anyone burning corn or corn/pellet mix?

[schoondog]

My local feed store has several tons of corn for sale, but no pellets. My US Stove is a multifuel so I figured I'd buy a few bags and see what was what. I mixed 15-20% corn in with some Penningtons and they have been burning for the last few hours. Heat is OK, the Penningtons don't produce the heat that Lignetics produce, thats why I thought I would add the corn to the Penningtons. Watching things and measuring temps with IR gun. Tomorrow or Sunday I will raise the percentage of corn to 50% and see what happens. Just sorta wondering if anyone else has experience with corn.

Schoondog

 

[kinsmanstoves]

My local feed store has several tons of corn for sale, but no pellets. My US Stove is a multifuel so I figured I'd buy a few bags and see what was what. I mixed 15-20% corn in with some Penningtons and they have been burning for the last few hours. Heat is OK, the Penningtons don't produce the heat that Lignetics produce, thats why I thought I would add the corn to the Penningtons. Watching things and measuring temps with IR gun. Tomorrow or Sunday I will raise the percentage of corn to 50% and see what happens. Just sorta wondering if anyone else has experience with corn.

Schoondog

Is your exhaust rated for corn? Corn is corrosive.

Corn has 6,000 to 7,000 btu per pound
Pellets have around 8,300 btu per pound

It all varies on quality and moisture but that is the average.

Eric

 

[schoondog]

yes, made sure that exhaust was for multifuel when I purchased stove. Simpson Duravent PL? I thought I read somewhere that corn burned hotter than wood pellets..... However BTU is lower? I don't think I will burn alot of corn, just experimenting for now. I will say that its not to impressive so far, outlet temps are down and its not like the house is overheating for sure.
Schoondog

 

[Shane]

I tried it in an Astoria around 2006 right after they approved it for a 50/50 mix. I wasn't impressed, it burned but didn't like to light and the pot required cleaning every day rather than once per week. I also had a Bixby, we burned corn in that, we lit it several times and it was a crapshoot whether the corn would light or not. Could have been the corn with the Bixby, I will admit.

 

[Xena]

Burned a 50/50 corn/wood pellet mix the first year
I had this stove. It burned well with no trouble,
but I wasn't crazy about the extra mess. It does
burn much dirtier and therefore requires far more
cleaning. Even so, I'd burn it if I had to.

 

[Sting]

At 13% you have .87 pounds of zero percent moisture corn which equals 7,316 BTU's per pound, because of the moisture content there is a loss of 1,094 BTU's per pound.

here is just one comparison
http://www.allbasics.com/residential_fuel_cost_comparisons.htm

a corn and pellet blend significantly reduces the corn starch clinker drama and (in some appliances) produces more heat with less combustion air for better thermal transfer in the HX!

 

[schoondog]

At 13% you have .87 pounds of zero percent moisture corn which equals 7,316 BTU's per pound, because of the moisture content there is a loss of 1,094 BTU's per pound.

here is just one comparison
http://www.allbasics.com/residential_fuel_cost_comparisons.htm

a corn and pellet blend significantly reduces the corn starch clinker drama and (in some appliances) produces more heat with less combustion air for better thermal transfer in the HX!

Thanks Sting. I mixed up a 30% mix tonight and will check out the temps. Seems to be burning this corn fine. Not to messy, no drama. I' m gonna try adjuting the damper too see if I can sqeeze out anymore heat. Interesting. Going to give it its weekly cleaning tomorrow and then try a load or 2 of Rocky Mountain pellets my buddy dropped off today. These things are going to be great cause it says on the bag they are super premium and the best money can buy!!

Schoondog

 

[Xena]

... then try a load or 2 of Rocky Mountain pellets my buddy dropped off today. These things are going to be great cause it says on the bag they are super premium and the best money can buy!!

Before you open the first bag of those super premiums,
turn around and put your bum close to it, then have
someone slice open the bag, make certain your bum
is close to the bag so it will blow the sunshine right up there. ;-P

 

[schoondog]

... then try a load or 2 of Rocky Mountain pellets my buddy dropped off today. These things are going to be great cause it says on the bag they are super premium and the best money can buy!!

Before you open the first bag of those super premiums,
turn around and put your bum close to it, then have
someone slice open the bag, make certain your bum
is close to the bag so it will blow the sunshine right up there. ;-P

You mean they might..... gasp...... lie about something as important as pellets???

 

[acowherd]

LOL LOL Zeta that is hilarious, I almost fell out of my recliner laughing, and the wife and kid were looking at me like i was stupid.

There should be warnings attached to that post.....
:lol: :lol:

 

[brent3556]

I burn almost exclusively corn, just use pellets to light from a cold start. I am in corn country though. The stuff is everywhere here. Works great for me but I realy don't know what burning pellets all the time is like either. I am buying corn for ten cents over the daily market price at my local elevator with the option to contract if I like or buy up front and pay storage of 5 cents a month/bushell. Pellets don't even come close for price here so that' show I roll.

 

[drizler]

Pellets and corn burn great together. I have usually used pellets to keep the corn going on low settings when I had moisture issues and have used cheap veggi oil as well for the same purpose. Dont get too micromanaging when you are mixing the stuff either. Just approximate it with a big coffee can or whatever pail to keep it somewhat consistant and adjust if it is too much this way or that. I just burn whatever is cheaper to obtain myself. I wouldn't sweat the stovepipe issue too much either. Mine is full corn rated and the factory calls for just plain P-vent which is what it got. 4 years mostly corn now and its just getting a tad tarnished inside though I do tear it down and clean it once or twice a year. Schoondog is right about the Penningtons. They are at least a quarter less hot than the better ones and make a chit load of ash much like corn does. Good thing I get them cheap at Sams Club. I am going to start mixing mine with some corn to get some more poop out of em.

 

[yoscratch]

I used to burn 50/50 mix but it made for too much maintenance. But here is how I mixed them - I cut a piece of corrugated cardboard that just fit in a 5 gallon pail dividing it in half. I used a scoop to fill one side with corn and poured pellets into the other side. dump it in the hopper and stir a little. My neighbor came over and saw the buckets in the garage mixed one side corn, one side pellets (cardboard was out of them somewhere kicking around) and wondered how I did it.

 

[tarponbuster]

i burn corn only and love it. littel more work. love it

 

[Scoop]

Works fine as a corn burner. Just keep your draft and auger speed at the lowest possible level. If you are burning straight corn add about a cup full of oyster shell, purchased at your local feed mill, to the mix to prevent troublessome klinkers. tonight with the temps at 19F my stove setting are RH3, RF 9, DF1 Auger speed 1 and it is keeping a 2300 sq ft bungalow pretty warm. The oil furnace kicks in very rarely .

 

[tarponbuster]

new to this . should have said burning a magnum winchester

 

[kinsmanstoves]

I am burning grain in my furnace at the store. The ash is a little different and the BTU seems to be a lot less. A local farmer called me and said he had about 350 lbs of it if I would p/u it was free. I took the van over and bought a ton of corn off him and rebagged the grain. I will let you know in a different post in the morning how it has been going. I might even toss in a few pics.


If by chance I forget someone rattle my cage so I remember, [email protected]. Been a little busy the past few days. Had to look at 2 old Big E's today. One needed a board and the other needed a Priest.


Eric

 

[Xena]

.. Been a little busy the past few days.
Had to look at 2 old Big E's today. One needed a board and the other needed a Priest.

LMAO!

 

[schoondog]

Works fine as a corn burner. Just keep your draft and auger speed at the lowest possible level. If you are burning straight corn add about a cup full of oyster shell, purchased at your local feed mill, to the mix to prevent troublessome klinkers. tonight with the temps at 19F my stove setting are RH3, RF 9, DF1 Auger speed 1 and it is keeping a 2300 sq ft bungalow pretty warm. The oil furnace kicks in very rarely .

Scoop I don't think I'd go 100% corn, but thanks for the settings. Price of corn was 8$ for 50 lbs. bag. I have played around a litte with the settings with some different pellets, but went back to auto when mixing corn. Have you gotten alot more heat from your stove when using manual settings? Have you burned many pellets? It gets easier when the family is here and I'm not home to just run in auto. I will be burning some corn / pellet mixtures in the future though! Thanks all !!

 

[moorehaven]

Two cents worth from the land where corn is King......

This year I'm burning a mix of 60lbs. of corn to 40 lbs. of hardwood pellets in my multifuel. Corn moisture content is at 12%. Get a moisture reading before you buy your corn. The moisture content makes a big diff. in how completely it burns and the resulting BTU's as posted above.
Another variable is the wax/sugar content of the corn variety. With the new hybrids and GM's, these vary widely. The higher wax/sugar contents will make your glass harder to get clean and a faster soot build-up in your firebox and exhaust pipe. Buy a test bushel before committing to volume to try first if the suppier can't tell you.
Corn, no matter who you get it from, is best screened by you before you pour it in your hopper. Cob pieces will shear like a wood pellet in your auger, but a piece of corn stalk will stop an auger motor in its tracks. Also shattered corn ( little pieces ) are like pellet dust, you wanna remove as much of it as you can.
My unit is my primary heat source, run's 24/7. When I burn straight "premium" hardwood pellets, I have to shut down and clean at least every third day. Straight corn, I don't wanna be too long away from the stove as an unnoticed clinker buildup puts it out and makes a mess in a short time. With the 60/40 mix this year I'm getting 5 days between burn pot cleaning and ash pan emptying. I could probably go leaner on the pellets, but I since I'm not home all day, I feel comfortable with knowing the pellet content insures I get a good complete burn from my corn should I run into a higher moisture content without knowing it. Again, I feel the key variables here are variety/wax/sugar content and moisture content. We don't grow the kinda corn your granddad grew anymore. Next season I'll have to tweek my mixture again to take all the variables into account. As far as the resulting BTU's, don't know, we're warm and comfortable at subzero temp.s with a windchill chaser, that's all that matters.