Burning ear corn in an outdoor wood boiler?

[mike758]

I’m entering my fourth year with my outdoor boiler (Heatmaster C150) and one of my biggest challenges which I should have looked into more before I bought it is obtaining wood. Most local tree guys are firewood guys too; I had one guy bringing me wood which was a huge help, but he stopped. I keep an eye out for free wood on local forums but it’s pretty sporadic and goes quick.

I have oil heat too so my outdoor boiler isn’t essential but I’d still like to utilize my investment so I’m looking into alternative fuel options. My boiler is designed for coal, but based on my calculations the price of burning coal would break even or even be slightly more costly then oil due to the inefficiently of the boiler. Another option I was thinking of but can’t find any info on is corn. I know people use shelled corn in pellet stoves, so I was thinking maybe full ears would work in my boiler? I collect antique farm equipment so I have pretty much everything I need to grow corn, obviously there would be cost involved still with seed and fertilizer. I can probably buy a few bushels to experiment with this winter, but I was wondering if anyone has ever tried this or has any opinions?

 

[Millar]

Having grown corn for many years the volume of storage you would need for whole ear corn would be a challenge. Most require further air drying after harvest with typical storage designs becoming rodent and pest attractions.
Finding someone who picks corn (harvesting the cobs)for a trial may also be a challenge unless you have Amish neighbors.
I would have to assume you need a wood fire base to make corn cobs burn.

 

[EbS-P]

Wood seems easier. Have you tried to buy and have delivered a load of logs? 15 years ago shelled corn at 5$ was more expensive than pellets.

 

[DonTee]

There have to be some cheap wood options in PA. Like mentioned above, log loads would be a good option. It’s probably the most expensive of the cheap options though. And there is work required in blocking/splitting the wood.

The nice thing about a log load is you can cut the wood longer. Like if your boiler can take 2-3’ pieces.

Two other options I can think of are slab wood and end cuts from saw mills. I know in my area those things can be had for cheap or free. Especially from the Amish.

FBMP is your friend to find wood deals.

I know nothing about burning corn. I assume they’re not very BTU dense.

 

[salecker]

Wood waste from a truss plant...
Nut shells from a food processing plant...
Wood at the landfill...
Run adds offering to clean up dead trees...

 

[Highbeam]

Just buy a log truckload. The big ones with 10 real cords.

 

[Millar]

Corn is back down to 5 bucks a bushel as it was 15 years ago so it would help us all growing it if everyone burned some . Maybe I shouldn't have been so negative in my comments. It may even be cheaper next year if the commodity traders are right about this year's corn yields.