Heat Your House Cheaply: New Stoves Efficiently Burn Corn as Fuel

When people think of burning fuel for heat, they usually think of oil or wood to be burned in their furnace ,hearth or wood stove. But when Bixby Energy Systems thinks heat, it thinks corn! Corn is a fairly cheap product , hence the substitution of corn oil and corn syrup for other oils and sugars. Now dry-shelled corn is being introduced as a heating product, in a bag, like wood pellets.

The new Bixby MaxFire home heat stoves cut home heating costs by as much as 50%. The company claims that the MaxFire heat stove can heat a 3,000 square foot home for about $1.50 a day! The 55,000 BTU head stove comes with eight heat settings.

All of the Bixby heat stoves burn their fuel at a 99.7% combustion ratio which generates more energy per dollar than fossil fuels (gas and oil). This translates into no soot build-up on the glass viewing window, more heat for your money, and much less ash. You can continue to enjoy watching the fire burn in the stove through the glass window, without it turning black with soot.

In addition to saving you money on your heating bills, the Bixby corn stove gives you other features that you can’t find anywhere else. The stove is designed to burn pure corn with no special burn additives . You can find the corn fuel at many home improvement and farm supply stores some of whom will deliver, Alternatively, you can choose to burn wood pellets if you wish. The MaxFire handles either fuel with ease, and offers continous, around-the-clock operation! After the corn has been burned, the patented burn pot automatically cuts ash residue away every 7 to 20 hours, depending upon the system settings, and drops the residue into the stove’s ash drawer where it can be easily emptied later.

Penn State Agricultural Department has posted ash disposal tips on their website. They recommend developing a plan for ash disposal before purchasing a corn stove. They too comment that burning shelled corn gives less ash residue than burning firewood or cinders from burning coal. After corn ash has cooled, it can safely be applied to garden areas, flower beds, lawns and fields as corn ash has a little value as a fertilizer and as a liming agent. There is no evidence that it contains heavy metals or any other contaminants.

Push a button and the corn stove ignites right away, regardless of whether you choose to burn corn or wood pellets, both of which the stove accepts. No primer fire is needed, which gives heat without the hassles of many heat stoves. There are eight different heat levels to choose from.

Wonder if it will fit in your home? The corn stove is 33 inches tall, 28 inches wide, and 30 inches deep.

Penn State Agriculture Department has published guidelines for using and storing corn fuel. They say that proper storage of shelled corn is important for best performance of a corn-burning stove. The corn should be stored in a clean, dry environment. They discourage storing it directly in contact with a concrete or dirt floor. If the corn is stored in bags, the bags should be stacked on a pallet where rodents, birds, squirrels and other “critters” cannot get to the corn. We are not accustomed to thinking of our fuel as food, so this is sort of a new wrinkle! If a person chooses to store the corn in a bulk container, the containers should not be sealed shut because there must be some air circulation around and through the corn. It is a good idea to take a look at the corn to be sure there are no insects or musty odors developing.

The only “down side” to the Bixby MaxFire corn stove is its price, however it can pay for itself in a few years. The Bixby company comments that, “The stoves typically pay for themselves in less than four and a half years for homes previously heated by natural gas, in less than three years for homes previously heated by heating oil and in two years for homes previously heated by electricity.” You might need to take out a loan to buy a Bixby MaxFire, however you are paying for ownership in something which will save you a lot of money in the future, instead to keep your family warm during the cold months.

Take a deep breath here: MaxFire stoves sell for $4,495 to $4,995 retail. You’ve probably paid that much (and more!) to your utility company for heating costs in the last few years.

The MaxFire offers clean, green, new ways to stretch your dollars (in a long term manner) and lends an attractive and warm look to any room. Too bad Benjamin Franklin didn’t invent the corn stove, instead of the wood parlor stove! We could have been enjoying the benefits of clean-burning and inexpensive corn fuel! Some things have to await their time and the corn stove’s time has arrived!