Heating with corn

Steve Ash

Member
Messages
2,437
Location
Michigan
It's been 3 weeks now that we have had the corn furnace heating our home.

I grow enough corn to sell and to heat our house, we had been paying 2200.00-2400.00 dollars per year in propane to heat our 2,000 sq. ft. home. I built this house new in '97 and insulated it pretty well I thought. Last year I got up in the attic and decided that the insulation had settled far enough to warrant blowing in another 8".

I believe that even with the higher cost of corn this year that it is still a savings. The figures I had researched said that I should be able to heat my home for 250 bushels of corn....even at 3.25 it is far below what I had been paying in propane....plus the cost of propane has risen this year to make my decision an even better one.

What I have found out so far....the heat is a warmer heat than propane, and the whole house is warm, floors included. When it is warmer outside like we have had this past week,a bushel of oats mixed in the corn hopper seems to make the furnace work better. If the draft control fan isn't turning more air into the corn doesn't burn quite so well, but add some oats and it appears to help keep the fire going when the draft air fan isn't being used as a result of warmer temps and the demand isn't needed to produce heat as often.

So far I couldn't be happier, it took a bit of fussing but once I have gotten the feed rate dialed in I am not wasting corn and the consumption seems low. I filled it yesterday morning and after 18 hours it appears to have consumed a little less than a bushel. :thumb:

This is the information I have regarding the corn furnace I bought...taken from their website.

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A-MAIZE-ING HEAT® CORN FURNACE/STOVE AND BOILER

MANUFACTURED BY LDJ MFG INC

INTRODUCING A TRULY EFFICIENT FURNACE AND BOILER
In these times of high energy costs, it makes sense to use a heat source that utilizes a resource that is readily available and cost effective. The A-Maize-Ing Heat® furnace and boiler burn shelled corn, a renewable local commodity. Corn costs less per BTU than other heat sources, plus benefits the local economy by generating business for farmers. The low cost of shelled corn, together with the efficient burning process of this furnace or boiler, produces an ecologically safe home heating system.


BURNS CLEAN - NO MORE CREOSOTE
The A-Maize-Ing Heat® furnace and boiler feed the corn into the bottom of the combustion chamber, therefore providing the most efficient fuel consumption. The residual ashes are then spilled over the top of the combustion ring into the ash pan. This process, in effect, self cleans the combustion chamber.

THE FIRST UL LISTED
The A-Maize-Ing Heat® furnace and boiler are the first shelled corn fired central furnace and residential boiler to be listed by Underwriters Laboratories. Using a dual auger drive system to meter the fuel allows for the precise and safe control of combustion. The UL listing assures you of a safe and quality product.

SAFE, COMFORTABLE HEAT
Your home's thermostat electronically controls the fuel feed system and blower to provide a constant temperature. The furnace or boiler will remain lit as long as the bin contains corn, and will shut down automatically if the fuel supply is depleted. The low stack temperature and absence of creosote buildup eliminates the possibility of chimney fires.

A BETTER ALTERNATIVE
The A-Maize-Ing Heat® corn burning furnace and boiler have many advantages over wood heat. There is no daily maintenance. With 100,000 BTU or 165,000 BTU output you could easily heat an entire house. The large storage bin holds up to 10 days supply of fuel, which is automatically fed, into the combustion chamber as needed. There's no need to load the furnace several times a day. The use of corn also eliminates the bark mess, insects, splinters, and storage & handling problems connected with wood fuel. No chainsaws, wood splitters, or trailers to buy and maintain.

BURN OTHER BIOMASS FUEL
An LDJ A-Maize-Ing Heat® system can also burn other biomass fuels including wood pellets, wheat, grain, sorghum, soybeans, fruit pits, pelletized waste or other pelletized combustable materials that can be fed through the 2" augers.

QUALITY CONSTRUCTION
The A-Maize-Ing Heat® furnace and boiler feature quality construction for long-lasting performance. 14-gauge steel is used on the heat exchanger, and a large heavy cast iron fire pot ensures long life. A one year warranty is included on electrical parts, and a five year limited warranty on the burner and heat exchanger. LDJ Mfg Inc of Pella, Iowa builds their products with pride.
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Steve, a few City Boy questions...

Do you burn the cob with the corn, or is it just the kernels? Stored in a hopper or a crib? How do ou load the furnace?

Does it smell like roasting corn? (I was behind an old Mercedes Diesel car the other day that, according to the bumber sticker, was burning vegetable oil...it smelled like french fries.)

Do you also grow oats? (The idea of having a bushel of oats on hand is foreign to us city folk, although I do drive by a feed store every day on my way to work, so it's not that far-fetched.)

I like the idea of growing your own BTUs. ;)
 
That is great Steve, I can understand how it would feel warmer, as the Propane often introduces a lot of humidity.

I do have to say, I find if of interest that you are using a foodstuff to heat your house, while there are places all over this world that would love to eat your BTUs :D

Nothing negetive about what you are doing, just an observation is all.

I would imagine you would burn the whole cob, there has to be lots of BTUs in the cobs.

..............What..................... no pics? :eek: :D

Cheers!
 
guys, the add steve posted says "shelled" corn......no cobs......i`ve yet to see a combine that`ll harvest whole cobs. there are grinding attachments for harvesting silage but i don`t think that`s what steves burning....tod
 
Steve, a few City Boy questions...

Do you burn the cob with the corn, or is it just the kernels? Stored in a hopper or a crib? How do ou load the furnace?

Does it smell like roasting corn? (I was behind an old Mercedes Diesel car the other day that, according to the bumber sticker, was burning vegetable oil...it smelled like french fries.)

Do you also grow oats? (The idea of having a bushel of oats on hand is foreign to us city folk, although I do drive by a feed store every day on my way to work, so it's not that far-fetched.)

I like the idea of growing your own BTUs. ;)

Vaughn, This unit burns just the kernels of corn...not the cob. It also can burn wood pellets, cherry pits and a variety of other stuff, but since I have corn growing in my field that is my fuel.

When the corn is harvested it goest to the local elevator, there I have several options. I can sell it immediately, I can store it with hopes of the price rising, however I need to pay for storage costs or I can put it in a "feed bank". I chose to sell off all but what I had figured would be needed to heat my home. I sold the rest (paid my taxes) and put the balance in the "feed bank" that I pay a storage fee on. As I need the corn I take my pickup to the elevator and bring home my corn in 100 lb. bags.

For now I carry the 100 pound bags to the furnace and dump the corn in the hopper (picture attached of stove and hopper) In the future I will be buying a gravity wagon to load my corn into from the elevator to bring back to the furnace. It will also serve as the holding bin for the time being.

When I go outside I can smell the burned corn which kinda smells like popcorn only a little burn smell to it.

I don't grow oats, but my cousin has horses so I can get a bushel of oats from him or they also sell it at the elevator.

Pictures of harvesting my corn and the corn furnace.....
 

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I sold the rest (paid my taxes) and put the balance in the "feed bank" that I pay a storage fee on. As I need the corn I take my pickup to the elevator and bring home my corn in 100 lb. bags.

Sooo, just how many 100lb bags do you reckon you'll need for the year? I'm curious just how large a storage shed you'd need to just hold onto all of it yourself. If the storage fee is cheep enough, then there is no point.

Friend of mine put in an outdoor wood burning furnace this fall (furnace heats water which goes into a heat exchanger in the conventional already-installed forced air furnace, and uses the blower + ducting of that to distribute the heat through the house) so I find all of this alternative stuff interesting.

I also just had to throw a new furnace in my house so it is timely. Of course I live in the city, so my choices were limited.
...art
 
It is anticipated that given my house size and insulation that has been done I will need 250 bushel to heat the house this winter. Corn is 56 lbs to the bushel.....roughly 240- 100 lb bags (ran it in my head..don't know the exact figure)

I guess the point of having my own gravity wagon storage is that I can buy a wagon for $300.00 and never have to ever pay a storage fee to the elevator.

A gravity bin which is permanent can also be bought used for a couple hundred dollars, but I'm not sure I want my home to look like a feedlot with a bin in the yard next to my house.....with a wagon, I fill the hopper then put the wagon back out in the barn...out of site.
 
That's interesting. Have you calculated in the cost of seed, growing, harvesting, etc. instead of just comparing to the bushel price? I'm sure it may be the way to go for many. As Stu noted, America is a highly productive agricultural country. We can grow more than we can use or sell.
So, why are we importing? :( Nebber mind....that would take us off and running on a way-way off topic rant.
 
A gravity bin which is permanent can also be bought used for a couple hundred dollars, but I'm not sure I want my home to look like a feedlot with a bin in the yard next to my house...

Are you a woodworker or aren't you!!

I'm imagining what Marty did to hide the piers supporting his shop... and blowing that up to a shed sized bit of camouflage, nice looking new "addition" to the house... :D
 
So can I pretty much go to the local grain elevator and buy corn for $3.25/bushel in those bags? I always figured that the issue with a corn burner would be stroring the corn but maybe not.

I'm also curious about how this ties into your current heating system. Does it use liquid running through heat exchangers like the outside woodburners? What did the system run with the installation and various parts?

I have an uncle in Missouri who put in one of the outside woodburners and they are very happy with it. He is a builder and gets most of his heat for free by cleaning up the site at the end of the day or disposing of trees that are removed from sites. He said a friend of theirs pretty much get thier summer hot water just by burning their junk mail.
 
I'll try to answer some questions with pictures added.

Frank, I am lucky in that it cost me zero for my corn, I own the land and share crop it with a friend/farmer. In exchange for him farming my land I receive 25% of the crop....no cost at all for myself.

The cost for purchase and installation I am sure varies. I bought the furnace for close to $3,000.00 and installation was $1300.00....I gave the installer a $200.00 tip because we had another quote by a guy at $3,000.00 ...like I said it varies.


Matt, You would have to check your local elevator to see what their costs are for you. But you can go to your local elevator and buy dry corn in the bag or bulk. The cost break here at my elevator is ...first one at 500 lbs. the second at a 1,000 lbs and the next buying by the ton. That's where having your own bin/wagon is the savings.

The new corn furnace is independent of our propane furnace but it is connected directly to the existing ductwork. There is a open/close setting to use when you are not using the corn furnace and using the propane or air conditioning in the summer.

The following pics show how the ductwork comes from the top of the corn furnace and hooks into the existing ductwork right above the existing propane furnace. Also there is a picture of the hopper with corn and a few oats mixed in so you can get an idea of how that is.
 

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Matt, yes it is in the basement....has no effect on my insurance....however I did find out something interesting through all of this. The underwriter doesn't have a problem with this in my house or in my shop...AS LONG as I am not making a living in my shop. :rolleyes:

My options for the shop are....a woodburner (or other fired device) 15 feet or more away from my shop and forced air or water pumped heat to it....or call it a hobby shop ;) and put a wood stove inside with a class A chimney (triple wall stainless) and all the goodies.

With the current temps and the shop staying 55 degrees with a portable propane heater....I'm good.:headbang:
 
I'm going to have to look into these a little more. Since we are only about 4 miles from a grain elevator, and my wife drives by there every day and it is right in front of the school my daughter will attend next year this could work well for us. The only other problem is that we don't have a chimmeny. Our hot water and furnace are both forced-vent ultra high efficiency.

I don't heat my shop much warmer than that with a furnace and a thermostat maybe about 60. I get too hot working out there otherwise. I do warm it up for finishing or painting though.
 
Matt, I think you need to make a road trip to Johnsons www.theworkbench.com and from there drive another 3 miles to see my furnace. You don't need a chimney already existing in your house...they can put in a triple wall stainless chimney very easy....I did here.

You been looking for a excuse to go to Johnsons anyway.....:D :thumb:
 
Joe, it mostly smells like popcorn slightly burnt...but I noticed today after someone else asked the question that it smelled like I was next to the Outback steakhouse....kinda smelled like steaks cooking, I looked around and none of the neighbors were grilling steaks. However I live in the middle of a 30 acre corn field I can't really see what the neighbors do much :rofl: It isn't an obnoxious or offensive smell, but then again I used to raise 1200 head of hogs and 600 head of cattle annually.... so maybe my smeller isn't too sensitive anymore:D
 
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