Outdoor Furnace

cowboydoc · Jun 1, 2001

HeeHaw,
Last year when natural gas and propane went to $2/gallon that corn stove was the hottest thing selling around Iowa. They couldn't keep enough of them. With corn down to $1.60 a bushel you could heat your house for about $30 a month. My one friend who's a farmer built a new house last fall and he put two corn burners in. One in his house and one in shop. He had that house at 75 all winter for about $25 a month.

StoneHeartFarm · Jun 1, 2001

heehaw,

I have talked with many people who have pellets stoves. They are about as popular here as outdoor woodburners. One guy last year told me that he has burned wood pellets, corn and cherry pits. The cherry pits come from North of here where there are a large number of cherry orchards. He said each one burns differently. Some put out more heat, some less. Some have more ash and some less. He said he liked the cherry pits real well. But then the Cherry Processors figured out they could sell a lot of pits and the price went up. (I guess its some kind of cherry OPEC). I have also talked with several others who have said they burn corn. BUT, I believe someone told me once that you have to make sure the stove is capable of it before buying, because not all stoves are created equal.

Anonymous Poster · Jun 3, 2001

You might want to check out www.woodheat.org for more info on outdoor boilers. On the pellet stoves....it was my understanding that you can burn pellets in a corn burner but you shouldn't burn corn in a pellet stove.

Crash recon

heehaw · Jun 3, 2001

looks like this may be something to consider; except; a 50 pound sack of corn is close to $4 here; an i don't think that is anywhere near a bushel..i have always been a little leary of the pellet stoves because of the availability and amount of control the few makers of pellets have..lets face it, there just ain't a gonna be a "cheap" way to heat anymore..
heehaw

StoneHeartFarm · Jun 3, 2001

Might consider adding or upgrading insulation. Owens Corning's website has alot of information, and I believe a link to DOE. DOE has upgraded insulation recommendations and you can punch in your zip code and heating type and they'll tell you how much insulation you need. In my case DOE is recommending almost 30% more than State Code requires. This recommendation has jumped since I first checked it in June of 2000. They list the cost of fuel as the reason.

SHF

cowboydoc · Jun 4, 2001

Heehaw,
A bushel of corn is 56 pounds. Just go buy it bulk at any feed store that has elevators and you will get it for less than $2 a bushel. I couldn't even afford to feed my horses if I bought feed by the bag. The horse mix that I have done is $8 a bag at the feedstore. Buy bulk, mix it to my specs. and delivered and put in my bulk bins is about $2 a bag if you figured it that way. Same with my cattle feed. The guys around here that use the corn burners take their pickups to the feed mill and get a load and pay the per bushel price, $1.68 right now, and then go home and put it into containers. The one friend I was telling you about built a nice waterproof wood shed outside his house where the stove is. Then he built a chute going in that he can open and fill his stove. I have a woodstove insert and use that all winter. I go through about two cords of wood running it almost all the time. I only used about 750 gallons of propane last year and that's with hot water too.

heehaw · Jun 4, 2001

thanks, that explains a lot of things; i couldn't figure out how folks could afford the amount of corn they feed. i will do some checkin with the feed store.
heehaw

Anonymous Poster · Jun 4, 2001

I haven't had time to experiment yet but I think that heavy brush (small trees and limbs) that are small enough to feed through a chipper shreader (perhaps a couple passes) might feed through an auger like in a pellet/corn stove, albeit perhaps with some modification to the auger (clearances, pitch, whatever). This would eliminate pellet shortage concerns as well as reduce physical requirements to harvest/handle firewood.

Any decent acreage should be capable of producing a sustainable crop of feedstock. There are species you could plant that are very efficient at converting meager nutrients and water to high yields of wood, albeit of sizes smaller that traditionaly sought for firewood. By pruning rather than clear cutting and harvesting areas in rotation youi should be able to make a perpetual wood supply.

Patrick

StoneHeartFarm · Jun 4, 2001

heehaw

When you hit that feed lot, check on the price of bulk wood pellets. I think that's where the guys around here have been buying them -- at the elevators.

SHF