Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="KDM" data-source="post: 205639" data-attributes="member: 314">7000 Btu's per lb at 15% moisture is what I've found to be the most common estimate.  I know the corn needs to be clean and there is a dust issue to deal with, but I have a very good producer buddy that heats his ENTIRE 130 X 300 X 30 ft Quonset with corn and he uses approximately a bushel a day.  That almost 1.2 million cubic ft of space and he keeps it at 60 degrees.  At 4 bucks a bushel that's pretty cheap.  My house (with basement) is about 30000 cubic ft.  Using that math it should take about 2 lbs of corn per day to heat the whole house.  Looks cheaper than most any other fuel.  Sounds too good to be true so I'm going to stick with a bushel a day for the house as I don't know how this will play out in the end.  Even at that, 4 bucks a day for heat isn't too bad.  Downside is the initial costs for purchase, install, the mess, the labor to refill the hopper, and housing the thing as I don't want the thing inside the house.  I will also need a solar panel to power the fan to move the air into the house and auger the corn if the power craps out.  All in all, I like the option of being able to heat my house all winter with a fuel source I can grow myself.  With the prices of electricity, propane, and gas fluctuating like they do and the distinct possibility of being without each of those due to unforeseen factors, I'm switching to serious mode to get one.- - - Updated - - -I've been using this for my cost/benefit calculations and it seems to work pretty well: [h=3]Cost of Heating with Corn[/h]To accurately compare heating with corn to other heating fuels, consider a number of factors. While the price of fuel is important, take into account the heating efficiency of the heating system and the energy content of a unit of each fuel.The following calculates the cost per million BTUs of usable energy for any fuel and any fuel-burning appliance. The formula takes into account these factors:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">cost/unit of fuel </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">energy content/unit of fuel </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">annual fuel utilization efficiency of the appliance</li> </ul>$ per million BTUs of usable energy= (Cost/unit of fuel x 1,000,000) ÷ (Energy content/unit of fuel x AFUE)Where:Cost/unit of fuel is in dollars ($$)Energy content/unit of fuel is in BTUsAnnual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) is in decimal form (70% efficiency = 0.7)Example:Using corn at $4.00 per bushel, in a stove with an AFUE of 60%, calculate the cost per million BTUs of usable energy:Corn cost = $4.00 per bushelEnergy content per bushel = 7,000 BTU/lb x 56 lb/bu = 392,000 BTUAFUE = 60% = 0.6$ per million BTUs of usable energy= ($4.00 x 1,000,000) ÷ (392,000 x 0.6)= $17.00Therefore, to supply 1 million BTUs of usable heat to the house costs $17 when the stove operates at 60% efficiency, burning corn at $4 per bushel. The average older home requires approximately 100 million BTUs of usable energy for heating per year. Remember that the price charged per bushel of corn may vary from the market price when small quantities are purchased. Check the prices carefully before doing these calculations. <table style='width: 100%'><tr><th>Fuel Type</th><th>Energy Content per Unit</th><th>Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE)*</th></tr><tr><td>Shelled corn</td><td>7,000 BTU/lb (16,200 kJ/kg)</td><td>60%–80%</td></tr><tr><td>(392,000 BTU/56-lb bu)</td><td></td><td></td>�<tr><td>(336,000 BTU/48-lb bu)</td><td></td><td></td>�<tr><td>Furnace oil</td><td>36,700 BTU/L (38,700 kJ/L)</td><td>70%–95%</td></tr><tr><td>Propane</td><td>25,300 BTU/L (26,900 kJ/L)</td><td>70%–95%</td></tr><tr><td>Natural gas</td><td>35,700 BTU/m[SUP]3[/SUP] (37,700 kJ/m[SUP]3[/SUP])</td><td>70%–95%</td></tr><tr><td>Electricity resistance</td><td>3,413 BTU/kWh (3,600 kJ/kWh)</td><td>100%</td></tr><tr><td>Air source heat pump</td><td>C.O.P. = 3.0</td><td>300% **</td></tr><tr><td>Water source heat pump</td><td>C.O.P. = 5.0</td><td>500% **</td></tr><tr><td>Wood</td><td>8,000 BTU/lb (18,500 kJ/kg)</td><td>60%</td></tr></table>* The Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) is a widely used measure of a furnace's heating efficiency. It measures the amount of heat actually delivered to the house compared to the amount of fuel that is supplied to the furnace. A furnace that has an 80% AFUE rating converts 80% of the fuel that is supplied into heat – the other 20% is lost out the chimney.</blockquote>

Verification: What is the most common fish caught on this site?

Reply to thread

Recent Posts

Friends of NDA