Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Corn Burners?

Limb Chicken

Limb Chicken

Active Member
How is this $4 corn treating you guys with these burners? Still cheaper or beginning to not be worth the hassle?

What is it costing per day now. $6? $8? a day? Just curious.
 
I figured you were gonna have a picture of one of Ghost's angus or a heard 'o deer around a feeder.

Corn burner, only when I eat sweet corn.

The 'Bonker
 
I bought my last batch of corn for 3.74 last week. 3.74 X 1.5 bu/day = $5.61/day on average. With these latest cold temps I am burning around 2 bu/day or $7.48/day. I still think I am saving some money. I would still rather pay the same money to the local farm economy rather than sent it to the oil tykoons.

I also think next year there will me a drastic increase in corn produced hopefully driving the price back down!
 
[ QUOTE ]
I would still rather pay the same money to the local farm economy rather than sent it to the oil tykoons.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree...
waytogo.gif
 
I agree also LC,when Exxon/Mobil posted profits at almost 40 billion dollars last year!
mad.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
I bought my last batch of corn for 3.74 last week. 3.74 X 1.5 bu/day = $5.61/day on average. With these latest cold temps I am burning around 2 bu/day or $7.48/day. I still think I am saving some money. I would still rather pay the same money to the local farm economy rather than sent it to the oil tykoons.

I also think next year there will me a drastic increase in corn produced hopefully driving the price back down!

[/ QUOTE ]What he said. Plus our house has never been warmer.
 
I have a 3000 sq. farm house that cost about 200-250 a month in fuel to heat. With corn at 1.80 a bus. It cost me about 350 a year. And I buy it in the fall, when prices are low. So the $4.00 corn, is just fine.
 
It's not too bad, & I haven't seen any $4 corn yet. I checked my last gas bill for my water heater & nat. gas went up 24 cents a therm. On these really cold days I burn 60# of corn. The price of corn has gone up but gas has too. I am willing to keep burning the corn because the difference in the way a gas furnace & a corn stove heats is night & day, no comparison. I'm happy when my gas furnace is shut off...and it's been that way all winter
grin.gif
 
You guys with corn burners, have you had any problems with mice or rats? I've heard that sometimes is an issue
 
That could be a problem if you left corn laying around. I have a 50 bu bulk bin with a pvc pipe that runs the corn in my basement. I have a valve that I can shut the corn off/on in the basement. I use buckets to get it from the pipe to the furnace (about 3 steps). So I have a preety tight system and no corn out in the open.

I make sure I clean up any spilled corn off the floor when I am done. I have a rat terrior that spends quite a bit of time in the basement this time of year. She will also help keep the floor clean and mouse deterent. Man she loves that corn!

Not 1 mouse in 2 years of having the furnace
 
I have a few questions for you corn burners. How often do you have to fill and clean out your furnace. What do you do if you are leaving for a couple days or weeks? Do you need to have a gas furnace for a back up?
 
I checked out the website and graph information. If my math is correct, to compare 1,000,000 btu's of natural gas and corn, it would take 147lbs of corn to get 1,000,000 btu's. About how many bushels is that?

The other factor is the efficiency. It lists corn at 75% efficient and 85% for natural gas. New furnaces are now over 90% efficient and natural gas is running around $10.00 per 1,000,000 btu's. This will increase the amount of corn. As corn continues to rise, the economics are not as good. You also still need to factor in the payback of the cornburner too.

I agree with the piece of mind and supporting our farmers. I just wanted to compare btu's of each fuel and put it into perspective.
 
No problems w/ mice. See one...kill it
grin.gif
I've only had one in the garage this year, little brown one w/ a white belly. Field mouse?

New furnaces may be over 90% efficient but most of us that do have gas furnaces don't have a brand new furnace. My house & furnace are 15 years old. And if I went & bought a new furnace I would have to factor in payback for it also. They aren't free. Also have to factor in installation & sheet metal work if the new furnace doesn't fit your duct work exactly. And I am about 100 % confident that a new furnace would cost far more than my cornstove did.

60# of corn (two 5 gallon buckets) is roughly 1 bushel. The one thing you can do w/ corn that you can't do w/ natural gas is - store it. W/ gas you have to pay what they are charging at peak periods no matter what, you don't even have an option. Buy corn in the late summer when it's cheap if you have storage. That's one thing I wish I had was more storage. Going to work on that this summer.
smile.gif
 
I do know this, finishing cattle with these corn prices isn't penciling out real good!
frown.gif


I think you are going to see some big cattle feed lots showing up near the ethanol plants feeding the corn bi-product from the plants.
 
[ QUOTE ]

I do know this, finishing cattle with these corn prices isn't penciling out real good!
frown.gif


I think you are going to see some big cattle feed lots showing up near the ethanol plants feeding the corn bi-product from the plants.

[/ QUOTE ]

In a few years Iowa may once again be the #one cattle feeding state....better then hogs...
smirk.gif
 
I was in a position last fall that I HAD to get a different furnace. I had a 1940-50's model gas furnace that was very ineficient. I price a high efficiency gass furnace and decided for the extra $100 I could get the corn burner. I figure I got the difference between the to paid off in what I saved last winter when corn was under $2. Would I still have bought the corn furncae knowing corn was going to double in one year? Probably not.

My furnace has a 14bu hopper to put corn in. That usually last 7-10 sometimes 12 days and will stay lit till it is out of corn. Mine is also a "bottom feeder" so the corn is augered in the bottom of the burn pot so all the ash falls out the top of the pot and into a collection pan. Just empty the pan about once a week.

One more thing I like about burning corn is I don't get that surprise high heating bill. I buy the corn and can monitor how much I am using. I hated getting those $300-400 bills from alliant.
 
[ QUOTE ]


In a few years Iowa may once again be the #one cattle feeding state....better then hogs...
smirk.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

I wont bet on it, ever been to the panhandle of TX? Square miles of nothing but cattle. Its an unreal site.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom