The over abundance and low price of corn has many people considering this homegrown fuel choice. The current price of corn is appealing, and burning it is much better than letting it go to waste. If you have a brand new corn burning stove or you’ve had a pellet stove for years but have decided to start burning corn this season, there are a few things you should know.
Proper storage is important. Even if you’re saving money on fuel by buying what’s on sale or found a great price, you have an investment that needs your careful consideration. Making sure it’s safe, dry, and protected from critters is critical. Read more about corn and wood pellet storage.
You can’t burn just any corn. While you can purchase corn from any local farmer or business, it’s important they know that you plan on burning corn for heat in a pellet stove. The corn needs to be clean and dry, and you should never burn any seed corn or other chemically treated corn, old corn, corn with mildew or mold, etc. Read more on how dry your corn needs to be to burn it.
In addition to making sure the corn you burn is clean and dry, it’s important that it is free of debris. Debris can be tricky, so always be watching what goes into your pellet stove. Small pebbles, chunks of corn stalks or corn cobs can make their way into your corn, especially if you buy in bulk and there hasn’t been any screening process. Read more about foreign objects in your corn supply and watch our video on selecting quality fuel.
Corn burns hotter than wood pellets. Be prepared for more heat output. Sometimes a MagnuM corn burning appliance can heat your home to your desired temp on its lowest level. When you first start burning corn, especially if you’re used to wood pellets, you’ll want to start out on a lower setting and slowly turn it up as needed.
When you burn corn, you’ll occasionally get “Klinkers” which is a build up. There are quite a few things you can do to avoid this build-up, as well as get rid of it once it happens. Read more on Corn Klinkers.
Remember that you can mix corn with wood pellets. Doing so will extend one fuel, as well as help avoid klinkers.
Do you have a question about burning corn for heat that we can answer for you? Please leave your questions in the comments!
Can you tell me why you should never burn corn that has mold on it?
Moldy corn is a severe health risk for the family and pouring it into the hopper can cause dust from the mold to spread throughout the home and cause health issues. In addition, the mold will clog up the auger system, burn improperly in the firepot and cause excessive wear and plugging of the exhaust system.
My daughter and myself have st croix corn stoves and burned wet corn and finally got them cleaned out and running. Had to take off fan run a spring on a drill and it whole area was sticky creosote I finally ran a strong wire towards burn pot and after lots of shoving got through and got out a Hugh piece that was blocking air from getting through put it back together with a new fan for safety and now we burn pellets. Never burn wet corn and we thought we bought dry mistake
Hi, St. Crois isn’t one of our stoves, but yeah can’t burn wet corn will get black creosote like syrup substance. That why our 3500P shines with self cleaining firepot fuel stirrer in the firepot.