[Willie Green]

Related article: Alternative source shells out cheap fuel

[Willie Green]

ping

[dirtboy]

Well, at least it cuts Archer-Daniels Midland out of the loop.

[WestTexasWend]

But wouldn't the popping keep you awake? ;)

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

If you use the corn cobs first, you get even more heat.:)

[shaggy eel]

ping

[Viking2002]

Interesting. My wife and I want to build a log home in a couple of years or so, and I'm also considering alternative/backup heating sources, even over and above the ubiquitous stone fireplaces. We got hammered with ice down here over the weekend, and while we didn't lose power this time, 'been there, done that'.

[xcamel]

I'm on my 8th year with a Traeger wood pellet furnace. Dual hot water loop +domestic HW preheat. Runs 75K-135K BTUs. I guess it will burn dry corn also, but never tried it.

The beauty in NY is that there is no tax on wood products for fuel. Heat costs run between $12 and $20 a day, and I only run it when it's colder than 30F. We had one "5 Bag" day when it was -25F. Whole house heat + all domestic HW, sure beats oil and electricity costs.

[Larry Lucido]

I tried to pop corn on one of these things. It got pretty confusing.

[IrishCatholic]

thanks, bookmark for later research

[cmsgop]

Is there a picture?

[Godebert]

Cool. I'm gonna get me one of those.

[Tench_Coxe]

Book mark

[cmsgop]

Do You need a stack? Or does it just vent in the house?

[Trajan88]

I'm sure TXU Energy (Texas) will start to lobby the Texas legislature to enact a "corn adjustment fee."

This fee will be found on one's bill as a footnote with an explanation simialar to 1 divided by 0 (which, of course, is undfined).

Trajan88

[spodefly]

http://www.cornheat.com/corn_furnace.html

[Professional Engineer]

Instead, kernels of dry, clean corn -- a grain grown to serve as livestock feed -- fuel the flames and create a blaze capable of heating an entire house.

WHAT!?? There won't be enough left for the folks to put in the deer feeders before the big hunt ambush.

[blackdog]

Regular shell corn is still too high in moisture. It burns very sooty and poorly. I've had better results blending shell corn with hardwood or softwood pellets at a 50/50 ratio.

The best fuel for auger fed type stoves is cherry pits. I buy all I can get when I discover a load. Extremely hot and no ash whatsoever. A little tough on the auger when one gets bound, but ours has a reversing clutch to free itself.

[jungleboy]

Smells like a corn-liquor still to boot!

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.
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[o_zarkman44]

I use a wood pellet stove for most of the heating in my home. Definitely a lot easier than cutting wood but of course there is some expense. Although this year wood pellets are much more economical than the propane that is my primary heat source. I have been told that I can mix corn with my pellets, but the corn has to be very dry to burn completely, somewhere in the range of under 12%. Wood pellets average around 5%.
I know wood fuel has an average btu output of 8600 BTU's of heat per pound but the higher the moisture content of the fuel, the less usable BTU's of heat are available. I don't know what the BTU per pound of corn is in comparison, however I doubt it is as much as wood. Moisture content of corn being 12% or more reduces the BTU output. Also the sugars in corn make "clunkers" as the wood pellets burn completely to a fine ash. I can burn about 200 lbs of wood pellets before I empty my ash pan, which is about 10" long, 5" wide, and 5" deep. Pretty amazing compared to cleaning out the old wood stove ash pan every day! And the wood pellets are made from sawdust.