Sunday, January 30, 2005

Honey, Throw Another Bag of Corn in the Furnace

Biomass fuel…

Alot of corn is grown in the United States, some of it is even good to eat, think of freshly picked sweet corn purchased from some small farm’s roadside stand, where you grab a dozen ears and leave four ($4) bucks in the pail because it’s self serve.  Think also about the boondoggle of the ethanol program, a pet project which always seems to rear its expensive head, every four years, when presidential candidates visit Iowa to promise millions to corn famers if they’ll just vote for them.

Here’s a new use for that Iowa corn, that shouldn’t require four (4) year cyclical bribes.

"Neeley uses a corn burning furnace in his 1,024 square foot shop area with 14-foot ceilings and the corn burning boiler to heat his entire house. The boiler is set up in the garage and the exhaust is vented directly outside. Pipes carry the heated water underground 20-feet to the house to supply the old farmhouse radiators. Neeley said these units work great for people for people who have installed in-floor heat systems.
The LDJ A-Maize-Ing Heat biomass furnace and boiler come in two sizes, 100,000 and 165,000 BTUs. All heat output is measured in terms of BTUs. One BTU is the amount of heat needed to raise one pound of water one degree. The BTU content of shelled corn will vary between 8,000 to 10,000 BTUs per pound and for peak efficiency only corn of 14 percent to 15 percent moisture content should be used.
For Neeley, the corn burners were a pretty sweet deal. “I take out the middle man,� he said with a grin. “I produce it (corn) and I consume it.�
Neeley added, “There are alternatives out there and people need to be aware of what they are.�

I’m going to check this out for when I build my cabin.  Feed corn is dirt cheap.

“A-Maize-Ing renewable heat source for homes"

Posted by John Venlet on 01/30 at 12:28 PM
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