Mixing corn in a Serenity?

[Talegas]

Hey guys, last year someone (don't recall who) mentioned a mix of 80-20 or 90-10 pellet to corn for burning on a stove and i think it was not a multi-fuel stove. I was wondering (due to prices going up and up) to actually buy the cheap pellets from TSC and mix them up with corn.

Just wondering if this could be an option on my serenity if push come to shove..

Would it really increase heat output? would it only force me to do more clean-ups? anybody has burn corn mix in serenity? thoughts?

 

[zrock]

i think burning corn is a little more harsh on a stove if i remember correctly. Make sure your stove is multi fuel or it may not last

 

[rich2500]

Burned an 80/20 corn mix in my Englander for a couple years and briefly in my serenity, It's possible to notice a heat increase if the pellets are total trash,corn creates a clinker faster vs. straight pellets and the ash is more course and black. I went back to straight pellets because it wasn't worth it to me anymore.

 

[johneh]

Make sure your chimney is rated for corn
Corn is A lot more corrosive than pellets

 

[Overfireinthehole]

Corn burns nasty and around here, it’s a lot more expensive than pellets.

 

[Talegas]

Thank you guys for the replies. Just to keep it in my back pocket, I will check if the stove pipe i have along with the Class A chimney are rated for burning corn before i give it a try (if I ever do).

 

[FirepotPete]

Corn burns nasty and around here, it’s a lot more expensive than pellets.

That's only the case if you don't have a true multi-fuel stove. True multi-fuel stoves have much better control panels and can be adjusted to burn corn, or anything else just fine. It just takes some time to figure out what to adjust and you are usually good for the season and usually pretty close the next season when the corn may be a little different.

 

[Overfireinthehole]

That's only the case if you don't have a true multi-fuel stove. True multi-fuel stoves have much better control panels and can be adjusted to burn corn, or anything else just fine. It just takes some time to figure out what to adjust and you are usually good for the season and usually pretty close the next season when the corn may be a little different.

That hasn’t been my experience from cleaning multifuel stoves on their corn setting vs pellet. Of course, getting corn dry enough is hard and has a big impact on how clean it burns, but even dry corn still has a lot of sugar.

 

[FirepotPete]

That hasn’t been my experience from cleaning multifuel stoves on their corn setting vs pellet. Of course, getting corn dry enough is hard and has a big impact on how clean it burns, but even dry corn still has a lot of sugar.

Again, if it's not a true proportional control board you will have those problems. Some stoves have a "corn setting" and can't be adjusted for air flow or pounds per hour individually in that setting. Those are not true multi-fuel stoves.

With my proportional controller I have infinite possibilities of exhaust flow (which also controls the amount of fresh air into the burn chamber) and pounds per hour of fuel. If a control board doesn't do that then it isn't a true multi-fuel controller or stove/furnace.

A good example is the USSC 6041. It has a button to change from pellets to corn. Most people never look any further into it and run into problems. Even though that board isn't as functional as my 6039 is, it still can control the parameters within the pellet or corn setting, just most people don't take the time to learn how to run them properly.