.
The unit does smoke when it first fires up but you can keep the smoke to a minimum by adjusting how much air the fan draft pumps into the fire box and by how you load the fire box. With a little know how my unit produces less smoke than the Vermont Casting Vigilant it replaced. Likewise, if you stack the firebox tight with a clip of fresh cut pine slabs, the thing will produce an awe inspiring cloud of smoke and steam that could easily hide a carrier group.
My unit is on its 5 heating year with no problems. I donât think I would ever go back to burning wood inside my house or outbuildings. I do feel that the outdoor wood fired boiler is still in its infancy and that they will get easier and more efficient with time. I think TARM has some good ideas but it looks too complex for my tastes.