Hi there,
This is a re-post from the thread below. Hoping there will be some re-upping of interest in these questions.
We got a corn furnace (Superior, from Ja-Ran) this winter.
It's now up and running. We have heat. And a host of questions.
Need to solve the clinker problem. (A lot of info on that subject in this thread, but I am sort of OCD so naturally I can think of more).
Basic questions and observations about the heat. We had a 30+ yr old clunker of an oil-over-wood furnace that was disintegrating and fixing to burn the house down, but man did it burn hot.
First observation is that the primordial pleasure of standing over the register and basking does not seem to be part of the new furnace. Air coming up is just semi-warm.
QUESTION #1 is that the nature of a corn furnace?
---> We had it pointed out that there were not enough, not well-strategically-located cold returns in this old retrofitted farmhouse, for max net heating. We've added one, working on another. (Have to dig out the crawlspace under the kitchen so it can be crawled. Watching Stalag 17, etc. for inspiration. Seems some improvement.
OBSERVATION: For a couple days recently the vented air seemed warmer. This was after I cleaned the clinkers offa the burn pot jets and mixed some oyster shell into the corn.. Then it reverted. For awhile last night it warmed up again. Can't figure out the science of this.
NEWER OBSERVATION: Have since tried mixing in some pellets. Then found another supplier of corn. I think he takes a great pride in triple cleaning, and in drying his product well. Both the pellet mixing and the new corn seem to produce hotter air coming out the registers; but not really fewer clinkers as far as I can tell. Not really sure the oyster shell helps with the latter, either.
Cleaning out clinkers isn't really much of a problem. Do have to have the furnace shut down long enough to cool off. I will see if I can improvise better tools to scoop out hot ashes and knock out the clinkers.s
OBSERVATION: With that old monster furnace we were lulled into thinking this old house was pretty tight. Now that we are dealing with steadier but cooler heating, we find it is not Much weatherstripping and some insulating to do. Fair enuf.
We have a parlor wood stove to get us toastier at least downstairs. Putting fans in two passive registers to draw more heat upstairs where we depend mostly on warmth coming up a good- sized staircase; use some elec up there. There is an active register in the bathroom, tho not, as I say, as warm as before.
Those things said, we are going through 3-5 bags of corn a day, depending on temperature --- of which we've had rather little for the past several weeks and no great relief in sight.
This is not as advertized.
Now, I am learning that corn heat is not effortless. We had the notion that you put 25 bags into the hopper and went upstairs for two weeks, adjusting only the thermostat in the dining room.
Don't b'leeve the first round of online research goes into the facts being discussed in this thread. Just, "clean, cheap, sustaining...."
Nonetheless, this is okay too. The wood clunker was so old and leaky it could not be damped down overnight---had to get up twice to feed it. And handling wood is scarcely effortless. This will be an improvement when we get it understood and under control. So I fervently hope!
So i guess QUESTION #2 is, is this thing working right? Whatever happened to "A bushel of corn will heat the average house for a day"? And "A bushel of corn produces a cup of ashes"?
Let's discuss residue. There's a fair amount of whitish clinker. There's not a whole lot of white powdery ash, though that is what gets deposited on the walls of the burn chamber, which I am told is correct---burning hot enough. There's a whole lot of black residue. Some is or can be mashed between the fingers into pretty fine grain or powder. Some remains hard. I mean, the mass of it has the appearance of burned chunks the size of corn grains, but can be crunched down to sand or dust. Some of it can't be so mashed. Not exactly unburned grains, but really not reducing to naught.
Should it be? I can provide pix if it helps analysis.
Is there something here that means the feed should be slower and the combustion more complete? [There isn't any augur control, but I can put in a rheostat, unless that would screw up the motor].
NEXT: Corn itself. First, I'm having a hard time finding many suppliers. Corn is indeed grown in this agricultural valley, but there's about one guy who grows, cleans, dries his own. $7 a bag, I suppose less in bulk. [Bulk is going to take some arranging. Doubt that She Who Must Be Obeyed wants a gravity wagon permanently parked by the front door where the basement chute for wood is. Not so sure I do. We can work on ways and means if it's worth it.] Alternate is a small feed supply. $5.75 a bag. Supposedly they are both doing things right with the corn. But at the latter place I see a lot of cob and stalk in there. Neither is dusty. Agway probably sells it too, haven't checked. TSC sells pellets, dunno about corn---they don't advertize it.
This seems to be about the lot.
Fellow who sold us the stove and lives up Michigan or somewhere, as some of you do, is always railing at me that corn is 'way cheaper than that. Is he reading the commodity pages, or are you up in the belt enjoying a better price?
AND: I can only believe what they tell me about the moisture content. Can try my fingernail or do I buy a moistureometer?
My basement is wet. Weird groundwater situation. We're at 2000 feet, but the well never goes dry, and the basement is always damp if not wet. I think a much deeper sump might help. We've talked about a heavy-duty dehumidifier. Kind of an expense, as they cost to run and only last a few years.
The bin came with a lid 3/4" too short. (This is a company of only a few people, and human error is not unthinkable). They have promised me a new one, though I can probably do a little sawing, hammering, and welding and correct it myself. I'm putting in corn so frequently I don't even keep the lid on.
QUESTION #3 Is it important (when the stuff is on hand so short a time) to keep the bin covered tightly? Really, we're buying corn about twice a week. Sometimes I leave it in the car in its made-in-Indonesia poly or fiberglass woven bags, sometimes stack it on a pallet in the basement, mostly it goes into the hopper and gets used, all in a few days or less.
Is any of this causing the corn to be too "wet?" Would that be part of the problem?
This has to be enough for starters. I look forward to your expert and experienced input.
What I'm going to try next is adding some pellets. As is true with the oyster shell, though, the mixture is not going to be even. I put in a bag of corn, sprinkle some oyster shell over it, and stir a bit with a short shovel. Best I can do under the circs.
I might try the coat hanger thing, though it's not apparent that it will be effective with a bottom-feed. It's not the worst thing in the world to have to clean out the clinkers. Not sure the oysters are doing much, actually.
Going to go back to the older farmer guy and see if there is better result with his corn. And ask him some of these questions.
Looking forward to the conversation, TIA
denno
This is a re-post from the thread below. Hoping there will be some re-upping of interest in these questions.
We got a corn furnace (Superior, from Ja-Ran) this winter.
It's now up and running. We have heat. And a host of questions.
Need to solve the clinker problem. (A lot of info on that subject in this thread, but I am sort of OCD so naturally I can think of more).
Basic questions and observations about the heat. We had a 30+ yr old clunker of an oil-over-wood furnace that was disintegrating and fixing to burn the house down, but man did it burn hot.
First observation is that the primordial pleasure of standing over the register and basking does not seem to be part of the new furnace. Air coming up is just semi-warm.
QUESTION #1 is that the nature of a corn furnace?
---> We had it pointed out that there were not enough, not well-strategically-located cold returns in this old retrofitted farmhouse, for max net heating. We've added one, working on another. (Have to dig out the crawlspace under the kitchen so it can be crawled. Watching Stalag 17, etc. for inspiration. Seems some improvement.
OBSERVATION: For a couple days recently the vented air seemed warmer. This was after I cleaned the clinkers offa the burn pot jets and mixed some oyster shell into the corn.. Then it reverted. For awhile last night it warmed up again. Can't figure out the science of this.
NEWER OBSERVATION: Have since tried mixing in some pellets. Then found another supplier of corn. I think he takes a great pride in triple cleaning, and in drying his product well. Both the pellet mixing and the new corn seem to produce hotter air coming out the registers; but not really fewer clinkers as far as I can tell. Not really sure the oyster shell helps with the latter, either.
Cleaning out clinkers isn't really much of a problem. Do have to have the furnace shut down long enough to cool off. I will see if I can improvise better tools to scoop out hot ashes and knock out the clinkers.s
OBSERVATION: With that old monster furnace we were lulled into thinking this old house was pretty tight. Now that we are dealing with steadier but cooler heating, we find it is not Much weatherstripping and some insulating to do. Fair enuf.
We have a parlor wood stove to get us toastier at least downstairs. Putting fans in two passive registers to draw more heat upstairs where we depend mostly on warmth coming up a good- sized staircase; use some elec up there. There is an active register in the bathroom, tho not, as I say, as warm as before.
Those things said, we are going through 3-5 bags of corn a day, depending on temperature --- of which we've had rather little for the past several weeks and no great relief in sight.
This is not as advertized.
Now, I am learning that corn heat is not effortless. We had the notion that you put 25 bags into the hopper and went upstairs for two weeks, adjusting only the thermostat in the dining room.
Don't b'leeve the first round of online research goes into the facts being discussed in this thread. Just, "clean, cheap, sustaining...."
Nonetheless, this is okay too. The wood clunker was so old and leaky it could not be damped down overnight---had to get up twice to feed it. And handling wood is scarcely effortless. This will be an improvement when we get it understood and under control. So I fervently hope!
So i guess QUESTION #2 is, is this thing working right? Whatever happened to "A bushel of corn will heat the average house for a day"? And "A bushel of corn produces a cup of ashes"?
Let's discuss residue. There's a fair amount of whitish clinker. There's not a whole lot of white powdery ash, though that is what gets deposited on the walls of the burn chamber, which I am told is correct---burning hot enough. There's a whole lot of black residue. Some is or can be mashed between the fingers into pretty fine grain or powder. Some remains hard. I mean, the mass of it has the appearance of burned chunks the size of corn grains, but can be crunched down to sand or dust. Some of it can't be so mashed. Not exactly unburned grains, but really not reducing to naught.
Should it be? I can provide pix if it helps analysis.
Is there something here that means the feed should be slower and the combustion more complete? [There isn't any augur control, but I can put in a rheostat, unless that would screw up the motor].
NEXT: Corn itself. First, I'm having a hard time finding many suppliers. Corn is indeed grown in this agricultural valley, but there's about one guy who grows, cleans, dries his own. $7 a bag, I suppose less in bulk. [Bulk is going to take some arranging. Doubt that She Who Must Be Obeyed wants a gravity wagon permanently parked by the front door where the basement chute for wood is. Not so sure I do. We can work on ways and means if it's worth it.] Alternate is a small feed supply. $5.75 a bag. Supposedly they are both doing things right with the corn. But at the latter place I see a lot of cob and stalk in there. Neither is dusty. Agway probably sells it too, haven't checked. TSC sells pellets, dunno about corn---they don't advertize it.
This seems to be about the lot.
Fellow who sold us the stove and lives up Michigan or somewhere, as some of you do, is always railing at me that corn is 'way cheaper than that. Is he reading the commodity pages, or are you up in the belt enjoying a better price?
AND: I can only believe what they tell me about the moisture content. Can try my fingernail or do I buy a moistureometer?
My basement is wet. Weird groundwater situation. We're at 2000 feet, but the well never goes dry, and the basement is always damp if not wet. I think a much deeper sump might help. We've talked about a heavy-duty dehumidifier. Kind of an expense, as they cost to run and only last a few years.
The bin came with a lid 3/4" too short. (This is a company of only a few people, and human error is not unthinkable). They have promised me a new one, though I can probably do a little sawing, hammering, and welding and correct it myself. I'm putting in corn so frequently I don't even keep the lid on.
QUESTION #3 Is it important (when the stuff is on hand so short a time) to keep the bin covered tightly? Really, we're buying corn about twice a week. Sometimes I leave it in the car in its made-in-Indonesia poly or fiberglass woven bags, sometimes stack it on a pallet in the basement, mostly it goes into the hopper and gets used, all in a few days or less.
Is any of this causing the corn to be too "wet?" Would that be part of the problem?
This has to be enough for starters. I look forward to your expert and experienced input.
What I'm going to try next is adding some pellets. As is true with the oyster shell, though, the mixture is not going to be even. I put in a bag of corn, sprinkle some oyster shell over it, and stir a bit with a short shovel. Best I can do under the circs.
I might try the coat hanger thing, though it's not apparent that it will be effective with a bottom-feed. It's not the worst thing in the world to have to clean out the clinkers. Not sure the oysters are doing much, actually.
Going to go back to the older farmer guy and see if there is better result with his corn. And ask him some of these questions.
Looking forward to the conversation, TIA
denno
