Ja-Ran Enterprises, 3541 Babcock Road, Lexington, MI 48450 - 810-359-7985; Pinnacle Stove Sales, 4252 Dog Prairie Road, Quesnel, B.C., Canada V2J 6K9 - 250-747-1714; American Energy Systems, Inc., 50 Academy Lane, Hutchinson, MN 55350 - 320-587-6565; Big M Mfg. Co., (A-Maize-Ing Heat), 928 East 1090 N. Road, Taylorville, IL 62568 - 217-824-9372; Grain Stoves, Inc, RR 3, Blythe, Ontario, Canada N0M 1H0 - 519-523-9897 and SnowFlame, Inc., Box 745, Anden, NC 28704 - 828-684-4444 (info@snowflame.com or www.snowflame.com).

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), January 23, 2001

Answers

P.S. After a $204 electric bill on a single-wide trailer, I am seriously considering putting in a corn-burning stove. From the web site of snowflame, they appear to be very easy to install with just one vent through the outside wall. When I requested brochures from the four U.S. companies I asked about cost savings over conventional heating. All four indicated with the jump in electric, fuel-oil and natural gas prices, they would expect a savings of about two-thirds for heating. I would still have electric heat as backup and could use it in the fan only mode to circulate heated air.

Would really like to hear from anyone with a working experience of them.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), January 23, 2001.

Hey, Ken, here's a conundrum I heard on the radio this morning. Nitrogen fertilizer is made from natural gas (news to me, but that's what they said). Production of nitrogen fertilizer has been cut way back because natural gas commands higher prices now as energy producing fuel (heating our homes & businesses, producing electricity). Nitrogen fertilizer is used extensively to grow corn.

My head is spinning . . . .

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), January 23, 2001.

Joy,

Keep it spinning one more turn. What do you think will happen to the price of corn?

Incidentally, the natural gas to fertilizer conversion is called the Haber process, invented in Germany shortly after WWI and is now the major source of nitrogen fertilizer worldwide.

-- Marty Boraas (boraas@miliserv.net), January 23, 2001.

Yeah, Marty, that's what I meant . . . Where does it end?

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), January 23, 2001.

I'll address the question as it relates to fertilizer and corn costs. (These figures are made up, but probably aren't far off.)

The breakeven cost for producing corn in 2,000 was $2.00 bushel and it sold to the feed elevator for $2.50 bushel. Of the $2.00, 10%, or $.20 was related to fertilizer. The cost of fertilizer doubles, now raising the breakeven cost to $2.20. Can that cost be passed on to the grain elevator? Probably not, instead of earning $.50 a bushel, the farmer will now only earn $.30.

Why probably not? The price paid by the grain elevator is, in part, based on worldwide demand as projected one year ago (futures trading) so the grain elevator is locked into what they can pay and still make their desired profit. Rising prices elsewhere may slacken demand for the thousands of products into which corn is an input (instead of Kelloggs you either buy the store brand or cut down on processed cereals).

(Brief micro-economics lesson: When supply equals demand, prices are stable. When supply exceeds demand, prices decline. When demand exceeds supply, prices rise.)

I don't see a situation in which the cost of corn could double, triple or more as have the cost of other fuels, which is why I think corn-burning stoves will either hold, or increase, their economic advantage.

(The above ignores increases in other input costs, such as herbicides, pesticides, rising cost of farm equipment and fuel to dry corn in bins and run the equipment. Remember the saying about farmers being the only ones to have to buy at retail and sell at wholesale.)

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), January 24, 2001.

Also keep in mind that corn is sometimes dried using Propane gas and moisture content in corn is critical when using as a stove fuel.

-- Hendo (OR) (redgate@echoweg.netm), January 26, 2001.

This cost comparison from from the information supplied by one of the manufacturers:

To achieve the same amount of BTU output, one bushel of shelled corn is equal to 5.5 gallons of LP gas, 3.6 gallons of fuel oil, 148 KW hours of electricity and 5.04 C.C.F. of natural gas. Using these you can get a rough idea of cost of operations in your area.

(A bushel of whole kernel corn is 56 pounds. When sold in 50 pound bags, just divide the cost by 50 and multiply by 56 to get retail cost per bushel.)

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), January 26, 2001.

Hi Ken, My former neighbor had a corn stove in his shop. I stopped by to see it as I was very interested in getting one.(renewable,corn is cheap,ect.)Well, it was half full of corn and not being used.The company claimed it would burn about anything you put in it.NOT!!! These people are farmers and tried using corn straight from the combine but it was too "dirty". Also it has to be real dry besides being commercially cleaned. I think pellet stoves would be better, but don't know. I have a wood stove with electric furnace backup. (don't use furnace hardly ever)

-- Darren in Idaho (darrencindy2000@yahoo.com), January 27, 2001.

Could you please send me more information by US mail if you have something plus information about becomeing a dealer, I live near Pittsburgh PA. and own a feed store. thanks Tom Cheman 2441 Butler Logan Road Tarentum, PA 15084

-- Tom Cheman (tcheman@bellatlantic.net), February 19, 2001.

article in the christian science monitor 5 mar 01 p2 titled 'soybeans and corn power their way into fuel options' will help you on your journey. good luck, hunter

-- hunter anderson (hunter2@gateway.net), March 05, 2001.

We have a wood stove and we are farmers also..our wood stove is bothering my husband's asthma and it is also causing our wood furniture to dry out and come apart. I have heard that corn is not like that. My daughter's in-laws have a corn stove in Northern Illinois and they love it. It would never be half full of corn because it is augured down and only burns a few grains at a time. We are seriously consiering a purchase of one and put our wood stove in our machine shed. I really would like more information on how they work and if they are safer and healthier.

-- Patricia Lawson (mplawson56@yahoo.com), March 05, 2001.

This list is old so the manufacturer may no longer be in business and the address or phone number may have changed:

Corn:

Ithaca Mfg., P.O. Box 78, Ithaca, MI 48847 - 517-875-4949. Corn Stoves, Inc., 120 N. Peterborough St., Canastota, NY 13032 - 315- 697-5676. Dove Energy, P.O. Box 49138, Algood, TN 38501 - 615-537-3602.

Pellet:

National Steelcrafters of Oregon, 1875 W. Sixth St., P.O. Box 2501, Eugene, OR 97402 - 503-683-3210. Pyro Industries, 11625 Airport Road, Everett, WA 98204 - 206-348-0400. Alladin Steel Products, 401 N. Wynne St., Colville, WA 99114 - 509- 684-3745. Country Flame, P.O. Box 151, Mt. Vernon, MO 76512 - 417-466-7161. Harman Stove Systems, 352 Mountain House Rd., Halifax, PA 17032 - 717- 362-9080. Horizon Research, 180 W. Dayton, #210, Edmunds, WA 98070 - 206-670- 6533. Vermont Castings, Prince St., Randolph, VT 05060. Waterford Irish Stoves, 16 Air Park Rd., W. Lebanon, NH 03766 - 603- 298-5030.

Pellet/Corn:

Earthstove Marketing, 1802-A, Spencer Ave., Marion, IN 46952 - 317- 662-0085. Enerpel, Inc., 533 Thain Rd., Lewiston, ID 83501 - 208-743-5528. Hi-Teck Stoves, 2984 S. 3600 W., Salt Lake city, UT 84119 - 800-456- 8606. Martin Industries, P.O. Box 128, Florence, AL 35631 - 205-767-0330.

-- Ken S in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), March 15, 2001.

I would never worry about the price of corn doubling or tripling in price because of fertilizer prices, propane prices for drying ect. the price of corn has averaged the same price it is now since the early sixtys. the only way farmers have been getting more for there crops, is because they are raising three times as much on an acre as they did in the sixtys. We use the countryside stove, and love it!!!! we use corn right from the field. we just take the little bit of stock pieces, that are sometimes in the corn, out. this is very easy, and is not really even worth talking about. shelled corn is generally dried to around 15% moisture in the field, before it is harvested. this is because it needes to be this dry to put in storage. so any corn you get from the elevator generally is 15% or less. 15% is what the stove mnf. recommend. You won't go wrong with a corn stove. Besides, if you don't like the corn, you can burn wood pellets in it also.

-- steve k. (gazebohill@aol.com), March 24, 2001.

I have to agree with most of what steve k. had to say. As far as the price of corn going up because of the price of production going up, or even the cost of living rising, look back to prices in the 1950's. If corn prices would have followed everything else the price would probably be around $15.00 a bushel. The farmers have very little to do with the corn price, the Federal Government has more to do with it than anyone else. In reply to the comment about Kelloggs and their use of corn, they use less U.S. produced corn then they use foreign produced corn. I am planning on installing a corn burning stove. It just makes sense to use a product that does not have to be shipped in. We keep hearing from U.S. companies to buy American. Maybe they should follow suit. Corn is completely renewable, and during the growing process produces oxygen, which is a good thing compared to what the by-products of things that we produce leave behind.

-- gary in NE (lv33032@navix.net), April 05, 2001.

My husband and I looked at several models of both pellet and corn stoves before we decided to go with the Snowflame corn stoves. We are also dealers for the Snowflame line of stoves. I would be more than happy to send any of you literature on our stoves if you are interested, send me an email or visit our website at www.cornstoves.homestead.com

-- Lisa Davis (cornstoves@cs.com), April 28, 2001.

I use and sell the country side corn stove and would not want to be without it. Last winter i heated 1100sq ft home and used 140 bu of corn. At At $2 a bushel it cost me $280 to stay warm all winter. I would much rather use renewable energy (corn) than pay for over priced oil.

-- Jerome Kline (chajer@netins.net), May 07, 2001.

Jerome's post is right on the money (literally). We spent $560 to heat a 2700-2800 square foot home. I would've hated to see our fuel oil bill had we used that. And we only used less than 1/8th of the tank of that when it got really, REALLY cold.

-- Lisa in WI (lehman16@vbe.com), May 08, 2001.

Hello, I enjoyed reading the responses on your very useful website. I live in the province of Saskatchewan Canada. Now talk about cold? Another reason why the squirrels hide their, well you know, around here. I have been recently researching obtaining a grain burning furnace for our house and feel very excited of this potential. We would probably go through minimally 3 to 4 (500 gallon) propane tanks of fuel in one year to heat our two story home. In Canadian prices, that would probably amount to around $1200 per tank. I can almost guarantee we will have a grain burning furnace, preferably wheat, rye or something we grow out here, in our home by the fall. If we could get corn, I certainly would look into going into a corn burner. I am so excited of the potential, I am researching all manufactures in hoping to become an area distributor for one. Please contact me at gchoboter if any of you readers are involved in manufacturing or selling grain furnaces. Oh and by the way, the fellow who was concerned about escalating fertilizer prices potentially removing the benefit of such an altenative fuel, surely does not sound as one involved in the production of agriculture grain products, but rather one involved in the production of oil and gas. Thank you again for the opportunity to view your website and all those who contributed. My email is gchoboter@sk.sympatico.ca for all those who wish to contact me.

-- George Choboter (gchoboter@sk.sympatico.ca), June 13, 2001.

I'm in a rural area in the southern part of Maryland. I'm trying to figure out the pro's & con's to wood vs. corn. A couple of wood pellet stove companys are telling me corn fouls up the augers too much. To me, it sounds like they have stock in wood pellets or something - like they are just trying to push for wood.

I want to go with the corn for nothing else but this: I rather have my nieghbor get my money for the corn I buy rather than some oil company who is getting plenty from me now with the price of gas.

-- eddie v (eddie_n_liz@yahoo.com), June 20, 2001.

Hi Jerome, I hope that you don't mind my emailing you. I found a comment you made on a website that you sell countryside stoves and I just had to write to you. We bought one last year. At first we loved it, but need to find out why we are finding black specks on different things in the living room. That is where we have the stove installed. There were also times when my husband had a hard time getting it burning and keeping it burning. We talked to the manufacturer a couple of times and he said it could be that the corn had too much moisture content or the air pressure in the house wasn't right. We had a window cracked open for 2 days last winter just to change the air pressure in the house. He told us to try that and see if it made a difference in the burning performance and the black specks and it didn't make much difference. We bought the corn at a feed mill where they check the moisture content and they said it was right at 11%. So now we don't know what to think. When it was going we loved it. When we had the problems my husband said it was like there was too much ash in it. .We wanted to stick to the corn if possible but are thinking on trying wood pellets. I am currently looking for a place to purchase them. We still want to use it but need to find out the problem with ours Thank you so much for your time,

Kathy Strand

-- Kathleen Strand (dereksgr@spacestar.net), August 23, 2001.

My husband and I farm in Minnesota and are considering a pellet/corn burner to replace our wood stove. We do have concerns regarding the cleaning of the corn prior to burning, the best way to start and keep it going, and how difficult that is? Can these stoves also burn small grain such as wheat and oats? We have an old farm house (about 2000 sq. feet, two floors) and can still suppliment with wood or electric, what size should we realistically look at? The comments by Kathleen Strand on air pressure and spots on the walls etc... add to our list of concerns. Hopefully someone who has used these stoves for several years can respond and help us and many others out. I would rather hear an unparcial view, not a distributors view.

-- Char Barke (char.barke@daviscofoods.com), September 26, 2001.

I live in oregon And have been heating my house with wheat we grow on our farm all this winter in a snowflame stove.It is built for corn but burns the wheat just fine.Be sure to use a large kernal variety of wheat or the kernals sneek through the holes in the firepot.This makes the stove needing to be cleaned more often.I also have an old clipper cleaner i have been using to clean the weed seeds and straw out of the wheat before i haul it to the house and put it in 2 metal garbage cans.It has been burning a garbage can full a week or 30 to 45 lbs a day .

-- s duyck (standuyck9436@hotmail.com), February 04, 2002.

My wife and I brought our 4 day old son home from the hospital and the very next night, 70mph winds drafted down our chimney, backed up our wood stove, and made our living room look like an old pool hall, and smell like a BBQ pit. The baby got all raspy and coughy, and it was a nightmare. Two days later, a brand new SnowFlame 1100 was installed in place of the wood stove, and I would not give it up. It keeps the house much more evenly warmer than the wood stove ever did, and is safer for the baby to be around. The humidifier manages to get a rest now, too! A simple inspection of the corn as I pour it into a bucket to cary to the stove lets me get out bits of cob and sticks/stems (FMs for foreign matter as the dealer told me), and once or twice a day (depending on how hard I've been running it), I pop out the clinker. As the clinker cools down, it breaks apart into pot ash that's almost all phosphorous (sp?) which is great for the garden. I looked at several manufacturers and decided to go with the SnowFlame for a couple of reasons. First, no extra additives are necessary to burn the corn as with some other multi fuel stoves. Secondly, only one access hold had to be cut, and it uses outside air to feed the fire instead of inside air. It heats pipes that blowers circulate inside air through. Another very nice feature that I could not find mention of on other brands (this does not mean it isn't there, I just never found it) is an auto-off feature. Once you get the blowers going, you move the power switch to the auto-off position, and if the temperature of the burn chamber falls below a predetermined point (95 degrees, I think), it shuts the stove down. That way, if you run out of fuel, the auger gets blocked, or whatever might happen to stop fuel from burning, the stove stops trying to feed corn into the machine. Makes me feel much better about being able to leave it burning if I'm going to be out of the house for extended periouds of time.

-- John Kempf (jfkempf@bigfoot.com), March 17, 2002.