Corn-Burning Stove versus Wood-Burning Stove
By katprice
@katprice (805)
United States
December 28, 2006 8:39am CST
I like the idea of a corn-burning stove because it is less messy, uses corn which can be bought cheaply from local farmers, doesn't require too much maintenance, and is easy to install. You don't need to build a chimney pipe through the roof for it, it simply vents out the sidewall like a clothes dryer vent. Oh! Another thing I like is that you can put it close to the wall, like 6 inches away. You can't do that with a wood-burning stove. The only drawback is that corn stoves cost $1,500 and up. Woodstoves are often much cheaper.
I'd like to hear from folks to see which stove you prefer and why.
13 responses
@sbeauty (5865)
• United States
29 Dec 06
When we first starting looking at having a fireplace, we looked into corn burning and wood burning stoves. We still haven't made our final decision, but we really are leaning towards a corn burner. You're right that the price is the major drawback. We're hoping that maybe the price will come down eventually. We bought 4 acres when we built our house, and my husband was thinking about putting the extra two acres back into corn (the property was a cornfield before we bought it). He figured that that way we'd have a cheap, ready supply of fuel. We don't live by any forested areas where we could get free wood.
When we lived in Tennessee we would have gone with wood-burning because of the all cheap wood in the area.
1 person likes this
@katprice (805)
• United States
29 Dec 06
The fact that it only has to have a 6-inch clearance from the wall is something I really like about corn stoves. When we had our wood stove, it seemed like it was smack dab in the middle of the room because of all the clearance it required.
There are some well-priced corn stoves on eBay. The only two brands I'm willing to go with are Magnum and St. Croix, though and those are pretty pricey because they seem to be the best.
That's great that you have extra acreage to grow corn in case you need to. Thanks for your response.
@NewHeart (528)
• Canada
29 Dec 06
can see the price of corn stoves hasn't changed much weve had them up here for long time was looking at them 15 years back they were about 1,800.00 back then... i know the one i was looking at had an automatic feeder so could run for couple days on its own. only thing i didn't like about them was they produce quite a lot of heat. didn't think my house was big enough to warrant one. don't think it would change the price of corn too much since you could burn the spoiled corn and it would be cheap otherwise it would just sit and rot in the field anyway...
1 person likes this
@katprice (805)
• United States
29 Dec 06
Right, corn stoves were developed about 20 years ago but it's only been in the past 6 or 7 years that they have become a hot item, no pun intended. There are smaller models available. I've been looking at the Magnum Baby Countryside since that's all the heat I would need for my little house.
Corn would probably stay at the steady price of $2/bushel, so that wouldn't be an issue.
@ElusiveButterfly (45940)
• United States
29 Dec 06
Well, I am sure that the price of the stove will eventually come down. When a new idea is introduced they are too pricey for most. The thought of using this stove is music to my ears. The cost of corn to use for fuel rather than using wood is one good reason. Maintenance is another. Where can I find more information regarding this? Thank you for your discussion.
@katprice (805)
• United States
29 Dec 06
Corn burning stoves have been around for awhile. The model I have been researching is the Magnum Baby Countryside model at http://www.magnumheat.com since our house is smaller, we wouldn't need such a large stove. They have other sizes available, and I'm told this manufacturer is the best. St. Croix is another manufacturer.
@eldorvandfarion (73)
• United States
28 Dec 06
Wood stoves cost more to keep up. But wood is better in my area anyway.
Thre is a large amunt of people selling wood at cheap prices.
1 person likes this
@irisheyes (4370)
• United States
29 Dec 06
Wow, you can learn something new everyday on this My Lot. I never even heard of a corn burning stove but anything that helps out the farmers and means cutting down fewer trees has to be win/win. We probably wouldn't use either one in this area. People sometimes use kerosene heaters but those are dangerous and have caused many fires. I like the idea of the corn burning stove.
1 person likes this
@bimmer999 (1158)
• Philippines
29 Dec 06
i like corn burning stoves better
just my 2 cents worth
1 person likes this
@timou87 (1638)
• Singapore
29 Dec 06
I have never heard of a corn burning stove before, is it actually more environmentally friendly than wood burning stoves? If it is, then it is a huge plus point over wood burning stoves for me at least. The cost is a bit of a disappointment though, for something so innovative.
@pendragon (3348)
• United States
28 Dec 06
Lol, I have never heard of this! My life already revolves around corn and corn products ,beacuse i am allergic to wheat gluten,most things that i eat involve some kind of cornstarch.I wonder if I would get fat around the burning embers?j/k!It's interesting,my concern would be in causing a corn shortage ,or wouldnt it just plain smell funny?
@brokentia (10389)
• United States
29 Dec 06
I have never heard of corn burning stoves either.
Do they just burn the ear that is already eaten and dried out? Would it be more expensive to buy a bunch of corn instead of wood? And would corn burn faster?
I am really interested. I guess I will have to remember this later and look up more information.
Go figure...a corn burning stove? Cool!!!
@katprice (805)
• United States
29 Dec 06
The corn used in the corn stoves has to be dried kernels, you just pour them into the hopper and push the start button. That's all there is to it. I'm not sure what the smell is like, but I can't imagine that it would be offensive or anything. No worries about a corn shortage, either. There's always a good supply left once the season ends.
@Willowlady (10658)
• United States
28 Dec 06
With the barriers available to use with the wood burning stove I put mine only about 1 foot from the wall. Mine also could vent through a wall, howeve it did go up through the roof. Corn burning would require me to buy fuel where now I burn free cast offs and also with my woods I can cultivate wood every year per acre of forest and not touch the original acre til 13 years later. In my case Wood Burning is the thing for us.
@katprice (805)
• United States
29 Dec 06
Thanks for your response. We had a wood burning stove growing up and I remember it was a lot of work as far as cleaning out the ashes. With a corn stove, all that is needed is to dump out the "clinker" which is a lump of corn debris that did not burn.
@andygogo (1579)
• China
29 Dec 06
Firstly,we chinese boys should have enough confidence.Acturally,we are all handsome,i am sure that many young female foreign friends also think so.There exist a lot of examples. Now in China,anywhere,you can see a couple of which hero is local and heroine is foreign.
@nuffsed (1271)
•
29 Dec 06
That's right, add to the demand for corn and see the price rise. Don't be concerned that corn is a food stuff. Even as animal feed it is better to burn non food products. The current craze for agrifuels is just a expensive food wasting folly that owes it's viability to current market forces. Those forces will change pretty soon.
Look to wind, wave and solar power, unless you own a woodland.
@katprice (805)
• United States
29 Dec 06
The farming community has no problem growing enough corn to meet the needs of people who would like to use it as an alternative fuel source.
I agree with you on the wind, wave and solar power. In fact, I'll soon be installing solar panels on my roof to handle the electricity for my hot water heater.
@sakuntaladevi (27)
• India
29 Dec 06
corn burning stoves are good for the people who can afford it it also saves our forests .so if we can afford corn burning stoves are good
