Propane fuel, ouch. ? corn stoves.......

[goldspur]

Live in SD, cost me 400.00 a month for fuel, anyone use corn burning stoves. it would be better to place flow of air into furnace register ductwork, and have blower help disperce heat, hopefully it would cut down on the peopane bill, ontll the cost of corn gets to high. Wood is scarce here, and would be hard to keep up and fired. Any corn stove owners out there to give me some good advice, pro's and con's, or name of good corn burning stoves. I have done a lot of things allready, like plastic over windows,sealing any airflow areas, ect. Its a double wide trailer, 20x80ft, wind wrapped, ceder sided, has insulated skirting around it also. I'm typeing here and my nose is cold, hands also despite a big blanket around me. at 0 tonight, and slight snow flurries, plus not adding in wind account, and its windy tonight. Oh, yes furnace is new, and works well, according to furnace man...???????? THANKS

[tamsam]

I know nothing about the corn heaters but is coal in your area? We use it here and it is the cheapest fuel we can find at $45 a ton. Sam

[pickapeppa]

My folks have a corn stove in their fireplace. They love it and it really cranks out the heat. Often times, their furnace only runs once or twice a day when they use it, sometimes not at all. Lots of heat on just a little fuel.

They put corn in it late in the evening, and it's still heating their downstairs when they get up in the morning.

[Windy in Kansas]

I would really like to have a stove available that would burn biomass fuel made of CRP residue, stover, or straw. I know that the pelleting process would be costly but it sure would be nice to burn what is often considered a waste product. At least I read reports this past week that tests will be made burning such at a power plant in Kansas. Instead of being made into pellets the material will be ground extremely fine and burned in that form. Anyone want stock in the company making the fuel, I wouldn't mind having some to get in on the ground floor IF it is a viable process.

I haven't used a corn stove nor a stove to burn wood pellets. I do however like the idea of a cereal grain burning stove. In my area small grains will nearly always produce a crop whereas corn with higher moisture need may fail. Such stoves are available but need combustion assist blowers which take a fair amount of electricity. Of course with the price of wheat as it is burning wheat wouldn't make much sense either.

I still think super insulation and solar assist is the way to go.

Would you be willing to loose interior space to inner walls with insulation between the existing wall and the new wall? The thermal break by studs not touching nor transmitting heat and cold is much more efficient. You'd lose about 4" to 5" per exterior wall to add anew. Labor for adding to door and window jambs would be a big cost for such. Something to think about.

If you farm enough acreage could you add a burner unit to accept big round bales as done in Farm Show magazine several years ago? http://www.farmshow.com/ Drop a round bale in every few days to heat water or sand and pipe the heat into the house and shop.

[DaleK]

Windy Ontario Hydro did a test burn on a load of wheat bran last year at their Nanticoke coal-fired station, it did better in every way than coal but the availability isn't there yet, they had to bring it in for the test from somewhere in the US.

[wendle]

I've got a multifuel burner , not the furnace type. I started out using corn in it, but this year with the high corn prices I ended up using pellets. I can burn pellets at a lower heat than corn, so can use less, but I think I got more heat out of it when needed burning corn. This year I have also been using solar heat with a greenhouse, and 3 air heating units(85sq ft.) outside. With the solar heat even at zero degrees outside I am able to shut the burner off from 8 am to 5 pm, or later depending on how cold it is out, and if the wind is strong. The solar heaters will not only maintain the house temp, but raise it during the day, even on those short, cold winter days. The solar heaters can put out at least 120 degree(that's the highest my thermometer reads) heat on a day like today with sun. To circulate the air I have dc fans directly wired to a few solar panels. When the sun comes out they start blowing, on the bad side they start working before the air in the panel has time to heat up, about an hour ahead I'd say. This year my heating bill for the whole winter is 530.00 not counting the electricity to run the multifuel burner. I started heating in November, and have to say this has been a cold winter for here.
Don't underestimate solar heat, I'm so impressed with it this year that I plan on adding a few more panels

[texican]

With grain prices nearly doubling (or more) in the last year, I'd have to ponder long about getting a stove that burns corn. Unless you've got a couple hundred acres in corn, or your neighbor does, and you have some sort of agreement worked out, to trade corn for 'whatever'...

If you don't have wood handy, what do you have? If you're on the high plains, what would your ancestors use 200 years ago?

I'd tend to go with whatever local resource was available for heating. There's gotta be wood along rivers and draws, even on the prairie, right? Wheat straw, corn, coal outcrops, cow patties.

If there was absolutely nothing that I could use, within walking distance (10 miles), that didn't require 'human resources to produce' {such as grains... they don't grow very good in the wild} to keep my home warm, I'd seriously consider either not living there at all, or start planning a long term solution to the problem... a couple acres of windbreak (fuel trees in an emergency) or start a multi year stockpile of coal on the place.

Everything is getting more expensive. However, most things are still available, at a price. If the availability suddenly ceases to exist, all the money in the world will be useless... and if you have no way to heat your home, I'd think the Dakotas would be an unfriendly place in the winter.

[wendle]

I agree with Texican, with the fuels needed you are very dependent on the going prices, and availability, corn, pellets, or propane. The solar air heat exchangers are cheap to set up, reliable, and cost nothing to run. My first choice would be a wood burning stove for cloudy days, and at night, but I would want an outside unit which is costly.
Corn burners do take a little more maintanence than propane. Cold nights I have to get up and refill the hopper. Some are made larger now. It takes a little knack to keep it burning properly, when I was gone for the day the wind picked up, and I had mine set sort of low. The fire went out, and my brother who was checking on it, couldn't figure out how to get it going . That said, I still like it better than propane.
Bad side, it uses power, so if you don't have that, you don't have heat.

[Sandhills]

We have a multi-fuel stove that I'm not very happy with. Last year we burned corn in it. We bought our corn from the local co-op. Sometimes it was dry enough and other times it wasn't. When it wasn't dry enough the fire would often go out on us. We usually had to buy wood pellets to mix with the corn to keep it burning. The corn from the co-op was a lot cheaper than buying corn in 50lb bags. Also I have asthma and found out I can't be around corn dust. We also lost our power for a couple of days last year and the stove needs power to work. Thankfully we had a backup propane heater.
This year we are burning wood pellets. We haven't had to fight to keep the fire burning nearly as much this year. A strong wind will blow the fire out tho.
Locally pellets are $4.50-$5. Our closest Menards store is 50 miles away and their pellets are $3.49. We buy as much as our vehicle will hold when we our down there. We use 1-2 bags a day depending on how cold it is. Also the starter gel runs about $8 for a bottle. Corn from the local co-op is around $5 a bushel(56lb).
We are considering converting to a wood stove, but then wood is plentiful in our area.

[2Bassetts]

I have a wood pellet stove and have been very happy with it. Pellets by the ton(50 40# bag )are 253.00. The stove is a Harmon and is real efficient. I buy my pellets from Southern States. Lowe's had them for $183.00 a ton but ran out. I use charcoal lighter for starting as the dealer said not to use the gel. My thoughts.

[texican]

I forgot to mention something very important. Besides using local materials, they should also be free.

I'd have no problem with corn burners or wood pellet burners, if I could go out and collect for free, the fuel to run them.

Of course, I'm spoilt rotten...

Can you burn anything else besides wood pellets in a pellet stove? Twigs, sawdust, or anything? I admit to being a tightwad survivalist... If I were deciding on a new stove (or pretty much anything) I weigh all the factors, the main ones being cost, continuing costs, and survivability. Any heat producing stove that requires a purchased product to burn (impossible to make at home), and won't run without an electrical source, gets the heave ho from me. What does a person do in a week long blizzard when the grid is down. In a regular woodburner, you can at least burn your furniture and your books, in an emergency.

If you do find yourself in dire straits, with the grid down, and your food burner or pellet burner staring back at you with it's cold cold heart, in your cold cold house, remember that crazy texican told me to go with a wood burner.

Course I'd best shut up, or I'll have the wood pellet association folks after me....

[tamsam]

We considered a pellet stove here but decided on wood and coal as we often lose power. Knock on wood the longest we have been without is about 6 hrs in 5yrs here and that was due to a car taking out a pole. They work hard to get ours back on as quick as they can as I am on ox and have a concentrator. When it was off for 6hrs they came and wanted to know if we needed a gen but I have portable that can run for several days. We do have to buy coal but it is only $45 a ton and we enjoy going and picking out what we want. Our source of wood is for now never ending as the sawmill gives us all the slabs we want and all we have to do is go get them. We also have propane and 2 kero heaters for back up just in case we are sick and can't get wood or coal in. We love the old heater as when you come in and are cold just go stand in front of it. Hope you all stay warm as it is a cold night here and very windy. Just read that we have 50mph winds in some areas and the power guys are busy trying to keep elect on for all. Sam

[rambler]

[QUOTE=texican]I forgot to mention something very important. Besides using local materials, they should also be free.

I'd have no problem with corn burners or wood pellet burners, if I could go out and collect for free, the fuel to run them.

Can you burn anything else besides wood pellets in a pellet stove? Twigs, sawdust, or anything? I admit to being a tightwad survivalist... If I were deciding on a new stove (or pretty much anything) I weigh all the factors, the main ones being cost, continuing costs, and survivability. [QUOTE]


1. It was minus 17 last nite, today's high was minus 6 F. Number 1 factor is does it provide heat?

Here in MN, and over into the Dakota's, we have a sea of corn. Still alot of it inpiles outside. I have a few thousand bu sitting on the farm. Cheapest/ easiest fuel I would have. Wood is cheaper, but far more work....

In this cold climate, a wood stove is not much good - the heat needs to be moved throught the house. You need a wood furnace or boiler, with a fan or pump to move the heat around. A stove is fine to get by, but not really practical to heat a whole house.

Lot of folks with the corn stoves here get a wake up call on that - it burns them up in the room it is in, and the rest of the house freezes.

You make a good argument for Texas.

For the volume of heat needed up here, things are alittle different.

Corn is good, when you have mountains of the stuff piled all around you, can't hardly see anything else but corn & soybeans growing in all directions around you in summer.....

--->Paul

[sammyd]

We have LP with a wood burner as backup. At least that's how it was installed. We rarely use the LP furnace.
Last year power was out for a few days all we did was follow the instructions on the wood burner for use with no power and it kept our house comfortable even without the blowers.

[homebirtha]

Originally Posted by rambler

In this cold climate, a wood stove is not much good - the heat needs to be moved throught the house. You need a wood furnace or boiler, with a fan or pump to move the heat around. A stove is fine to get by, but not really practical to heat a whole house.

--->Paul

I think the bigger factor would be the design of the house. Plenty of people heat their whole house with just a wood stove in very cold climates. But the house has to be designed for heating that way. Mostly open space with few walls. Square or rectangle with the stove in the middle and vents to the upstairs. It can be done very well, even in a really cold climate.

[WC WI Lisa]

I heat my mobile home with a corn burner. The ceiling fans disperse the heat well even at -14 (this morning's temp) I set the thermostat at 68-70 and the furnace didnt kick in this morning at all. I rent out 50 acres for cropland so will trade rent money for corn. It was 72 in the kitchen and living room this morning. I use half a bushel per day when the temps are above freezing and not quite a full bushel when the temps drop like this last weekend. My electric bill went up by $30 but I also have 2 tank heaters plugged in the water tanks so..... All in all I love how warm it is, and there is no smoky smell in the house. If I had a bigger house with a basement, I'd buy one that connects directly to the furnace.

[dbarjacres]

We use a pellet stove in our large farmhouse, but it's a fairly open concept house for being so old, so a rotating fan disperses the heat fairly well. And we like our upstairs cool for sleeping, so that works. We have fuel oil backup (which we use on these wonderful 45 below days).

But, anyway, keeping the pellet stove on level 3 (out of 5) keeps our house about 68 degrees and we go thru 2 bags a day then, so about $7.00 a day to heat. Much cheaper than us going thru $500 in fuel oil a month.

I wouldn't want to risk corn. The price is going to sky rocket. Last Tuesday the commodity price was $5.25/bu for corn - that's 66 lbs., whereas 2 years ago it was under $3.00.

[Quint]

With the astronomical price of propane I've looked into a corn stove but given the price of corn I decided to go with something else.

I've got over 100 acres of timber so wood is my best option. I'm thinking about getting an outside wood boiler and adding it to my central heating system. I understand they'll adapt to the current blower or heating ducts.

I've also considered putting in a radiant floor system. I have access to the underside of all my floors due to the basement being unfinished. I'm going to put down hardwood floors next year though so I'm not sure who that would work.

The way I have it figured is that even if the system costs a few thousand dollars it would be made up in 5 to 10 years given what I'm paying for propane.

I've got a fireplace with an insert but It's a lot of work to heat the entire house with it. An outside boiler would be much easier and lord knows I probably have 20 years worth of dead wood before I'd have to touch a living tree.

[tiogacounty]

[QUOTE=Sandhills] Also the starter gel runs about $8 for a bottle. QUOTE]
My first, and last, bottle of starter jel was a "free" bottle from the stove dealer. I buy rubbing alcohol in QT. bottles at Wal-mart for $1.70. Put a handful of wood pellets in a small plastic container. Splash a little bit of alcohol on the pellets. Swosh it around a bit, to wet all the pellets, and let it sit for a few minutes. Now they light better than using jel on them, and it is 10X cheaper than jell. We use less than two bottles a season. As for the corn stove. I'm not so disgusted that I would wheel it to the town dump, but I would never do it again. It isn't nearly as cheap as it was claimed to be, especially with the ever increasing cost of fuel. It is unbelievably moody to operate. It runs well some times, poorly sometimes, and if it's extremely windy, it doesn't run at all. In retrospect, I should of bought a wood stove. More heat, less cost, less flaky and unrelaible. IMHO, far less than advertized, and not worth the substantial expense.