Wood Pellet vs Corn Stoves: The Choice May Be
Out Of Your Hands
Sam Streubel
The most popular alternatives for whole house or supplemental
heating are corn and wood pellet fueled stoves. These
appliances are easy to operate and the initial capital outlay
is significantly less than solar, wind or geothermal systems.
A vital question to ask before you start evaluating the merits
of pellet vs corn stoves should be: "Which fuel, corn or wood
pellets, is the most readily available in my locale and
therefore the cheapest to burn?"
For instance, in Massachusetts corn for fuel is virtually
non-existent. The closest Agway store I contacted (3/2/06) had
only eleven, 50 pound bags in stock at a price of $9 each or
$360 a ton.
Over the course of a New England heating season, a stove will
consume 3 tons of fuel. If you compare this to $260 a ton for
wood pellets from a well stocked Connecticut supplier, the wood
pellet stove becomes your only choice.
Likewise, if you live in Iowa, why would you buy a wood pellet
stove?
In some regions of the country, such as Wisconsin and
Minnesota, there is usually an abundance of wood pellets and
corn. The obvious benefit is the ability to switch between
fuels when one of them becomes scarce.
A perfect example is this year's wood pellet shortage. Do you
think Wisconsin pellet stove owners had to think real hard
about where to get corn when the supply of wood pellets ran
low?
However, Nancy Koval, owner of Woodburning Warehouse in
Watervliet, New York, warns that when burning corn in a wood
pellet stove it is best to use a 50/50 mixture of wood pellets
and corn.
The problem is clinkers. When corn is burned it leaves behind a
substance from the sugars it contains that when cooled is very
hard and stays in the burner. The clinkers must be regularly
cleaned out of the stove. Some special corn stoves are designed
to automatically clear clinkers, Koval said.
Wood pellet and corn stoves have many common traits. They are
comparably priced at around $2000 for a unit large enough to
heat 1200-1500 square feet, and share an efficiency rating of
approximately 80%. Corn and wood pellets also produce an equal
amount of heat per pound of fuel.
Please note: Since most house layouts do not allow the free
movement of air through the house, a centrally located stove
will not heat the whole house. If your home doesn't have an
open floor plan, size the stove to heat the room where the
stove is located.
Both types of stoves require electricity to run fans, controls,
and the auger that feeds corn or wood pellets into the stove's
firebox. Under normal usage, they consume about 100
kilowatt-hours (kWh) or about $9 worth of electricity per
month. Unless the stove has a back-up power supply, the loss of
electric power results in no heat and possibly some smoke in the
house.
In addition to periodic ash disposal, both corn and wood pellet
stoves have an annual maintenance regimen that must be followed
to ensure your stove continues to operate as efficiently as the
day you bought it.
The storage of corn, as opposed to wood pellets, can be
problematic. Owners of corn burning systems who store corn
inside their homes need to use tight storage containers, clean
up corn spills immediately, and avoid storing corn for long
periods of time to prevent problems with rodents and stored
grain insects.
A third option to consider is a multi-fuel stove. Typically
they are advertised as corn stoves that also burn wood pellets
or vice versa.
The #1 selling multi-fuel stove is the Dansons Group Cheap
Charlie Model HCCC2GD corn stove that also burns wood pellets.
About The Author: Get your Cheap Charlie Stove at
http://www.Alternative-Heating-info.com
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