Corn Stoves- a Cheaper Way to Heat Your Home
Corn stoves work in this manner. The shelled and dried corn, which can be bought from local farmers, is poured into a hopper beneath the stove top. The hopper is simply a container from which the corn is then fed down into a burner. From the hopper, the corn filters down into a burn pot, or combustion chamber, where a blower then forces air into a carbureted fire. This system allows for a regulated incursion of fuel, meaning that the heat output from the stove can also be regulated. The oxygen needed to support the fire in the combustion chamber, which is small, is usually brought in from the outside, rather than room air, by means of a small fan. A heat exchanger inside the stove takes heat from the flue gases and heats the room air. The stove can be controlled by a thermostat because as the fuel increases, the air increases and vice versa. One of the most fashionable models of corn stove today is called the Baby Countryside. It can take up to forty pounds of corn in its hopper at once, and burn on a low setting for forty hours; twenty four on a high setting. A fifteen hundred square foot home can be kept warm with forty pounds of fuel for as little as $1.65 a day.
Technology is producing corn furnaces as well, with the ability to extend burn times and create little if any ash. Experts say that heating with corn costs one fifth of what it takes to heat with propane, and one third of the price of electric heat. Corn stoves are not inexpensive, with an asking rate of between fifteen hundred to three thousand dollars, but they can pay for themselves in the span of a few winters. Penn State researcher Dennis Buffington maintains that during a typical Colorado winter month, a corn stove would cost $130 to heat a two thousand square foot house, as opposed to $247 using natural gas. Rebates for using agricultural fuels, up to three thousand dollars a year, expected to be enacted soon by lawmakers, are one more reason that corn stoves are selling like hot cakes. Over one hundred and fifty thousand corn stoves were sold last year by one major supplier alone, and that figure will almost surely double in 2006 as consumers feel the crunch of skyrocketing oil and gas prices. There are also corn burning hot water heaters, space heaters and hot air furnaces available on today’s market.
One has to have the space to store the corn that is used for fuel, whether it is in a garage, shed, or your house. To get through a winter, you will need between eighty and one hundred fifty bushels of corn. Most corn suppliers will be happy to deliver their product. The corn does not have to be of high quality; it can be substandard and even moldy. It does have to be dry, with moisture content no greater than 15%. This will ensure that it has a higher heat value. Moist corn will cause problems in the fuel loading auger as it trickles down into the burner. The corn also needs to be free of dirt and cob pieces to avoid jamming the auger. Families with small children need to be wary of freestanding corn stoves with exposed metal parts that become hot.
Corn becomes a clinker when it is burned, meaning it turns into a hardened substance that must be removed daily. A special poker and tongs are used to accomplish this task; with practice you will be able to remove the clinker without having to turn off and relight the stove.
The corn stove is not without its limitations. It must be centrally located in the home, much as a woodstove needs to be, to heat the whole house. And since the auger that sends grain into the combustion chamber, along with the fans that push hot air out from the stove itself, are run electrically, a loss of power will mean no heat until power is restored.
Corn hasn’t been invented that will hop into the stove on its own! You will need to fill the hopper on a regular basis, as well as empty the ash about once a week. The type of exhaust venting you need has to be considered as well, whether it is a chimney with a flue liner or a combo flue/fresh air vent pipe. If a lower priced pelletized or other granular fuel becomes available, find out if your corn stove can take advantage of it. Before investing the money, be sure that a corn stove is right for you.
