Round bale heaters

[Robert_in_NY]

This was posted over on Machinery Talk and it got my mind going for when I build my new home in the future or for the shop. Plus it is a good excuse to help justify buying a round baler since I have a limited market right now for round bales.

What I am wondering though is if you could use corn stalks or junk hay as I can bale all the junk hay fields I want for free just to keep them mowed down for the owners. Site about bale heaters

 

[beenthere]

Seems to me the mere size and mass of a straw or hay bale burner would make it a bit on the inefficient size. When getting the burner going, and the entire steel structure finally heated up, there may not be any more call for heat. So it may only be efficient if in the coldest weather so a burn can be going continuously (and that may be necessary to keep the bale burning too).

Friend of mine put in a wood burner, oversized for his house so he could load large pieces of wood. In real cold weather it worked great, as the wood fire put out a lot of heat. But 90% of the time, that much heat wasn't needed.
Most of the time, when the house called for heat, the fan would kick in, blow hot air around for heat, and then the thermostat said 'no more heat needed' but the fan in the furnace would keep running until the plenum cooled down to the lower limit. By that time, the house was way too warm, and the windows would come open. Just was too big for the task of keeping the house comfortable. I see a similarity with the large bale burners here.

 

[Jagmandave]

I could see a use for this for a large, drafty barn or some other large outbuilding, but it seems the size would preclude it being usefull for a home, like beenthere wrote.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

They figure about 40% efficient but I feel it can be increased some. If you are heating a home and a building it would work out better. It would also help with drying grain and I have been thinking about setting up a bin to store my grain on farm till the price comes up some later in the year. This would eliminate the need for a seperate dryer. I would think the way heating fuel prices are going it would work out to be cheaper in the long run even with the lower efficiency. They also have smaller units that run off small square bales.

I doubt I would ever go with this setup as I keep hoping to buy some land with a gas well and have free gas. They are drilling some new wells in this area and I need to talk to the owner and see if they want to drill my parents land and set them up with free gas. I forget how much of a royalty you get along with the free gas but it is a decent percentage.

 

[LBrown59]

<font color="blue"> I keep hoping to buy some land with a gas well and have free gas. </font>
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Get a NG Gen and have free Elect too.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I would consider it but it all depends on how much it uses as even with free gas you have a limit on how much you can use in a year.