corn burning stove vs wood burning stove
I’m looking into buying a corn burning stove to replace my wood insert in my fireplace. I’ve read that it takes a bushel of corn (56 lbs) to fill the hopper and that it will heat for approx 24 hours. Does anyone have experience with a corn burning stove. Is it cost effective, will it heat all night so I can wake up to a warm house, and does it create a smell in the home?
I can buy a bushel of corn for 4 dollars and a cord of oak firewood costs approx 225 dollars. A cord of firewood will last me approx 1 month but the fire is always out when I get up at approx 6 am.
thanks,
jesse
Replies
bump, I asked this same question three yrs ago and would like to see if views are the same as they were then
Dustin
Our last house had a whole house wood stove in the basement. I didn't track it real close but if you buy cut and split wood it was about the same as the electric heat.
The real savings is when you cut and split your own wood. Or grow your own corn.
Think about it. Why did people burn wood for heat? Because they had wood.
EDIT: so figure out which you can get a good deal on. Wood or corn?
I was on 10 acres with about 4 of it wooded so my choice was obvious. Osage orange burns extremely hot.
I had about 9 months to build up a nice pile of wood. You end up being a bit of a lumberjack. Not bad work but pretty labor intensive.
Edited 11/12/2008 10:12 pm ET by popawheelie
and didn't have electricity. ;-)
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Don't know where you are located but if you think you can keep your house toasty warm 24/7 for $120 a month.(4 bucks a day)... go for it.
Let us all know how it works out.... and where you are.
oregon. PUD., handles all utilities.
1600 sq. ft.
Winter average for all electric house about $80 for all the electric usage.
Water and sewer run about $30 and $60
Highest bill I ever got for electric was about $130 with 2 Teens, Myself and a very cold January for here.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
After reading where you are and your current costs....
Why would you want to pay more for heat by using corn????
$4.00/day for corn vs highest electric bill ever, $130 for everything, including heat.
What am I missing?
I wouldn't.
You asked about living where it only costs $4 a day to heat and I responded.
(Bit of rubbing in how cheap it is here I will admit!)
;-) Might get around to installing a wood burner some day as back up though. Only corn grown around here outside of gardens is field corn at dairies for silage.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
A friend of mine put a corn-burning stove in an old store (65X95ft w/20ft ceilings) in northern Wisconsin. Loves it!!! No smell, I have been in there in the winter and it is toasty warm. He found he saved over half what it would have cost him for the natural gas and/or electric heat. He keeps a five gallon bucket near the stove and just fills the hopper every morning. If it's 35 below outside, the front of the store will get cool by morning, but still toasty in the back.
Hope this helps..
Lane
Thanks for all the input. I live in West Texas, between Amarillo & lubbock. Winter temperatures range from 25 degrees to 50 degrees, thats COLD for us. Sounds to me like a corn burning stove is the way to go. Corn is selling for 4.00 a bushel but I can probably get it for less or free. My main concern was whether it would heat a medium size home and if my home would develop a corn smell. Since wind is free here in West Texas, my next step is to build a wind turbine to furnish 90% of my electricity and then build a couple of solar panels for the remainder.
You have to remember that the pellet stove, and I'd guess the corn stove, require electricity to work just like gas furnaces and electric furnaces.... If the power goes out, you'll need a generator for the corn/pellet stove...
You also have to consider supply and storage...
Two years ago, the retailer's largest pellet supplier lost it's wood source when a large flooring mfg. company closed. The retailer had to stop selling bags of pellets to the general public and scramble to find enough for the customers that bought stoves from him.
One of those non-customer pellet buyers brought her pellet stove to Texas when she sold her home in California. New to the area, she almost got left "high and dry".... When she did find pellets, she bought in bulk and they were stored where she could... Unfortunately, mice and a few field rats gnawed into the bags and her inventory began to get scattered....She wound up buying metal storage bins and barrels with lids for storage to get her through her first winter here in N/Central Texas. Her father-in-law came over and helped with filling the metal containers. He also swept up the scattered pellets and poured them into the storage barrels...mixed with rodent pellets.... ;>o
Bill
Good point! Them dead Rodentia might plug up the auger,and stink to high heaven!
I think Tommy on This Old House had a cure for that, but the issue escapes me..I'll see if I can find it on thier wonderful website, with a spectacular search function, and some really good professional advisors contributing excellent advice!Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
There are (or were, some years ago) corn/pellet stoves that are powered by a thermo-electric generator, so they don't need any external power.
The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable. --John Kenneth Galbraith
I'm new to this site and I am amazed at all the good info you guys have provide. THANKS !! Everyone is so friendly and helpful. I'll bet most of you all are Texans, or should have been. I think I'm going to go with a corn burning stove and keep a wood burning stove as a back up. Electricity is not really a problem. I start building my dream home this coming spring. 1600 sq ft with solar panels and a wind generator for electricity. If you build your own panels and wind generator, they are not expensive. I have 55 gallon drums for storing corn so mice will not be a problem. My theory is I can build a nice home for 65 dollars or less per square foot.
I'll bet most of you all are Texans,
Not on your life, there are young and old experienced souls from all over the U.S. and more.... even a few "South Pole Elves" with quite a vocal outlook... ;>)
It sounds like your plans for a new home with Alternate Energy is something to be proud of.
I have some questions about prices. Have you found a good source/price for the materials for both Solar Panels and a wind generator? Once upon a time, back in 1980, I had 50' guyed pole with a 1.8kw Enertech wind generator...tied into the house and grid...lots of maintenance and some unproven technology.
Building my workshop, I built it from the inside..out by collecting and buy wiring, plugs, 4-tube light fixtures (20), metal storage cabinets,etc... REZ would be proud of me 15 years ago... If you know about what items you are going to need for building your home, start looking now. With things slowing down, and the overstock and returns after Christmas, use some of that "Christmas Money" for the really good deals you find. I think things are going to get pretty tight in the first quarter of '09, so you might not even be able to find what you need even at retail.
A few weeks ago, I spent a couple of days around Sweetwater. On a project for my 85 year old mom, I was looking for just a bag or two of flower bed mulch...KMart, Walmart, even Tractor Supply had no such thing.... Before they put in the big Walmart, I went to the KMart during the summer looking for a simple 24hr timer to turn on some lights...I remember well what the clerk said: "We don't have those, except around the holidays."....????....
Good luck with your dream, and please take time to take regular-timed construction pictures. They're great for memories...and you'll find out that what details you thought you'd ALWAYS remember get blurry over time.... Having those to help the memory find a wire run, plumbing change, or just "quality control" on the builder sure helps.... ;>)
Bill
Hey thanks for you input. and of course i was only kidding about "texans". Yes, We have a source for materials and parts. My mad scientist, nerdy, super intellectual friend is the brains of this project. He has been working on the wind generator for quite some time and tomorrow we will start building one. Total cost should be around 1500-2000 dollars for each one.
Since you have some experience with one, am I correct in my simple math that a 1.8 KW generator will produce approx 300 KWH per month. I think a 5 KW will produce approx 825 KWHrs per month. The one or two solar panels will subsidize when the wind is below 9 mph. Is my rough estimate somewhat accurate? If my heating is by wood or corn, my electricity use should be around 900 KWHrs or less in a 1600 sq ft home. My cooling system will be open windows, fans, good insulation throughout and a swamp cooler if needed. It will be a simple, basic, frugal lifestye for my retirement except for my computer, HDTV, my two dogs and my pickup !! ha ha ha....gotta have those !
Yep, I've been buying and acquiring parts and materials for when I start building. and I will be taking pictures every step of the way. Glad to hear you were in Sweetwater, thats a nice place. Let me know if you have any other excellent tips.
I grewup with swamp-coolers and West Texas' low humidity...they don't work around here with the high humidity factor...;>( Except for those rainy days or hours after a good West Texas rain where everything in the house has that damp, sticky feeling, I miss the Evaporative cooler's cool wet smell, actually!!
In 1980, the put out T-shirts: "I Survived the Summer of 1980" because of the endless days of high temps, consecutive days of high heat, and dead air... Add to that, back then, the Co-op's had tiers for charging KWH base on how much you used...even had a "Total Electric Home" rate... My generator actually caused me to use less power, but the higher rates for less used really chapped me!!!
I figure that around the Ft. Worth, Tx. area a 5-KW wind generator is the smallest one to get for a home with example service for deep well, electric dryer, and cook top loads. Your higher wind average will make things better, especially when the air gets cold and even more dense.
IF I ever decided to do it again, I'd have a tilting pole tower to prevent climbing and servicing the gearbox oil change and other things while UP SO HIGH. The wind research since then proved my observations for our area. Using a synconous generator is easier to hookup, but getting a Perm. Magnet DC generator that generates a low power at lower wind speeds would be better use of the wind. The problem with wind generators and the electrical parts inside synconous converters that backfeeds to the grid really become a focal point on high wind or bad thunderstorm days/nights!!
I went through the "Building your own generator" fever when I rebuilt some of the antique 6v Winchargers that charged old golf cart batteries... When even a small 6' blade is spinning up in a wind, only then do you realize if you're not careful, you'll have "A tiger by the tail".... Building your own tower and generation system to withstand the buffeting of even a steady wind, but like a steel chain, it's only as strong as its weakest link... Be careful of the heights, the rotor speeds, and quality of materials used.
I truly love things that spin in the wind...but solar water heating and solar electric panels have fewer moving parts, usually closer to the ground or are mounted on places that provide more solid footing to install and maintain...
Bill
Edited 11/14/2008 11:22 pm ET by BilljustBill
"Since wind is free here in West Texas,"I used to live in Lubbock. That statement brings back memories. Strange ones!
had some friends in Tulia, TX and once had to desert a '57 chevy PU there
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
There are also stoves that will burn either corn or wood pellets. In some cases the wood pellets are cheaper (per BTU). Lets you switch back and forth based on relative costs.
I've always wanted to try building a corn-burning car.
I think it depends on if you can get corn or wood for free or nearly so. Who knows what the price of either will be in a year or five years in your market. I have access to lots of free or nearly free wood with just my sweat equity so it's a no brainer for me.
I don't have one, but there are some around here. I know of one installation where the owner was dissapointed. I think there is somewhat of an art to sizing the stove right and setting the feed rate etc. He had a business in an old building and it didn't seem to heat as well as it should have. I'd check out customers of the dealer before I bought.
I looks like the chimneys are pretty simple compared to a wood burner. It might be possible to keep your wood burner and put the corn stove somewhere else in the house. That way if corn prices spike or the electricity goes out, you have a backup.
I've never noticed a smell around any of the corn stoves I've been around. They seem to be pretty well contained.
I bought the bixby corn stove, corn prices here are close to the same. This week 3.78/bushel. My stove is rated for 2900 sq. ft. It uses a bushel every 48 hours but it is also adjustable from 8,000 to 50,000 btu and thermostat controlled
Well, I went looking at fireplace inserts today. A large store just 4 miles from me has the "Lopi" brand...
They said that you can mix in corn with the pellets up to a 50/50 mix....
I asked about fuel pellet prices. The fellow said that Walmart sells them, but what his business started doing is buying early to get a wholesale cost break if loads are purchased in July... A ton was $180...In July. If purchased then, they would be delivered on a full pallet when they came out to do a yearly maintenance and cleaning of the pellet stove for $80.... Otherwise, the early price still held, but you had to come to the store and get the pallet/ton of pellets. He said a 4'x4' pallet would stand about 5' high for sacks stacked to make a ton.
Lastly, he said the pricing and convenience were the two advantages compared to a wood only insert. Storage in that amount of bulk purchase, and the requirement of electricity for this brand, would some things to contend with...
FYI, Bill
Edited 11/15/2008 6:30 pm ET by BilljustBill
Hi,
You can compare wood to corn (and a bunch or others) with this fuel calculator:
http://www.builditsolar.com/References/Calculators/Fuels/FuelCompare.htmIt wants the corn price per ton -- I thing that shelled corns is about 56 lbs a bushel -- that would be 35.7 bushels per ton, or at $4 per bushel, $143 per ton.It looks to me like the $225 cord and $4 per bushel are not very different in cost per BTU if the two burners have about the same efficiency. So, with those prices, any saving in going to corn would have to come mostly from the corn burner being more efficient.
I don't follow this closely, but AG commodity prices seem to fluctuate a lot -- seems like this might not be such a good thing?Gary