Grain Furnace

Eric W. · 04-20-2006, 06:01 PM

My Diesel buring Home heating stove croaked!! Since I live in Wheat country, I have looking @ the new Corn and wheat burning home heating units. Has anyone used these or know of anyone using them? Once you pay the price for the furnace, fuel is pretty cheap.

EULACHON · 04-20-2006, 06:07 PM

Kinda like pellet stoves. I see the corn ones are pretty popular back in the midwest and I here they work quite well.

Paul

Snakebite · 04-20-2006, 07:44 PM

I googled it a couple of months ago, and it looks like a good opp if you live where that grade of corn is readily available and subsequently inexpensive.

HazMatt · 04-21-2006, 05:16 AM

We are looking to install one of these (as a boiler) in one of our facilities that manufactures cereal. 8 Million dollar project that will pay for itself in 3-4 years!! The byproduct of our process can be broken down into dust and shot into the boiler and used for energy. Kinda like a controlled dust explosion. It actually produces much more energy and heat - If I remember correct, something like 48% more than NG. Only draw back is you have ash after the burn, so there is some disposal, and within industry I believe would be considered hazardous waste.
Very interesting and much needed technology.

HazMatt · 04-21-2006, 05:20 AM

Have you considered Geo-Thermal heat? A friend of the family's just put one in their house in Illinois.
Basic description is a REALLY deep well drilled to get to heat source, capture this to heat foils, blow air across foils - Viola! Heated home. Not sure how the hot water heater works, but apparently they are happy with it.
Definitely not the cheapest and not even the best return on investment from what I've heard, but you're off one of the grids...

PDXSteelhead · 04-21-2006, 07:24 AM

I've seen the multi-fuel pellet stoves at Coastal Farm and Ranch - burns corn, cherry pits, and probably grain. Those fires are like blow torches and will probably extract heat from grain.

Kootenay · 04-21-2006, 07:52 AM

Im not sure what your looking for, but I just put three pellet fired boilers in at the new Tillamook Forest Center. These can burn either wood pellets or corn.
http://www.woodboilers.com/default.asp