Wood Pellet & Corn Stoves

Wood burning stove

As fuel prices rise and it becomes more costly to heat a home, more people look for alternatives to fuels like natural gas, propane and heating oil. Two options gaining popularity are corn burning and wood pellet stoves. Both have advantages and disadvantages, so consider these before purchasing to make sure the one you select fits your needs.

Efficiency

Eliminate need for chimney

Both wood pellet and corn stoves are very efficient. Because of this, there are few emissions to vent. In some models, this eliminates the need for a chimney, which you can replace with a vent through an outside wall. This makes it much easier to install either stove in an existing home.

Ash

Ash and soot

Both wood pellet and corn stoves produce little soot and ash. Of the two, wood pellets burn cleaner, and corn burners need more frequent cleanings to remove the ash and soot.

Environmental Impact

Harvesting corn

Corn is a renewable resource, grown every year. Trees, on the other hand, take many years to grow before they are large enough to harvest.

Consistency

Wood pellet manufacturing follows a standard process that produces a consistent product, particularly with the amount of moisture content. Corn does not have this standard manufacturing process, so the moisture content can vary widely. The consistent process with wood pellets results in a consistent burn every time, producing the same amount of heat from the same amount of product.

Heat and Cost

Corn costs approximately $300 per ton as of 2010, while wood pellets are about $225 per ton. While this seems like a very straight-forward calculation for the cost to produce heat, you must also consider that corn burns hotter and produces more heat than wood pellets. Corn produces about 9,000 Btus per pound when burned, while a pound of wood pellets produces about 7,750 Btus. This means you need to burn more wood than corn to produce the same amount of heat.

Location

When deciding which type of burner to purchase, corn or wood pellet, one additional factor to consider is where you live. If you live in Massachusetts, corn might be more difficult to get and cost more. If you live in Nebraska, wood pellets may be harder to find and more expensive. Location plays an important role in the decision.

References

• The Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy and Sustainable Living: Corn pellet stove
• The Power Guides: Wood Burners, Pellet, Corn and Multi Fuel Burners / Stoves and Furnaces