Central Boiler corn/pellet burner

[jlromine76]

I know I will probably catch some flack for this question but what do you guys think about burning corn as an alternative fuel? I have an OWB currently and love it except for the constant loading which makes it hard to be gone for extended amounts of time especially when the temps get into the single digits like they have been lately. I don't have my own woods to cut in so gathering wood for me is constant scrounging and paying for logs to be delivered. I don't mind doing the cutting, splitting and stacking it gives me some much needed outdoor time and I get to spend it with my dad who loves doing this stuff to and he doesn't even burn wood. So my thoughts/questions are this:

1. I am building a barn in the next couple of years so I have thought about moving the current OWB to the barn to heat it and use the corn/pellet burner for the house. The hopper would let me run several days unattended which would be nice.

2. Buy a larger OWB to do the barn/house/DHW and concentrate on cutting wood and hope it doesn't run out for me.

3. Sell off the current OWB to help fund the purchase of the new corn/pellet burner and heat all the areas with the ner furnace.

Keep in mind I have a old 1800's farm house pushing 3500 sq ft so that will consume a large amount of the heat capacity already. I am going to be doing a lot of insulating in the future but need to plan for the worst it can be now. Barn is hopefully going to be a 30x30 or similar in size and insulated. I don't need it to be 70 degrees in there but warm enough to melt the snow off my truck would be nice. So there you go let the lashing begin from all you hardcore wood burners.

 

[Jakers]

i personally think it is a great idea. it would take a fair amount to keep running but for someone who has access to large quantities of grain it would be ideal. now that being said, would the price of corn be worth just goin up in smoke? i would venture to guess a boiler would end up burning through at least 10 bushels a day. at the current price of 4.26 this wouldnt be so bad. but what happens when prices go up again?

 

[zogger]

You can scrounge wood but I think it might be difficult to scrounge corn.

 

[Jon B.]

i personally think it is a great idea. it would take a fair amount to keep running but for someone who has access to large quantities of grain it would be ideal. now that being said, would the price of corn be worth just goin up in smoke? i would venture to guess a boiler would end up burning through at least 10 bushels a day. at the current price of 4.26 this wouldnt be so bad. but what happens when prices go up again?

Holy Cow! Forty-two bucks a day for a month is $1260 for fuel. I can burn propane and spend a third of that. Or, buy wood - dry, split wood - and spend a third. (Two cords per month at $200 per cord.) Corn, at 10 bushels per day, would have to go for a buck-twenty a bushel to be cost-effective. Those days are long gone.

Jon

 

[Speed]

So you want to burn corn? What kind of burner do you have in mind? The A-Maize-ing Heat corn furnace would be one I would look at. But it is only 100,000 btu, I don't know if that will do 3500 sq ft. I know someone that has one, he's happy with it. Don't get a stand alone stove, or you may need more than one. I had an amaizablaze 7100 that would tie into the ducts and it was fine for 1600sq ft farm house until it got 15° or below, or the wind started blowing. Then it didn't do so good.

Corn usage, I did 1600 sq ft on an rough average for the whole heating season of 2 bushels per day. Usually a 250 bu gravity wagon would get me through a season.

You never said, how are you getting your corn? I grow corn. At $2.50/bu it was cheap. Right now at $4/bu its doable. I quit when it hit $7+. Now, remember I was growing it so really all I had were my inputs to pay for, which is still $, but I put pencil to paper and at that price I was farther ahead to sell the corn and buy wood. I couldn't buy all the wood, but consider I also had to use some propane along with the corn, so I was spending. All that said, I don't have to buy wood so the owb is a no brainer for me, just a little more work than the corn. It was nice to combine a winters worth of heat in a few minutes, but it's nicer to have a house that is way warmer than I could get with corn.

I realize that you buy wood, so there will be fluctuations in pricing. But, pellets are a manufactured commodity. There is no telling the supply late season, or cost in 3-4 yrs. just like propane, but are more likely to be stable. Corn? Anyone's guess lately.

Next. You say you want to leave it for days at a time. I'm taking it you are talking a long weekend type thing, not routine. I haven't seen a biomass burner of any type that will do that. They may be out there, I'm not saying they aren't, I just haven't seen one yet. They seem to like to be checked up on from time to time.

If you do go the corn/pellet route, make sure you get a good one. There have been lots of people around here that have tried them, some were good, some decent, some were a disaster.

Hopefully, I didn't make you more confused. Just wanted to point out what I know about them.

 

[jlromine76]

So you want to burn corn? What kind of burner do you have in mind? The A-Maize-ing Heat corn furnace would be one I would look at. But it is only 100,000 btu, I don't know if that will do 3500 sq ft. I know someone that has one, he's happy with it. Don't get a stand alone stove, or you may need more than one. I had an amaizablaze 7100 that would tie into the ducts and it was fine for 1600sq ft farm house until it got 15° or below, or the wind started blowing. Then it didn't do so good.

Corn usage, I did 1600 sq ft on an rough average for the whole heating season of 2 bushels per day. Usually a 250 bu gravity wagon would get me through a season.

You never said, how are you getting your corn? I grow corn. At $2.50/bu it was cheap. Right now at $4/bu its doable. I quit when it hit $7+. Now, remember I was growing it so really all I had were my inputs to pay for, which is still $, but I put pencil to paper and at that price I was farther ahead to sell the corn and buy wood. I couldn't buy all the wood, but consider I also had to use some propane along with the corn, so I was spending. All that said, I don't have to buy wood so the owb is a no brainer for me, just a little more work than the corn. It was nice to combine a winters worth of heat in a few minutes, but it's nicer to have a house that is way warmer than I could get with corn.

I realize that you buy wood, so there will be fluctuations in pricing. But, pellets are a manufactured commodity. There is no telling the supply late season, or cost in 3-4 yrs. just like propane, but are more likely to be stable. Corn? Anyone's guess lately.

Next. You say you want to leave it for days at a time. I'm taking it you are talking a long weekend type thing, not routine. I haven't seen a biomass burner of any type that will do that. They may be out there, I'm not saying they aren't, I just haven't seen one yet. They seem to like to be checked up on from time to time.

If you do go the corn/pellet route, make sure you get a good one. There have been lots of people around here that have tried them, some were good, some decent, some were a disaster.

Hopefully, I didn't make you more confused. Just wanted to point out what I know about them.

I was looking at the CB Maxim 250M but that's about as far as I have gotten. I have two furnaces/air handlers in the house (one for each floor) so that's why I was leaning towards a unit that could utilize my existing water lines and heat exchangers. I would have to buy my corn, however being in the middle of Indiana you would think I could find it fairly easily around here.

Weekend trips are exactly what I had in mind plus being able to load once every few days seemed to be a nice break from what I am currently doing. With the temps we are having now I am loading 3-4 times a day and with work that can get difficult. Most of the time during the average winter I am a 2 time a day person. I know OWBs take a lot of wood so I was curious on how well corn did compared to them. According to the corn furnace makers corn is wonderful and has a higher BTU output than wood. If that's the case then it seems like slinging a few 50 lb bags of corn around wouldn't be so bad. I found a place not to far from me that sells it in the 1000lb bag that could be put on my trailer. Biggest part would be getting into the hopper without a nice 3pt attachment.

As I mentioned in the original post I have to scrounge a lot and I have just never been able to get ahead like a lot of you guys talk about. You guys mention having wood lined up for 2016 and I am completely jealous of that. I am down to about 1/2 cord of good seasoned stuff with 2 cords of just cut and split ash sitting on pallets now. I will be able to burn it but it wont be putting out the most BTUs that's for sure. One of these days I am sure I will catch up but this severe cold has really taken a toll on what I thought was a pretty good stash.

 

[Steve NW WI]

Got a friend (farmer) with one. I haven't asked him much about it, and this is his first year with it. He's heating an old farmhouse and a brand new shop with it. I'll get his thoughts next time I see him.

Depending on your heat needs, and which BTU/bu you beleive (I've seen corn listed anywhere from 300,000 to 400,000 btu/bu), that thing on full military power is capable of eating the 11 bu hopper in as little as 13-18 hours. Chances are you don't need near that much, but just putting it out there. It's a dang big unit, capacity wise.

 

[Cheesecutter]

My neighbor just picked up a working corn burner for $10 with all the pipes and ducting. Most folks around here that had corn burners have quit using them and gone to OWBs. Farmers can sell the corn and keep thepastures and fence lines(that are left) clean at the same time. I'd keep the OWB and install a back up heat source for the weekend use, or have someone watch it for you while you're away.

 

[sam-tip]

Seen the CB corn boiler at the spring iowa gtg. Member Hoskvarna said if you grow the corn it's much cheaper than propane. Even at $7 corn.

I used to use the amazing heat in my garage and would fill the hopper once per week. 200 B Per year.

Since you already have heat exchangers in house it would not be hard to switch to corn boiler.

Sent from my SCH-R950 using Tapatalk

 

[Speed]

I've seen those new cb units and I'm curious as to how they are. I imagine they did their homework. I can't remember if it was cb or wood master was making owbs with a corn burner inside and a little hopper on the side. A few guys around here had those when they came out, they were NOT good. Lots of issues. They were convertible to wood, but the door was too small to load with wood easily. Needless to say those units are all gone and the guys went back to propane in disgust.

One thing I forgot to mention about corn, more than likely it will need to be screened if purchased off a farm or from big grain elevator. The fines, cob chunks, and stems will cause you problems at the stove. This can be done by the old time elevator/feed mill. You are looking at an extra 50¢/bu for that. When we were burning we took the time to set the combine perfect and run a hair slower so we'd get clean grain. The new combine is a rotary and that is near impossible to do.

Also grain moisture is a factor, you won't be burning straight from the field 8 out of 10 seasons, so you can't burn directly out of the field. Most I've seen like 12-15%. But that is generally where corn is dried to so no special requirements here. Above or below they don't burn good.

Your best bet for buying is find a farmer that can clean it on the farm for you and buy from him. Chances are you can get a decent price that way. An elevator is going to sell higher than they buy it for. Plus you may need it cleaned yet. Say corn is at $4 today (market) you will have to add 10-25¢ for drying/ handling plus 50¢ screening. Not trying to discourage you, just don't want you to be in shock when you buy corn the first time for it.

Handling is another thing. Bagged is going to add more money. You mentioned 1000# super sacks. Great if you are set up for them, not so great if you aren't. I would suggest buying an old gravity wagon. It makes handling a breeze. And the heck with hauling 100# bags or buckets to the basement. I made a vacuum grain handling system, from the wagon in the detached garage to the basement 100' away, never had to touch it. If you do get serious about corn, I will tell you how I did that. All you need is a shop-vac, some 1 1/2" water line and some ply wood. You may be able to use it for a super sack even , the more I think about it.

If you are buying wood, and still have to cut and split, you may be better off with corn. You will have a lot less time involved, and it sounds like time is an issue for you. I may have come across as a bit against it, but I think it is a very good heat source, I just opted for the owb this time around. My corn burner was at the end of its life and I wanted to heat a second building. I was going to be making a purchase and decided to do everything on one unit vs two. Besides that, I got to looking at how many fence lines needed cleaning. Who knows? I may be burning corn again in twenty years.

 

[zogger]

I was looking at the CB Maxim 250M but that's about as far as I have gotten. I have two furnaces/air handlers in the house (one for each floor) so that's why I was leaning towards a unit that could utilize my existing water lines and heat exchangers. I would have to buy my corn, however being in the middle of Indiana you would think I could find it fairly easily around here.

Weekend trips are exactly what I had in mind plus being able to load once every few days seemed to be a nice break from what I am currently doing. With the temps we are having now I am loading 3-4 times a day and with work that can get difficult. Most of the time during the average winter I am a 2 time a day person. I know OWBs take a lot of wood so I was curious on how well corn did compared to them. According to the corn furnace makers corn is wonderful and has a higher BTU output than wood. If that's the case then it seems like slinging a few 50 lb bags of corn around wouldn't be so bad. I found a place not to far from me that sells it in the 1000lb bag that could be put on my trailer. Biggest part would be getting into the hopper without a nice 3pt attachment.

As I mentioned in the original post I have to scrounge a lot and I have just never been able to get ahead like a lot of you guys talk about. You guys mention having wood lined up for 2016 and I am completely jealous of that. I am down to about 1/2 cord of good seasoned stuff with 2 cords of just cut and split ash sitting on pallets now. I will be able to burn it but it wont be putting out the most BTUs that's for sure. One of these days I am sure I will catch up but this severe cold has really taken a toll on what I thought was a pretty good stash.

You could quit scrounging and instead look for a steady place to cut where you pay a reasonable fee for stumpage, buying the trees on the hoof. I would say, just during my life looking at various woods and wooded areas around the nation, the vast bulk is unmanaged. Once in a while, the good saw logs get dragged out, then it is abandoned once again to grow up willy nilly. A woodlot, treated as a garden, pays off much better down the road for the owner. Just the appropriate trims/weeding of a woodlot would get you a lot of wood. Heck, you might could get paid to do constructive thinning, some cash plus haul the wood out.

 

[hoskvarna]

I have a CB maxim 250. I heat a old farm house ,not well insulated yet,around 2100sq ft.I also have a heat exchanger in shop,35x35 that is heated.i dont heat the shop all the time just when needed.the reason i went with corn was my brother and i were cuttin wood for for him ,dad,grampa already so beein i raise it myself thought it made sense.so far im happy with mine ,5yrs ,the corn does have to be clean as someone has said.
In very cold temps i cant go over 2 days with out refill and takin out ashes.
i burn 2-3 bu a day.
when corn was 7$ a bu i got 2 pallets of pellets and tryed them,until got real cold.they worked fine,pain dealin with bags but ohwell.
had to replace water level sensor this yr.
so far happy with mine!

 

[Steve NW WI]

when corn was 7$ a bu i got 2 pallets of pellets and tryed them,until got real cold.they worked fine,pain dealin with bags but ohwell.
had to replace water level sensor this yr.
so far happy with mine!

Non-pellet guy with a simple question here: Corn and pellets seem to have similar btus/lb ratings. It sounds like the pellets don't do as well in real cold weather? I'd guess that maybe they're less dense than corn (less lbs/cu ft). Is that the issue, or is there something else I'm not seeing?

Haven't talked to my friend with the CB corn burner yet, but it's possible I'll see him today sometime.

 

[jlromine76]

Thanks for all of the information guys I really appreciate it. This weekend was a perfect example of what I needed the extended run time for. Little 3 month old baby girl is in the hospital with pneumonia and I have to keep checking on the fire. Got some crappy wood I am trying to burn and in the cold it isn't keeping up. Had to make a trip to the barn to get some of my last few chunks of hedge out to get the fire stoked so I could burn the other crap. This cold is really taxing my wood supply and I might be forced to buy some high quality stuff to get me through for a bit. I just recently gained access to a place to cut but with the snow I have been cut off. I think I might be able to make a good haul here soon but its going to take a serious weekend to get enough here to last me for a while. Not that it cant be done but you know how life gets in the way sometimes.

 

[hoskvarna]

too bad i wasnt closer,could come help u.
i know how it is ,u fight with priorities all the time!
good luck with new haul.

 

[Speed]

Non-pellet guy with a simple question here: Corn and pellets seem to have similar btus/lb ratings. It sounds like the pellets don't do as well in real cold weather? I'd guess that maybe they're less dense than corn (less lbs/cu ft). Is that the issue, or is there something else I'm not seeing?

Haven't talked to my friend with the CB corn burner yet, but it's possible I'll see him today sometime.

Steve, I'm not real familiar with pellets, but one neighbor has a pellet burner, so I've heard some. The pellets are apparently quite random as far as quality. They have soft wood and hard wood, neighbor only gets hard wood. Last year one brand was ok, next brand they had was great, as in burning less for same heat. This year they couldn't get great stuff, as store didn't have that brand this year and apparently they are going through them a little faster(judged earlier in season, not lately with cold). One of their friends has been doing the pellet thing for 5-6 years and I hear this is on going, never seem to be able to get the same brand year to year if they find something they like, so it is a constant "hunt" for premium pellets. Now remember, this is not my experience or opinion. Simply hearsay from pellet people. I haul all the pellets for said neighbor, and they used 6tons last year, this year they have used 3 1/2 so far. I was at their house today, and if you aren't in the room with the stove, it's COLD in that house, lol. They need to circulate it somehow.

 

[rev_2004]

I have a friend who has a corn/pellet burner. Probably a 1600sq. ft. house. He used to burn corn all the time when the price was around $1.50-$2.00. As price began to climb he switched to pellets. He also "scrounges" left over seed beans from area farmers and mixes them in with his pellets. I think he currently uses any where from 1-1 1/2 bags a day. It is like a buck/wood stove where one part of the house is warm as can be and the rest is a little cooler. That is the main reason why I like my wood boiler.

 

[hanniedog]

If you are going to concrete the floor of your building I would think about in floor heat. Once you get that slab warmed up it doesn't take much to keep it warm.