texican said:
Does anyone else have a queasy guilty feeling about burning food for heat? The ones that I have seen need some type of electrical hookup for the fans and whatnot to work, so if the store bought electricity goes off, what good are they?
...you've got to buy corn...Believe me, if you raised it yourself (excluding large scale corn farmers) you'd never burn it for fuel. I have unlimited amounts of hardwoods.
Now don't let me talk you out of a corn stove. If you have to 'buy' wood, well, my sympathies... Just don't bet your life on them. If you're looking for a romantic and beautiful addition to your home, they'd be just the ticket.
the devils advocate...
Phil
Hi, Phil,
Thanks for playing the devil's advocate. You raised some good points. Here are some of mine.
First, where I want my farm, I'll be planting trees for lack of any but a few scraggly live oaks. Therefore, I have to buy my fuel, no matter what I install.
Second, burning wood pollutes. I'm looking for something with less pollution when it burns than wood. That's why I'm looking at corn or pellets. They supposedly cause less pollution while burning.
Third, I'll be installing an Alternative Energy Package of solar panels and windmills to generate electricity independently with a state grant. That will, hopefully, take care of the possibility of the on-grid electricity going out. I spent too many weekends huddled around a wood stove with not enough output to heat the entire house at my relatives. I want to be able to go to the indoor outhouse without having to crack the ice in the bowl, if you know what I mean.
Fourth, a corn or pellet stove comfortably heats a 2-story house of 2,500 square feet is nothing to ignore. My house that I want to build is about half that size.
Fifth, if the corn is dusty, screen it. That'll get rid of the dust which can be explosive if just dumped in there along with the corn. Wear a face mask to do it if you have allergies like I do. I'm actually allergic to dust and dust mites.
Sixth, you gotta keep all fuel - wood, corn, pellets, whatever - dry. Now. What's going to take up less room? A winter's worth of wood? Or a stacked pile of bagged fuel? I'm betting a pallet of bagged fuel. Where to store the fuel? Some counties have laws that tell how close the wood rack can be to the house. Set a shed a few feet off the back porch and set the corn in there. How much room does it take to set some replenishing fuel near the stove? A pile of wood or a bucket? I'm voting on the bucket. What happens if you accidentally kick it? I don't know about you, but wood hurts my big toe while a bucket of corn is going to scoot and/or spill. Which is easier to clean up? Corn. Hands down, thanks to the vacuum cleaner.
Seventh, all stoves require maintenance. That's a given. Which one - wood or pellet/corn - creates the most creosote? I'm still trying to find out that one.
Eighth, which is more likely to have critters like snakes and polecats in it? Both. Corn is going to appeal to mice and rats so it will need to be contained in a metal can or broken chest freezer. Wood has been occupied by snakes and polecats in my family's history with woodpiles. The snakes can be dealt with, but - as my great-grandfather (a young boy then) learned the hard way - polecats can shoot back and ruin the entire winter's supply.
So, yes, there are good points and bad points to any system. Each person has to make up their minds as to what will suit their needs best. But anything is better than paying the big electric companies oodles of money for service not rendered during severe ice storms, hurricanes, etc..
TXlightningbug :yeeha: