SUMMERS HEAT STOVE

the "CPM" is acyually a "corn/pellet/multifuel" unit , the 31K btu rating is fopr pellet , corn actually gives a higher BTU rating , as for the stirrer i do not believe that it would cause a loss of efficiency as the unit was tested with that stirrer in place and it did fine. if you have any questions about that particular model , contact us at ESW phone is 800-245-6489 would be happy to answer any questions you may have

Hey, Spike and welcome to the forums.

Our general recommendation (echoed by many others) is to consider SERVICE when purchasing a pellet or corn stove. In other words, who is going to fix it?

If you are very handy, then perhaps you can do some troubleshooting and repair yourself- that would be a requirement if you purchased something from Lowes or a hardware store. As far as the Deere, ask them what happens if it stops working during the warranty period.......if they stutter.....then look elsewhere.

If you intend to burn mostly corn, I would suggest doing a LOT more homework. You should talk to (or see reviews from) at least 4 or 5 people actually using the stoves in question (for corn). Consider other brands that are known for corn also (depending on budget, etc.). One of our sponsors, Magnum, is located in MN and they are famous for corn and biomass stoves. Also check out Bixby (if you have the bucks).....

My main suggestion for you is to visit this other forum -
http://forum.iburncorn.com/

Which consists of a lot of fellow corn burners. Talk to folks about your shopping list. Read, Read, Read....then make an informed decision.

(PS, turn the caps lock off, please, it makes it harder for my ancient eyes)

Mike, just for my continuing education, how does corn (a lower BTU fuel) give a higher output rating? The net BTU from most corn is about 15% lower than from Pellets.

i see information showing btu outputs from corn listed at anywhere from 6500 to 9200 btu , depending on who you look up. i do know this however from burning both fuels (often in the same unit , one after the other. the heat output from burning corn in the units i have played with is always hotter that what i measure from pellets. literally every time. i cannot give you a "hard factual" explanation for this , but the air temps im reading , not on the same model , but the actual same unit itself, comes in higher with corn than pellets , with virtually the same feed consumption rates. no math, just what the thermocoupler says.

one thing i did see looking through the research data i found online , most studies that placed corn in the below 7K btu output, also listed the corn tested at 15% to 15.5 % moisture which is much higher than literally every brand i looked at on the market says you should burn. maybe the extra btu's are ate up in drying out the moisture difference while burning, i dunno.

Well, I would tend to believe the Professors of Agricultural and Biological engineering at Penn State:
http://energy.cas.psu.edu/EnergySelector/cornequiv.html
http://energy.cas.psu.edu/energycontent.html

As he concludes about the figures you are quoting "Whenever these exaggerated energy contents are used in any analysis, there will be considerable distortion in the results."

Even stove dried corn will have about 13% moisture.....and, of course, that costsSo more than commodity corn.

So, as you say, that gives corn an energy content of about 6800 BTU per pound. INPUT.

That is less than pellets, which probably average 7500 when moisture is corrected. That is a difference of at least 10% less, and some (like the professor) claim it to be closer to 20%.

Certainly it is possible a stove can burn hotter with corn than with pellets, but it would have to burn more pounds of corn to do so, or it would have to be vastly more efficient on corn than with pellets.

Note that the high figures for corn are usually from corn furnace and stove makers!