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Quadra-Fire woodstove inserts
OK....shoot me.
I'm a bit off the main topic here. Please bear with me.
While reading up on the various corn stoves, I found some information that I thought was rather surprising to me.
The average home heating requirement is about 100 million BTUs per year. After figuring out my average propane usage over the past five years, I discovered that heating my home requires, on average, 188 million BTUs per year......nearly double the average U.S. home heating requirements.
The difference here, of course, is that I live in Siberia, USA....otherwise known as North Dakota. There is nearly 100 degrees difference between the indoor and outdoor air temperatures (often quite a bit more than that), in January. This means that the furnace never shuts off for more than a few minutes at a time. And with Propane at over $1.25 per gallon, it makes for a very steep heating bill.
I plan on installing a large corn burner in my house this coming year. I do not intend for it to be a primary heat source, but rather a supplemental heat source. I also plan on raising my own corn, which will greatly reduce my operating costs for the supplemental heat.
Corn produces about 7000 BTU per pound. (figured using the corn moisture content at 15.5%.) To get my required 188 million BTUs, I'll need to produce about 500 bushels of corn. (56 pounds per bushel) 500 bushels of corn would produce the same amount of heat as my propane furnace. Since I don't intend to eliminate the propane furnace, I wouldn't need to produce that much corn.
I'm hoping to reduce my propane usage by about half. Therefore, I'll need to raise enough corn to get about 300 bushels. At 150 bushels per acre (irrigated), I should be able to raise enough corn on only two acres of land to cut my propane bill in half. (a cost savings of over $1200 per year.)
Now.....my last job is to pick a corn burning furnace that I'll be happy with. Any and all suggestions, comments, and / or recommendations regarding your experience with corn burning furnaces will be greatly appreciated.
Joel
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Quadra-Fire woodstove inserts
Frank, Yooperpete,
Thanks for the heads-up info on the corn burners. Unfortunately, trees are very scarce here in North Dakota. Wood pellets would have to come from far away, making the shipping uneconomical, alone. In addition to the cost of shipping, wood pellets cost about twice as much as corn.
Not sure which way to go at this point.
I might allow the mother-in-law to move in. The hot air would be free. I'd only need to invest in a good pair of ear plugs. hehehe.
Joel
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Murf,
I went to the Pacific Energy website looking for a dealer in my area. I was surprised to find one so close......hehehe.
712 miles....or 12 hours and 16 minutes from here, in Waco, Nebraska.
Joel
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Kwschumm,
I contacted the people who insure my home, and discovered that I can install a wood burning stove in my house for only 25 dollars per year more than I currently pay.
There's a catch........there always is.
The stove must be installed according to the manufacturer's specifications, and it must be installed by a licensed contractor. Afterward, a series of photos must be taken, showing a measuring tape and the distances between the neighboring walls, the size of the pad, and the outside stovepipe. The measuring tape must be clearly visible in the photos, so that the exact measurements can be verified.
OK.....so I do all of that, and everything is exactly to code, and there's no chance of having a fire now......so why do my insurance rates go up at all?
I'm not complaining about the 25 bucks. I just want to know why I'm at a higher risk, with a stove that meets every possible safety requirement!!
Do I have a point? Or, am I just talking nonsense here?
Joel
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