Improving a Pellet Stove

[BrokenTrack]

I got an older, cheap pellet stove that is pretty simple. It just has a hopper, an auger, and then a power draft and room blower. Overall I like it, but found that I can dramatically improve its performance, while lowering its operating cost, by mixing whole corn in with the wood pellets. It took me awhile to find the right ratio, as corn burns way too hot by itself for this stove, but burns really well in a 66% wood Pellet/33% Whole Corn mixture.

Now I am wondering if I can improve its performance and cost efficiency some more by burning coal in it. I am not sure what the ratio would be, but I think by mixing rice coal with wood pellets, I could get the same, or more output of heat, with less consumption of a cheaper fuel source.

Has anyone tried this?
What was the ratio that you mixed the pellets to coal too?
Or did you just burn 100% coal and fuss with the controller to slowdown the auger even more? (I admit I did not do that when I tried to burn straight corn because I found mixing corn/wood pellets was just easier.)

 

[Diggin It]

Most wood stoves I've seen state emphatically NOT to use coal. Not sure if it's a heat issue or the acid in coal.

Doesn't corn add a lot of goo in the smoke stack?

 

[BrokenTrack]

Most wood stoves I've seen state emphatically NOT to use coal. Not sure if it's a heat issue or the acid in coal.

Doesn't corn add a lot of goo in the smoke stack?

I am not sure about "goo", but it does add more ash, but that is easy to take care of.

One concern I had was with moisture content of the corn, but I found out pretty quickly that any moisture dries out pretty fast when the corn is in the hopper. That is why I could easily see raising your own corn to provide heat for a person's house.

I did the math on that, and what little bit it would take to grow your own corn, would really make pellet heat affordable. If a person had an all-corn stove, they could even get their cost down more. I mean if people are going to have a woodlots for firewood, why not dedicate an acre or two for corn to heat their home instead? While you got the tractor out tilling ye ole garden, make a spot for some corn!

I researched making your own wood pellets and that seemed insanely expensive and time consuming, but processing corn in Do It Yourself machinery looked really easy. My thinking was pretty simple: instead of forcing wood into a convenient pellet, burn something that is already at the size needed. Corn and sunflower seeds fit that bill.

I was going to try it this year, but like anything with heat, as soon as the stove is put out for the year, I do not think about it until fall. That, and I had a lot of other things going on this past Spring.

 

[oosik]

I have a Wollenco Pellet Master. It's rated to burn coal, olive pits, wheat, saw chips( not saw dust ) & regular pellets. I suppose it would burn corn. I've tried wheat, coal & wood pellets. Wheat does not make as much heat as regular pellets & there is a LOT of ash. Coal stinks and continued use would probably burn out certain parts of the stove. Coal is HOT.

Wheat is cheap here. However - running a pellet stove with anything is always somewhat of a mess. Pellets are expensive. I haven't burned the pellet stove in over twenty five years.

Electricity is so darn cheap here, completely trouble free, absolutely dead quiet and there is no mess involved.

I've used electric heat for the last twenty five years.

 

[Diggin It]

See, that's what I don't get about the fancy stoves. They all seem to require some other source, usually electric to operate some portion of them. My electric already costs me $70/month or so and I watch every KWHr. Can't imagine it being the sole heat source. My little tiny cast iron box stove gives me most of my heat for nearly free other than elbow grease and some two stroke gas/oil.

Buying pellets and what not seems counter-intuitive. Now, if you can make pellets or use chips or grains, that's a different idea that I could get on board with if the blowers didn't run up the electric too much.

 

[Egon]

With coal the grade used is quite important to the heat produced. Then there are clinkers and the smell outside.

And there are stoves designed to use just coal.

 

[RNeumann]

 

[5030]

See, that's what I don't get about the fancy stoves. They all seem to require some other source, usually electric to operate some portion of them. My electric already costs me $70/month or so and I watch every KWHr. Can't imagine it being the sole heat source. My little tiny cast iron box stove gives me most of my heat for nearly free other than elbow grease and some two stroke gas/oil.

Buying pellets and what not seems counter-intuitive. Now, if you can make pellets or use chips or grains, that's a different idea that I could get on board with if the blowers didn't run up the electric too much.

Typical Pellet stove consumes about 70 watts of juice. If you cannot afford that, you better go live in a tent......

I've been burning a corn pellet mixture for years but we only use the stove as an additional heat source the last few winters as out main heat source is a plus 90 condensing furnace running on cheap propane (cheap here), much lees expensive than pellets or corn per BTU yield an no mess other than changing furnace filters monthly.

This year however, I will be using the stove a lot more (despite new crop corn prices of $4.00+ per bushel). I'm getting my field corn, dried to less than 15% RM for FREE, as much as I want. Planning on filling a couple totes as well as a 500 bushel grain tank.

Corn is nice heat.

 

[Diggin It]

70 watts in continuous use over a period of weeks can add up.

 

[Oaktree]

I did the math on that, and what little bit it would take to grow your own corn, would really make pellet heat affordable. If a person had an all-corn stove, they could even get their cost down more. I mean if people are going to have a woodlots for firewood, why not dedicate an acre or two for corn to heat their home instead? While you got the tractor out tilling ye ole garden, make a spot for some corn!

I researched making your own wood pellets and that seemed insanely expensive and time consuming, but processing corn in Do It Yourself machinery looked really easy. My thinking was pretty simple: instead of forcing wood into a convenient pellet, burn something that is already at the size needed. Corn and sunflower seeds fit that bill.

Sounds like an awful lot of work, even more than cutting/splitting wood for a conventional woodstove. I'd imagine storage would present challenges too...seems like it would be a rodent magnet.

 

[hawkeye08]

We started with wood stove, got permit and went each year in spring to get firewood, 6-10 cords per year to heat our poorly insulated house. Then we switched to pellets ($80/ton for premium) and when we moved, brought the pellet stove with us. It was what heated our whole house, used about 2 tons per year, but the price had gone up to $150 ton and when I was traveling all the time and my wife was taking care of home and 3 kids, we moved to propane. She just didn't have time for pellets (I brought in a weeks supply each weekend, but having to load a bag each day was one more thing she had to do... Propane for 6 burner cooktop and heating stove runs about $800 per year, varies a bit of course with prices. We usually have our 1000 gallon tank filled in the summer when prices are down.

Back to pellets.. when we were burning pellets, we looked at straw pellets (local farmer was making them as alternative to wood pellets). They put out less heat per bag, which would have been perfect for fall and spring when we didn't need as much heat. Our stove was on thermostat, but did not auto start. When thermostat was off, the stove ran at lowest setting, then when thermostat called for heat, it ran at the setting you had the stove set on.. It was the idle time (low setting) that put out too much heat in early fall and spring. Never did get any straw though.

Now I see pellets are over $200 per ton... the pellet stove needs electricity for the auger and blowers, our propane stove can run without electricity if needed.

 

[5030]

70 watts in continuous use over a period of weeks can add up.

Only 70 when the room ate blower is running. Mine is on a thermostat and idles a lot. Idle draw on a Kill-a-Watt meter is 10 watts.

70 on my book is inconsequential anyway. Your microwave pulls 1500.

 

[CalG]

Only 70 when the room ate blower is running. Mine is on a thermostat and idles a lot. Idle draw on a Kill-a-Watt meter is 10 watts.

70 on my book is inconsequential anyway. Your microwave pulls 1500.

Two minutes of that microwave consumes the same power as that idle draw does in 5 hours. How long to you run a microwave?

 

[5030]

Two minutes of that microwave consumes the same power as that idle draw does in 5 hours. How long to you run a microwave?

2 minutes for my morning oat meal.

 

[BrokenTrack]

See, that's what I don't get about the fancy stoves. They all seem to require some other source, usually electric to operate some portion of them. My electric already costs me $70/month or so and I watch every KWHr. Can't imagine it being the sole heat source. My little tiny cast iron box stove gives me most of my heat for nearly free other than elbow grease and some two stroke gas/oil.

Buying pellets and what not seems counter-intuitive. Now, if you can make pellets or use chips or grains, that's a different idea that I could get on board with if the blowers didn't run up the electric too much.

I live in a Tiny House so a woodstove is just plain out. I got plenty of firewood, it is just that the house is so small, we would instantly roast if we had a woodstove, the pellet stove allows for some semblance of control, and meters out the fuel, so the burn time is extended. There is also the problem of room, since a woodstove requires some extra clearances. We just do not have it, which is why we cannot put in a kitchen wood burning range. The smaller firebox would be okay for the amount of heat produced, but where the heck do you put a stove that size in a Tiny House...room is literally at a premium!

I am not arguing with you here, I am just stating some of the reasons a woodstove does not really work for us.

 

[BrokenTrack]

As for electrical costs, I think you might be missing the bigger picture. It is called phantom loads and one of the biggest is actually the wiring itself. I always size up. Did you know that going with 12 gauge wire instead of 14 will pay for itself in electrical consumption in only 6 months time, and using 10 gauge wire will pay for itself in 4 months time? I do not use 10 gauge wire because it is too hard to work with, but I found a workaround to save me even more money...I have a green switch.

A green switch is just a switch by my front door, that when we leave, we shut off. That kills the power to 90% of my home, and it has saved me about 50% on my electrical costs per month, simply because there is very few electrons flowing in our home when we are gone. This does so much because I have it wired into my water pump, so there is no way I can have a flooded house when I get home, and there is 90% less chance of having an electrical fire, and there is never that fear when you are on a trip that you left the stove on. In my house that is wired to the Green Switch, so we take a picture of the green switch shut off when we leave, then just refer to the picture on my wife's phone..."yep, we shut the switch off, everything is good".

If my wife and I ever get real jobs it would save me even more money because we would be gone more, and use it even more. We are not just turning off things that consume electricity, we are shutting down 90% of the wiring too! That is where the savings come in.

Now the 10% comes from what we call "Forever Power" which goes to certain outlets, like the stove, the refrigerator, outside lights, etc. The things you want running when you are not home. Every bedroom has one as well, for such things as air conditioners, or the fish tank so Bubbles the Fish still gets her air. You have to really plan things out well before you start, and you have to spend more money up front for wiring since you have extra runs for the forever power outlets. But it is worth it.

 

[Egon]

There are wood stoves designed for small spaces.

[video]https://cubicminiwoodstoves.com/[/video]

 

[5030]

There are wood stoves designed for small spaces.

[video]https://cubicminiwoodstoves.com/[/video]

Not a cheap date by a long shot.

 

[turnkey4099]

Most wood stoves I've seen state emphatically NOT to use coal. Not sure if it's a heat issue or the acid in coal.

Doesn't corn add a lot of goo in the smoke stack?

It was due to the heat, coal burns much hotter than wood. I have seen old stoves with the grates burned out of them and bulges in the side. I gave away a beautiful old stove that was in that condition, had to talk my way through the canadian border as they wanted to charge me for an "antique" when I considered it junk. My BIL wanted it for his new log house though.

 

[4570Man]

I could cut and split enough firewood for my house in 2 days. How long would it take to produce a 5-7 cord equivalent of corn? Plus I can store firewood indefinitely.