Dennis Baer of Vibrant Farms
New Hamburg, ON
100 Acre Farm, 150kW Boiler
Dennis and his son Daniel run a 100 acre farm in Southern Ontario. They produce grass fed beef and organic cash crops. On top of their farming work, they each have another daytime job. Daniel is in construction and Dennis fixes farm machinery and silo loading systems.
As you can see in the aerial view below, they have a typical farm with multiple outbuildings. The Baers are heating 11,000 square feet of Farmhouse and Workshops, with plans for further expansion (well at least Daniel has these plans. Dennis prefers to plan for retirement!)
Originally burning oil to heat the farmhouse alone, they first switched to Cordwood for fuel cost savings. When it came time to replace this system and after many discussions and evaluations of options, they decided to go with a 100kW Heizomat boiler in 2018. In 2022, they up-sized to a 150kw boiler to support a recently added building and Daniel’s future plans for expansion.
The deciding factor for them came when they factored the cost of their time in to the equation. Working off farm for added income gave them an easy reference point for the cost of their time. They could see that the added investment in an automated woodchip boiler like the Heizomat system would quickly pay for itself in saved time not cutting, splitting and stacking wood as well as the daily loading the boiler and regular mainetnance like cleaning out the ashes.
Results He Reports
- 3 Year Payback on his first 100kW boiler
- “Don’t have to do nothin’”
- Great service
In His Own Words
When considering his options for a new heating system, Dennis was challenged to do the calculations on the cost of his time managing a cordwood boiler.
“Daniel and I spent the time and run through the numbers on how much time we actually spent…three years, we would have our money back…and it really did do that.”
“So we did it and it has been nothing but incredible. That one, I don’t care what it cost, I am not going back to firing with firewood any more. Once it’s in … yes it’s a bunch of money, but once it’s in, you don’t have to pay attention to it. You don’t have to do nothing.”
