corn mix in my englander

[tommyp]

I have a new this year englander pellet stove the smallest one they make the 55shp10 or whatever they call it. I have been running pellets in all winter. Performance has been good. When it is in the 20-30's i can run the unit on 1 and keep the house at 75 or so. we have an old 1877 small 1000 sqf house in northern vermont. When the temp drops into single digits I usually bring the stove up to 6 or so and it was struggling to heat the house but going through pellets at a good clip.

I bought a bag of corn to mess around with a corn mix. first I mixed it 50/50 with pellets. HOLY COW! the thing burned so hot. I shut the stove down. I mixed in much more pellets so now I am running maybe a 20% mix if that probably closer to 10%. The stove is stil burning very hot. maybe as hot as the stove would on 8 or 9 i dunno. this is all being at the slowest feed rate. I have the blower speed up at 5 feeling that it is needed to get the extra heat out of the stove so that it won't heat it up too much.

Is this at all safe to do? I really like the extra heat that the stove is putting out. With the light mix of corn it is not making a real noticeable clinker. But it is still cranking out a considerably hotter output. I haven't run the stove much on its hottest setting so I am not sure exactly if the heat this thing is putting out is close to that or i am running the stove on the edge of burning up or causeing a fire.

thanks

tom

 

[roac]

Most manufactures will let you go 33% maybe 50%. At 10 or 20% I would think you are all set. I would call Englander to make sure though. Also there is some negative info on using corn posted earlier today so search for corn and read that too.

 

[tommyp]

about eating through the vent? i saw that. but will check for others

 

[roac]

Yeah that's the one. But at only 10 or 20%?? I wouldn't lose any sleep!!

 

[tommyp]

I am not losing sleep. At 50%mix in my stove it created a big clinker and a big fire in the pot.

I am just blown away by how much hotter the stove runs with just a little corn.

 

[zogboy]

I am not losing sleep. At 50%mix in my stove i probably would be it created a big clinker and a big fire in the pot.

I am just blown away by how much hotter the stove runs with just a little corn.

That is how I feel about coal vs pellets

 

[DavidV]

ok. two questions. Where did you aquire the corn to put in it...and here is the really stupid one. has anyone ever put pellets or corn in a wood stove ....say tossed them into a good red bed of coals? No I'm not trying to replace my wood supply....just curios...might be fun to do on a slow week night when I'm sitting her drinking wine after the wife has gone to bed.

 

[tommyp]

There is some sort of basket you can buy to put in a wood stove. not sure if it works or if it is safe.
i just bought a bag of whole corn at the feed store. Not exactly cheap around here like out west but I would find a different source if i was burning it full time.

 

[wg_bent]

ok. two questions. Where did you aquire the corn to put in it...and here is the really stupid one. has anyone ever put pellets or corn in a wood stove ....say tossed them into a good red bed of coals? No I'm not trying to replace my wood supply....just curios...might be fun to do on a slow week night when I'm sitting her drinking wine after the wife has gone to bed.

Not the "experimental fun" your looking for, but Look at the Energex site, they have a thing they call a Promethius (sp?) for burning pellets in a wood stove. Seems kind of a waste to me. With a glass of wine and a rip roaring fire going, I'd bet there is many an experiment most men can dream up...Just don't do something really stupid like try to dry a peice of wood 5 feet from your stove. It could burst into flames...or somthin.

 

[drizler]

There is a guy on the yahoo corn fuel group who is a rep for Englands. Mike Holt or something similar is his name. He addressed the issue with that stove and said 30% is fine. THere are a couple others there with that stove who have sucessfully operated it to 50% and made it work. One thing to be aware of is stay off the highest heat setting. My Countryside stove ( multifuel ) only allows continuous use on setting 4 out of 5 when burning corn. With that in mind you probably will be fine on the lower ( if you can keep it running) and medium to upper medium settings. On low you may not get enough air to keep it running and have to adjust the air settings up or open the draft some. You will have to deal with the clinker and debris daily. Its dirtier than pellets. BTW most corn stoves call for double wall stainless pipe. Mine which is rated for pure corn calls for just standard Simpson Duravent like a pellet stove. Corn is harder on the flue than wood but shouldn't be all that bad, just keep it clean every season or more and inspected for eventual pitting. Clean corn is going to work the best for you since you don't have a stirrer like I do. Just pouring cow corn over a grid of 1/4" wire mesh will clean it up pretty well and save you some $$ if you buy it bulk. Corn stores just fine in plastic totes and the mice are more likely to eat your wood pellets believe it or not.