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Tool Talk Discussion Forum

Cord wood, pellets, corn...

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Dug

02-07-2005 16:24:16




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You guys got me thinkin', trying to decide on what type of stove to put in the house, how do the different fuels compare?

For instance take a cord of split wood (oak), it sells for $125 here in eastern Kansas. How many tons of pellets equals one cord in btus and what is the cost? Same question for corn?

Is there really an advantage with the pellet/corn stove or is it just a matter of saving time and grunt work cutting and splitting firewood?

I have plenty of wood to cut on my land, cost of that is free, so what is the advantage of the pellet stoves?

Thanks,

Dug

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INCase

02-17-2005 05:09:37




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 Re: Cord wood, pellets, corn... in reply to Dug, 02-07-2005 16:24:16  
there is a pellet adaptor out there that lets you burn pellets in a regular wood stove. I can't remember who makes it though. Different sizes for different wood stoves. Probably not as effiecient but easier to fill and let burn. Pellets have "about" the same BTU/lb as cord wood and are close to corn. Pellet are generally very consistant bag to bag. and a ton can be stored in an area about 5x5 square. They do need to be kept inside though. I'd look at a "multi-fuel" to go pellet and or corn (some will burn anything). We liked the looks of the Whitfield traditions stove the best so we went pellets. I put 25% corn in it w/pellets but can only store about 300lbs corn w/o critters getting in it.

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ronmn

02-07-2005 20:34:17




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 Re: Cord wood, pellets, corn... in reply to Dug, 02-07-2005 16:24:16  
I bought a harmanpc-45 corn stove last fall. Live in Minn and corn is available. I put the corn stove in basement of the house and it holds 70 degrees until outside temp gets below zero then the fuel oil furnace has to help a little. I checked the tank last week and have only used 30 gallons of fuel oil this winter. Running corn stove wide open it will burn around 1.65 bushels a day. The house is ranch style full basement 2800 square feet. The stove will hold 145lbs of corn at a time. I clean it every three days and it takes ten minutes to clean it. It self starts, will shut off and restart depending on temp you set the thermostat. I have had no problems at all with it and am more then pleased with this unit.

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thejdman01

02-07-2005 18:47:52




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 Re: Cord wood, pellets, corn... in reply to Dug, 02-07-2005 16:24:16  
i want to point out something that no one else has. while you say you have a lot of free firewood differnent woods burn down better then other. also many different woods give off more sparks and creasote then others. usually not as big of a problem if it is an outside furnace tied in with water heat but something you may want to consider that all woods but especially some more then others will create creasote, sparks and dont burn down as well i mean it will burn but wont burn down as well also some wont give off as pleasant of odar.

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Delbert

02-07-2005 17:57:07




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 Re: Cord wood, pellets, corn... in reply to Dug, 02-07-2005 16:24:16  
Dug I have a pellet stove in the basement of a two story farm house and it will take about two bags of pellets a day. But the furnace doesn,t run unless it is 20 degrees or below. I buy my pellets for 2.99 a bag in 1 ton lots. The best thing about the stove in the basement is that the floors are warm and the upstairs stays fairly cool. If the furnace runs the down stairs is cold. The pellets i use come from missiouri and seem to work good. The worst part about having it in my basement is carring the bags down the steps. Would be nice if a guy had a truck and could go to the place they make the pellets and get in bulk might save enough to make the trip worth while. I also live in eastern Kansas. I get the pellets at bluestem.

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Eddie in MI

02-07-2005 17:50:28




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 Re: Cord wood, pellets, corn... in reply to Dug, 02-07-2005 16:24:16  
My parents use a pellet burner with great success to heat the basement in their home (2500 sq' ranch). They have used compressed wood pellets, cherry pits and field corn. The cherry pits and the corn both burn pretty hot. I think that they found taht the cherry pits burn longer, but are getting harder to find. The corn, on the other hand, carmalizes in the burn pot... it's a real pain to clean out. I believe that they are currently using compressed wood pellets and go through about 1.5-2 tons per season. They also own an electric house (no gas line) so at this point, any heat is cheaper for them. The pellet burner supplies a nice dry heat that keeps the floors warm. My entire family loves it. Keep in mind that the pellet stove does not take up much space, but the bags of pellet fuel do.

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Midwest redneck

02-07-2005 17:18:03




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 Re: Cord wood, pellets, corn... in reply to Dug, 02-07-2005 16:24:16  
Ahhhh....A man who is asking the same questions that I am. First. I want a pellet stove because it has an automatic feed on it, so it will run while I am sleeping or at work. If the pellet stove is running then my Propane forced air furnace is not running which saves me money. Second. I think that pellets and cordwood (firewood) is the same Btu's it is difficult to calculate this because of which type of wood you are burning and stove efficiency and so on. I will say however that if you are home all day then burning firewood is the best way, cheap. you get exercise splitting the logs. You dont have to worry about the price of pellets. I am told from a TSC store 45 minutes away that pellets are $3.75/bag (or 40 pounds) and in the cold climates you use 1 bag per day, corn is about $2/bag. The main reason I want to go to a pellets stove is because I dont want to keep paying the high cost of propane. I called my insurance comp. today and they said that it will cost me an extra $75/year on house insurance. I may get a pellet stove before next winter.

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Dug

02-07-2005 17:58:59




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 Re: Cord wood, pellets, corn... in reply to Midwest redneck, 02-07-2005 17:18:03  
Alright, now for the dumb question, can you burn cordwood in a pellet stove while at home, then switch to pellets while at work or sleeping?



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Eddie in MI

02-07-2005 19:53:05




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 Re: Cord wood, pellets, corn... in reply to Dug, 02-07-2005 17:58:59  
I would think that you would have a very difficult time burning cordwood in a pellet stove. The burn pot in a pellet stove is only about 4"x4"... it's not the same configuration as a regular wood stove.



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