Kara is a Dutch company originally founded in 1910 as a manufacturer of stoves and cookers for domestic use. The company continued to operate through both World Wars, and began to really grow through the reconstruction of Europe, with increasing demand for industrial machinery. They now focus on biomass boilers and heating systems, with customers around the world. How do they compare to Ranheat?
For UK customers, the big downside to Kara is that they are based in the Netherlands and do not have any offices or employees in the UK. This means that even an initial consultation visit would either have to be entirely remote or involve international travel. This does not line up with the ideals of sustainability and reducing carbon emissions that motivate most businesses to use biomass boilers and heaters.
The same principle applies when it comes to transporting and installing the systems, as well as any future service visits. At Ranheat we pride ourselves on providing lifecycle maintenance and service, solving any issues as quickly as possible to minimise downtime and costs. We can supply or manufacture spare parts and upgrades to maximise efficiency, and we also have our RanheatIO Remote Monitoring system to ensure things run smoothly. This is all vastly more efficient and cost effective than using a company overseas who cannot easily visit or monitor your system.
Ranheat systems themselves are more efficient than those produced by Kara. Their machines can burn fuel with a moisture content of up to 55% – but this is ultimately inefficient as the moisture content means you need more fuel burning for a longer time to produce the same amount of energy you’d get with dry fuel burning for a shorter time. Ranheat systems could also burn fuel with this level of moisture content, but we would recommend drying the fuel first for maximum efficiency. Our systems are designed and built to produce as much energy as possible with the minimum amount of fuel.
Kara also supplies hybrid systems that use electricity as well as biomass energy to provide power, in a similar model to a hybrid car. This slightly defeats the point of optimising your onsite biomass waste, as the aim is to significantly reduce or even eliminate your use of electricity when heating your space.
As well as being based entirely in the UK, one of the key benefits of choosing Ranheat for your biomass boiler system is that we are an independent family-owned business. We do not answer to a higher corporate power and retain complete control over our designs, manufacturing, service, and every other aspect of our business. This makes us extremely reliable and committed to providing ongoing service to our customers in the long term.
In contrast, Kara is owned by Reinders Corporation and is one of several companies that they operate. While this continues to be overseen by the Reinders family, the many divisions mean that this does not function in the same way as Ranheat. It is a large corporation with many different business interests and priorities. With Ranheat, you will get to know the team and the staff you communicate with on a regular basis, and will continue to deal with the same people over time. We are committed to building lasting relationships with our customers, and are ultimately interested in longevity in all areas of our business.
Choosing Ranheat will always be the smart choice for you and your business. Contact our team to find out how a Ranheat system could benefit you. We also have a page of Frequently Asked Questions that may be helpful.
