OT Corn Furnace

I am thinking about replacing a free standing wood furnace that is in my basement. It heated the house very well, but has a huge crack in the firebox now.

I liked the wood fine, but am getting sick of cutting, splitting, stacking wood..etc.

I have been looking at an A-Maizing Heat LDJ manufatcturing unit of about 165K BTUs.

Anyone have any experience or opinions on these?

I've had one for 7 years now. No problems with it at all. Just make sure you screen the fines out of the corn.

Corn Boilers and furnaces do work, but the quality of the fuel is extreamly unpredictable, plus corn produces a crust like residue in the burn pot, that creates a daily maintainance issue. The company that I work for is NY states largest Harman pellet stove dealer. Harman makes Bio Fuel stoves that burn corn, small grain, nut shells, rice and others , but corn fuel is highest maintainance fuel available. ( bought from local farmers and unreliable moisture content plus no good way to store it, to maintain a low moisture content. It could be a viable fuel if packaging and storage was adressed. Corn is still a grassroots tech. and not a viable mainstream fuel alternative, yet.Buy a wood pellet furnace or a modern day coal furnace, you'll be much happier!!

Corn Boilers and furnaces do work, but the quality of the fuel is extreamly unpredictable, plus corn produces a crust like residue in the burn pot, that creates a daily maintainance issue. The company that I work for is NY states largest Harman pellet stove dealer. Harman makes Bio Fuel stoves that burn corn, small grain, nut shells, rice and others , but corn fuel is highest maintainance fuel available. ( bought from local farmers and unreliable moisture content plus no good way to store it, to maintain a low moisture content. It could be a viable fuel if packaging and storage was adressed. Corn is still a grassroots tech. and not a viable mainstream fuel alternative, yet.Buy a wood pellet furnace or a modern day coal furnace, you'll be much happier!!

I know what you mean by spliting wood have been busy the last few days. I have a stack about 100' long two rows to split about two years worth. Some is two years down the other one year down. I just cut a large White Oak in the family Cemetery Was hit by Lighting about three years ago split it down the middle it was about 150 years old 42" at base. I don't think I will take any of it but I still have to remove it from Cemetery. My Uncle and Brother-n-law will like that as I am the only one that hase a chain saw big enough to cut it up.

You can stuff me in the crack and burn anything you want. algore got rich scaring us chickens.

Thanks to all for the replies. I was planning on buying the dryed corn from the local elevator and storing it a wagonload at a time in a gravity box with a good tarp on tight.

I don't mind the cleaning required and need ash to keep the ice down on the driveway.

Can you give me any more details about filtering the fines?

This furnace will burn either corn or pellets. I prefer the corn as it is plentiful. We had a pellet shotage a few years ago

Other than the fact your burning food for heat,
and the price of corn make it about as cheap to use fuel oil.

Fuel oil is no longer an option here, and I don't like propane because it just doesn't work. It is very expensive and the house stays cold. If I have to pay through the nose, it darn well better work! Whenever I try to exclusively use propane, I get frozen pipes.

Your storage plan is what I was refering to , be it a galvinized bin or Killbros gravity wagon. The sun during the day, rain/snow in the winter cause condensation. The moisture content is going to rise to the point that the kurnals freeze together and won't even flow to your furnace or out of the gravity box for that mater. We're in central NY, been there done that. Don't forget to buy a biofuel stove that qualifies for the 30% fedral tax rebate and have it installed by the end of the year to qualify. That program ends this year.

I appreciate the comments. I don't think that is as much an issue for us here in western Wisconsin as it is for you in NY. Once we get snow cover, it acts as insulation, and we just don't get condensation until it warms up late in winter. It gets cold and stays cold here for the most part. (We do get condensation from temp differences between air and liquid like gas in a tank), but static things like wagons or hay bales generally stay dry until March or so.

However, if that becomes an issue, I can deal with it the same way I handled wet wood. Bring larger quantities then you need into the basement, and let the heat from the furnace dry it out. Fill the furnace hopper from the already dried stuff down there. It is kind of like having an intermediate drying stage for the fuel before it goes into the furnace.

It is good that you are playing devil's advocate though. You are making me think this through and that is what I need. Thanks

Coal is expensive and hadr to get here in wisconsin.

A friend has an outdoor wood furnace with a corn converson box in it. It feeds it self, has a propane ignighter. Is efficent, does not need to seperate fines from the corn, and he sometimes burns barley instead of corn, depending on price at the time, and can make use of wood when a tree falls or he finds some cheep. Heats a large shop (80X100) and a moble home with it.

I have had one now for over ten years. Mine is a Central boiler hot water one. I have it in a side shed on my shop. It is 250,000 btu. I heat my shop and house with it. Below zero with wind I use about two bushel a day. Average about one bushel a day. So if it stayed zero for a month with $5.00 corn it would only cost me $300. That is half what it used to cost with fuel oil and propane. Plus I have a hot water coil that heat our household water.
I bought an upright bin with a flex coil auger at a farm sale. It was used for hog feed. I ran the auger through the wall with the motor on the inside. The furnace has a bin built in and I just fill it by switching on the auger.
The dryer the corn the better it burns. I also use a grain cleaner to remove as many of the fines as I can. It just makes less clinkers that way. You might want to check on the wood pellets. They where cheaper last year than corn. They do burn cleaner. I usually keep a few around to light the stove with. Some of the guys around here blend them with corn to burn a little hotter.
As for Adirondack case guy"s comment on the maintenance on the stove. The early ones feed the burn pot from the top or side they did have to be cleaned regular. Most of the newer ones feed from the bottom and they push any clinkers/ash out the top of the pot. They also have a forced air draft that cuts down on ash. I clean mine once in the spring after the heating season is over.

I have a US stove corn/pellet burner.

If you buy one be sure it is a multi fuel burner.
I have over 3 tons of pellets in my garage in storage waiting for winter. The best part about the pellet burners is that they will run for hours without reloading and will run all night while you sleep. Pellets burn way cleaner then corn and are the same price. I will be on my 5th winter using it coming up. You didnt say how big your house is?

Problem is getting your supply of GOOD clean corn transport and storing. Cost will be better than 5.00 a bu or more.Depending on where you live looking at 10-15 a day or more.Curent price of the corn is equal to LP.

Well costs will be variable of course. I expect to be paying $4 something a bushel. Other farmers in the area are doing it, so I presume what comes from the elevator is workable. Even if it costs what propane does, that would still be a huge improvment for me.

My place is about four miles from the elevator, and I will transport with my wagon already paid for.

This is also a multi fuel burner, so pellets are possible.

House is about a hundred year old four square. Poorly inslulated, but am slowly getting in revovated. It is about 1650 square ft.

Whats up with the burning food issue, I hear it from time to time. Nobody seems to get concerned with all the food that ends up in the trash at buffets, and other eating establishments. If you can get that tragedy corrected then you can condone someone for burning their OWN corn.

After reading all the coments with great interest I think it sounds expensive at $5 a day.I thought of using an outdoor boiler and use square bales of flax straw.Some guys do it here and I think I will look into that.Flax straw is free for the taking.Custom baling here is $0.50 a bale(I do my own) at 2 bales a day is only $1.You have to haul it home but you have to haul corn as well.I was told those grain burning stoves only last 10 years and there burnt out.(I'm sure someone here can tell if that's true)They say the smoke off grain is more acidic than wood.A guy was telling me he used round flax bales and had 10000gallons of water he would heat up at one time.Claimed he used 6 bales and burn 1 day a week.Used a huge tank to make his stove.I still would like to see that.

My father in law burns oats in his corn stove, or else mixes them, depends on the market price.

I've burned corn for 7 years using 3 different brands trying to get what I considered the "right" stove for my purposes. During this time I met one fellow who bought a LDJ type furnace and while he really liked it he said it was too big for his house and he wished he had bought a smaller version. This is a important point as a corn furnace runs steady versus a lp or fuel oil which starts and stops all the time.
Depending on where you are located pellets can be cheaper then corn but normally corn will be cheaper. Again this is based on location.
Some stoves are a nightmare to run and take lots of upkeep while others are easier to operate.
I would suggest talking to different owners for the true story as the dealers will highlight what you want to hear. There is a good websight called I Burn Corn .com that has a lot of information about different brands of stoves and their owners feelings.

I have a 100,000 btu LDJ Amazing heat forced air furnace and have been heating with it 100% for the past 4 years in the UP of Michigan. I am heating 2100 sq house early 1900s farm house plus the basement too. This house has no wind protection and heats hard. We average 100 lbs a day of corn in Jan and have had good luck mixing 50% pellets in from time to time. The furnace cut our fuel oil bill by 50% and I dont screen the corn for this unit like we would for a small stove. You can probably pick up a used on on I burn corn web site in their classifieds reasonable too. As far as for up keep I dump my ash pan one ever week or 2, a full hopper will last me a 7 days, I can leave and go places with out a problem unless the power goes out. The Wife and kids like it too. If I am buying corn by the bag as we do occasionally 30 minutes of hauling will last a month. As far as a smaller unit, the 165k is adjustable form 80,000 to 165,000 which i would like better than the 100,000. It will cook us out a just an idle of about 50 lbs a day in the spring and fall. As note it takes about 30 minutes to get it blowing heat if you just need to take the chill off on a damp fall day. Half a metal garbage can of ash for the whole winter.

Those are the pros and cons hope that helps. We like ours.