Preparing for Your Big Day

Posted on: 15 June 2015

Corn is much more than just a delicious side dish; just as this vegetable gives you energy when you eat it, it can also provide energy to heat your home when burned properly. Not only does corn serve as a cheap -- or even free -- heating fuel, it's also good for the environment because it's renewable, unlike traditional fossil fuels. Heating with corn is about much more than simply throwing spare corn cobs into the fireplace, however. It requires both proper equipment and the right type of corn to ensure safe and effective home heating.

Equipment Options

• Corn-Burning Stove -- Corn stoves work just like wood or pellet stoves, but are specifically designed to burn dried corn instead of wood. Look for dedicated corn stoves, or flexible biomass stoves that can burn corn as well as a variety of other plants. Choose between freestanding units that look like traditional woodstoves, or fireplace inserts that fit into your existing masonry fireplace to save floor space. You'll need a stove rated at 60,000 BTU to heat a standard 2,000 square foot house, while a stove rated at 42,000 BTU can heat an entire 1,300 square foot level or area.
• Furnace -- A corn-burning furnace can heat your entire home just like a furnace designed to burn oil or natural gas. These units simply hook up to your home's duct network to distribute hot air throughout the. Look for a unit with a large hopper designed for corn kernels to reduce maintenance and ensure consistent heat with less refilling.
• Outdoor Boiler -- Traditional wood boilers sit outside in a shed, and burn wood to heat water. This water is then transported into the home for heating via radiators or an infloor hydronic heat system. If you live in an agricultural setting or an area where corn is plentiful, an outdoor boiler designed to burn corn or other biomass can help you heat your home for less.

Choose the Right Corn

Choosing the right corn is critical to successfully heating your home with this fuel. First, never use corn cobs, which contain too much starch for safe, effective heating. Next, avoid all chemically-treated seed corn, which can introduce harmful chemicals into the air in and around your home. For the best results, use dry, shelled corn. While grade is not important, corn with a moisture content of 15 percent or less will yield the best results and pose the least damage to equipment.

Contact a business like Alliance Heating & Cooling LLC to learn more about ways to successfully heat your home.