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Lowrollin70gmc

Lowrollin70gmc

Flatland Wheeler
Joined
May 20, 2020
Member Number
762
Messages
227
Loc
Abercrombie, ND
Random question,

Just started looking into corn stoves, as we have a few hundred bushel of really dry (11-13%) corn at work that can't go to market or feed (I work in research). Already gave away 150 bushel. We'll also likely continue to have this much or more in future years.

So, thinking about a corn stove for my new garage. Even just to heat it while building it out this winter.

Any suggestions on brands or retailers?

It's a 40x64x12 shop, and eventually will have an electric boiler for in floor heat so I'm not too worried about a huge unit that will be primary heat forever.

I'd like to keep it at 2 grand or less, but not sure how realistic that is.

Found this refurbished unit that reads like it's what I want, but I'm not sure on good/bad brands.

www.stoversliquidation.com

Amaizablaze Corn Stove - Model 7100 - Adjustable BTU Up to 72,000 BTU's - Direct Vent - with Horizontal Cap

Stover's Liquidation tile has thousands of flooring and tile products with locations across Tennessee! We carry porcelain tile, glass tile, hardwood, and laminate flooring, mosaic glass, stone back splash tile, LVP and more!
www.stoversliquidation.com www.stoversliquidation.com
 
Yeah I don't know about brands of stoves but had a co worker who bought one and he loved it.

It was automated, had a little screw jack in there that dropped a kernel. You sed the feed rate which controls the heat.

Clean up was easy. Ran it for a few years trouble free until he moved.

he bought an old gravity wagon and got corn from the local elevator. said he was heating his house for less than $60 a month.

But if you had to buy bags of corn for it that would have not been worth the conversion.
 
I remember the 1980s article Mother Earth News about the farmers who came up with the idea because there was so much waste corn. Never followed up on whether it had caught on, not much production in NM
 
Its just a pellet stove with a higher heat rating. We have had multiple pellet stoves and by far I like Englander ones the best. They make corn specific ones. I bought my first one off marketplace for $100 and its still in my old house running today
 
Have had a corn stove for 15 years or so. An Amaizablze insert. Has a multi fuel kit on it so I can burn whatever the auger can move. Wood pellets, corn, cherry pits. Had one room blower go out and replaced the combustion blower as well. Other than that it's been pretty trouble free. Only complaint is its an older model and "dumb", which is good because it's simple to work on. But, it doesn't regulate temperature, just keeps pumping out heat and feeding the fire.

I've got that exact model stove sitting in a storage trailer. Got it from a buddy who had it in his house for a bit. He tried it in an uninsulated garage and it barely made a difference. Could run it wide open and would raise the temp a few degrees when it was only in the 30's outside.

All that being said, I haven't used mine in a few years. It's cheaper for me to pay the Consumers bill than to heat with it if I'm buying pellets. Add in that you are always moving bags and it becomes easy to not use it. With good pellets I was about to go 3 weeks before shutting it down to clean. Been meaning to replace it with a wood burning insert but haven't gotten there yet. I keep it and a few bags of pellets around incase of winter power outages. Easy to plug it into the generator or even the trucks outlet.
 
[486] said:
wonder if you could oil your corn to get longer burn time :laughing:
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If you do this with firewood, It just burns hotter/faster. Used to get rid of excessive oil this way.

I've never head of a corn stove, the farmers here just leave them out in the field.
 
At lunch I found a few on marketplace, looking like 300-400 will get a choice of Countryside stoves. Seem to have good reviews and are 56k BTU total. That won't heat it uninsulated in the depths of winter, but part of warming it up is to install the insulation.

That's not a ton of cash, looks like another 400 in exhaust piping would get it setup in the new garage.

Could figure out a way to run floor heat through it next year, I only have the pipe in at the moment, no circ pump or boiler yet. Well, only a slab so far. Hopefully walls and trusses in the next month or so.
 
Corn can create klinkers that need to be cleaned out frequently. Happens more often if the corn isn't dry enough. Wood pellets can be mixed in with the corn to help keep it from sticking together. Another issue is grain/pantry moths in the corn. Bring it indoors to keep it dry, then the little moths hatch out and fly everywhere, fluttering around the lights.
 
I had 0 clue they existed, very cool. We have a pellet stove my wife loves. The first year in this house we heated with 100% electric, after that we fired up the pellet stove, the house is a lot warmer for slightly less money.

Any idea on cost of wood vs. corn pellets if you have to buy em by the bag in the lower 48?
 
Corn is going to vary based on commodity market, currently down at sub $4/ bushel (approx 56lbs), was over $8 at times in 2022. And will be more expensive pre-bagged, but I'm not sure of many places offering it here. I've found random ads for "deer corn" at $8-9 per 50lb bag.

Corn stoves were more common in farm country pre-ethanol as corn was cheap with supply exceeding demand. I've even heard of farmers that encouraged corn stoves in farm houses to keep some supply off the market.

I'm unique in having access to a large quantity of corn that by contract has to be destroyed. Not every year will be this much, but it just occurred to me when trying to find someone to give it to that I could use it.
 
They were fairly popular here when corn was cheap. Once corn prices shot up people quit using them or switched to pellets. Everyone I know that had them really liked them.
If you have that access to corn I’d go for it.
 
Will your insurance allow a solid fuel appliance in an unoccupied outbuilding?

I know a lot of them are clamping down on garage or shop stoves. Though a corn stove may count as an automatic furnace?
 
Lowrollin70gmc said:
At lunch I found a few on marketplace, looking like 300-400 will get a choice of Countryside stoves. Seem to have good reviews and are 56k BTU total. That won't heat it uninsulated in the depths of winter, but part of warming it up is to install the insulation.

That's not a ton of cash, looks like another 400 in exhaust piping would get it setup in the new garage.

Could figure out a way to run floor heat through it next year, I only have the pipe in at the moment, no circ pump or boiler yet. Well, only a slab so far. Hopefully walls and trusses in the next month or so.
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56k isn't heating an insulated 2500 sq ft shop building either.
Maybe 2x that if it's well insulated and winter isn't too cold.
 
barrelroll said:
I had 0 clue they existed, very cool. We have a pellet stove my wife loves. The first year in this house we heated with 100% electric, after that we fired up the pellet stove, the house is a lot warmer for slightly less money.

Any idea on cost of wood vs. corn pellets if you have to buy em by the bag in the lower 48?
Click to expand...
Those #s seem off.

Average grid power here is $0.25 a kWhr.

$20 (80 kWhr) is about 270,000 btu, which is around what a bag of pellets provides for heat. That's figuring 85% efficiency if pellets vs 100% with electricity

A bag of pellets is around $7....
 
AKnate said:
Those #s seem off.

Average grid power here is $0.25 a kWhr.

$20 (80 kWhr) is about 270,000 btu, which is around what a bag of pellets provides for heat. That's figuring 85% efficiency if pellets vs 100% with electricity

A bag of pellets is around $7....
Click to expand...

Which way is it off?

February 2023 Power bill $338 100% electric heat set to 64, February 2024 Power bill $150, pellet stove keeping the house 4-8 degrees warmer depending on distance from pellet stove, baseboards set to 50 degrees. We average about 2 months on a pallet of pellets roughly $400 out the door with tax. Last power bill 530KW, $68.27 so roughly $.13 a KW? Southeast is it's own grid, 100% hydro most of the time.
 
Ranchtruck said:
Will your insurance allow a solid fuel appliance in an unoccupied outbuilding?

I know a lot of them are clamping down on garage or shop stoves. Though a corn stove may count as an automatic furnace?
Click to expand...

I've read that it often is okay as a secondary heat source, and for better or worse this garage is attached via a breezeway to my house. Don't want to get cold feet walking to the shop.

[486] said:
so you got one coming in the mail yet?
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I have a bunch to do between rain storms this weekend, but I'll likely go pick one up this next week. Figure used is a better bet than spending a ton more for new. There are two identical used ones for $300, each an hour away but different directions.

Also found a corn pellet boiler for $900. Tempted to do that as long term it would be better, would still have an electric boiler for when I'm gone.I also purposely put my tubing next to my breezeway and planned for the electric boiler to be in the breezeway. So have to think about exhaust options in that spot. Not a ton of room for this monster. I guess I could have an insulated pipe loop to a better location for it.
Screenshot_20241101_184251_Facebook.jpg

AKnate said:
56k isn't heating an insulated 2500 sq ft shop building either.
Maybe 2x that if it's well insulated and winter isn't too cold.
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I'm thinking more to get it to 30 or 40 to work in when it's 10 outside or 50 on a sunny 20 degree day. Not all winter, just extending my time to get the wiring, insulation, and full boiler system in place. And in future burn free corn when I can to reduce my electric use/bill.

I have winters off (paid:flipoff2:), so I'll be out there a bunch once it's usable.
 
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