Interested in owning a Corn Stone

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Saw a news show where a gentleman in Minnesota invented a stove that burns corn for energy. The family that was interviewed, said that it only took $1/day to "feed" it. They had a gas/electric bill of $600/month and now it's only $60 (they have 2 stoves).

Like to find out more information on this unique product. Maybe even do an article if enough information is gathered.

Thanks in advance - don't even give up dreaming.

M

-- Michele Bryant (micheleb@aol.com), March 02, 2001

Answers

There is information on this active list (36th message from top). Also, check out Backwoodshome.com, in the member's area (free), and earthchangestv.com in the news archives (also a free board). There are many articles and posts. Mother Earth News might have some info, too!

-- Sue Diederich (willow666@rocketmail.com), March 02, 2001.

I've done some recent reading on pellet stoves that will burn corn. One thing I didn't like was that many of them require electricity to power a feed auger and a blower to support more complete combustion. Using figures given, the electricity alone for these two items comes to about $21 per month. If you add a heat distribution fan that would probably at least double electrical costs.

One thing that was pointed out on this or another forum, was that when petroleum costs go, up so do artificial fertilizers, making the costs for growing your own corn to go up as well.

With some of the pellet stoves an additive is needed to keep the corn flowing freely in the auger system. The additive didn't sound too cheap to me.

Before making a purchase, explore all of the costs including any change in your insurance rate.

-- Notforprint (Not@thekeyboard.com), March 03, 2001.


I dont own one of these and have never even seen one up close, but as to the additive, its some sort of calcium additive and previous thread/post mentioned that much cheaper oyster shell worked fine.

I also noticed a stainless steel basket in Real Goods catalog that can be used in a regular wood stove to burn wood pellets. Kind of wondered if it would work with corn also. Probably not as efficient either way as a dedicated pellet/corn stove.

-- Hermit John (hermit@hilltop_homestead.zzn.com), March 03, 2001.


We distribute the Countryside Multifuel Stove in a five state midwest area. My partner and I both own one. I heat my shop and he uses his to heat his 2500 square ft home. We have both saved money on fuel this winter. The cost in electricity is equal to two sixty watt light bulbs a day. The stove uses about a bushel a day but the hopper holds 75 lbs. The stove does not use a chimney; instead, it is direct vented out the house using a double-walled stainless steel pellet pipe. Most homes would also need a separate intake pipe. Both holes are only 3-4". The stove needs to sit on a fireproof base of some sort. The fuel stirrer in the burning pot is the feature that sets this corn burning stove apart from others. It prevents clinkers from forming which allows the corn to burn fully and more efficiently and makes cleaning easier. We add a handful of oyster shells to a bucket full of corn (inexpensive)so that the corn burns cleaner. We do not suggest that this is a main source of heat for your home. If you lose electricity the corn stops feeding and the fire goes out. Our company is working on a battery pack that would keep the stove burning for 48 hrs. You can contact us at the above email.

-- Wally Rowcliffe (rkernels@iowatelecom.net), March 04, 2001.

We distribute the Snowflame line of corn stoves. There are several differences between the Countryside and Snowflame stoves. We actually looked at both before we decided to purchase the Snowflame. The stirrer they talk about is an expensive addition that we could not see. Not only does it make the stove cost a whole lot more but then you have to add the additive to make it work. Not so with the Snowflame brand. He also talks of making two holes in the wall for your exhaust and intake air. The Snowflame brand requires one 6 inch hole. The 3 inch exhaust pipe is inside the 6 inch intake pipe. This is what makes the stove very safe and insurance friendly. We offer two sizes of stoves and would be happy to answer any questions you may have, please visit our website at www.cornstoves.homestead.com or email us. Thank you.

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


I bought a Snow-Flame corn stove back in the early spring of this year and I love it! Countryside tries to make a big deal out of removing the clinker. Just their way of trying to justify their higher prices! I'd much rather spend the 20 seconds it takes me to remove the clinker when I fill it with corn then to have to add and mix an additive to the corn every time I fill the hopper. Also I liked the 1 hole in the wall vent system that the SnowFlame stove has. Also with Countryside stoves you need to buy wood pellets and a fire starting gel in order to lite theirs. With SnowFlame you use a fire block which is easy to lite and even lites when it's damp. You save more money with SnowFlame by not having to buy and store all these other extras that you need with the Countryside stoves. You can buy extra corn with the money you save on running costs with a SnowFlame corn stove. They run on corn, not a corn and oyster shell mixture. After all isn't the reason we're buying corn stoves for the purpose of saving us as much money as possible on our heating costs? As far as Countryside stating that you don't always have to vent out the return air vent so you may not have to cut that second hole in your wall,if you don't have that second hole for the fresh air intake and you use air from inside your home, then aren't you just axhausting out air from inside your home that you just warmed??? Kind of defeats the purpose of it in my book! Do some investigating and comparisons before you buy! I did and I'm very happy with my choice because I know I made the right one!

-- Sherri Cravens (scravens@ncn.net), September 05, 2001.

I have owned a Snowflame corn stove for (2) years now and I still love it as much as when I first purchased it, if not more. My only problem was due to burning treated seed corn which I get for a buck a bushel. The treatment on the corn by way of the flue gas ate away at the original cheap/thin stainless flexible flue pipe. I installed a common steel flue pipe and no more problems. And I agree that removing the clinker is no big deal, I personally have never had the fire go out during the clinker removal process. I think corn stoves are the BEST way to go as long as you can get the corn cheap, maybe from a local farmer. I was just lucky enough to find this guy with the seed corn. He gets it for free from a seed company, I think it's last year's corn or it didn't pass quality control, maybe low germination rate or something else. If you live in the midwest pellets are going to cost you alot and pellets burn too hot to use in a corn stove. Pellet stoves need to be vented in the same manner as a wood burning stove.

-- Michael B. Kaufman (michael.x.kaufman@us.arthurandersen.com), November 05, 2001.

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