grain burning stoves?

crunchiespg · #1 03-05-2008, 01:51 PM

does anyone on here us a fire/stove that uses grain as its fuel. one of the ones like a wood burner, but with a hopper for grain..

we are looking to get one for our basement, about 1800 square feet, and hoping it will drift upwards and heat the house. we currently use a wood burner and blown air. but as the wood burner is on the main floor not much heat gets sent down there unless the furnace kicks in. we do have a fan blowing the heat form the wood burner down, but its not great on colder days.. plus takes a lot of time collecting/chopping wood...

we phoned a local company that advertise in the Western buy and sell, and they said aobut $3000 for the stove installed.

is grain easy/cheap to get hold of? are the burners good?
thanks

ducky_hunter · #2 03-05-2008, 02:22 PM

well grain is at a all time high now I think is is $13 a bushel whn it was $3 last year might get pricy

Off in the Bushes · #3 03-05-2008, 02:28 PM

I am not to sure why one would want to burn grain but I would be concerned about mice, now that you are going to a food source around and the mess/problems that go with it.

crunchiespg · #4 03-05-2008, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ducky_hunter

well grain is at a all time high now I think is is $13 a bushel whn it was $3 last year might get pricy

but cant you use any old crappy grain that is no longer fit to be eaten by animals?

crunchiespg · #5 03-05-2008, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Off in the Bushes

I am not to sure why one would want to burn grain but I would be concerned about mice, now that you are going to a food source around and the mess/problems that go with it.

because its a cheap, clean, renewable and efficient form of energy.. and doesnt have the mess/hassle of wood. and also it doesnt require a chimney to be installed, which if we went for a log fire it would, and it would be a lot of work/money as it would have to go up through the deck..

and the grain is stored in a big hopper. so not a pest problem. no worse than the horse food we already have and thats fine...

archdlx · #6 03-05-2008, 08:48 PM

crunchispg......

you sound like you have experience...care to share more?
Is time to upgrade my 25 year old furnace. Am looking at these:
http://www.grainburningstoves.ca/pro...aster-plus.php
Any input?

archdlx

Rust · #7 03-05-2008, 08:59 PM

I seen them at the Agri-Trade this past fall, but I thought they left a weird smell in the tent they were set up in.

matathonman · #8 03-05-2008, 09:13 PM

Have a look online for pellet stoves.My father uses them and swears by them.They don't smoke,have a small pan that pulls out to dump the little amount of ash there is and throws alot of heat.Can also be hooked up to duct system to transfer heat I believe.It's worth a look anyway.

Grizzly Adams · #9 03-05-2008, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crunchiespg

but cant you use any old crappy grain that is no longer fit to be eaten by animals?

No, because it won't burn worth a damn either.

Grizz

sirmike68 · #10 03-05-2008, 09:55 PM

I am quite sure the only limiting factor when it comes to burning the "old crappy grain" is the moisture content. Just like wood, if its too wet it does not burn good and if its too dry it burns too fast.

willy · #11 03-05-2008, 10:11 PM

there is cheapeer grain like barley $5/bushell or maybe rye and triticale around the same. Or feed grade wheat would be around $6/bushell

crunchiespg · #12 03-06-2008, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by archdlx

crunchispg......

you sound like you have experience...care to share more?
Is time to upgrade my 25 year old furnace. Am looking at these:
http://www.grainburningstoves.ca/pro...aster-plus.php
Any input?

archdlx

not really, i read a bit about them in some magazine my family picked up in canmore the other day. some Acearage living magazine or something.

and we have been looking for a while for how we were going to add heat to the basement now it has been developed.

our main problem is if we have the log fire going, it heats the upper stories of the house, but it means the furnace never kicks in, so the basement just gets cooler and cooler. so we need a form of heat down there. but we dont want to have the gas furnace running all the time..

we spoke to a guy from the firm who advertise in the western buy and sell, and he said it should be easy to get old grain from farms and things, which has gone past its best for eating..

i think these stoves are very similar to those pellet ones, just will accept loose grain...

slingshot · #13 03-06-2008, 07:45 AM

I have seen a corn burner one time it was neat very little needed and alot of heat it had a self feeder after it was out all you had was this really hard ingot in a pan.This was from southern ontario where corn was the main crop

TheClash · #14 03-06-2008, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crunchiespg

not really, i read a bit about them in some magazine my family picked up in canmore the other day. some Acearage living magazine or something.

and we have been looking for a while for how we were going to add heat to the basement now it has been developed.

our main problem is if we have the log fire going, it heats the upper stories of the house, but it means the furnace never kicks in, so the basement just gets cooler and cooler. so we need a form of heat down there. but we dont want to have the gas furnace running all the time..

we spoke to a guy from the firm who advertise in the western buy and sell, and he said it should be easy to get old grain from farms and things, which has gone past its best for eating..

i think these stoves are very similar to those pellet ones, just will accept loose grain...

the fireplace at my folks house has a fresh air draw system in it and also a fan...pulls in fresh air from outside...feeds the flames and heats up the air and then blows the heated air out. heats the basement...and well the whole house really well. use it all winter and it is a great system...my dad used to build/install them years ago....

however..on to your question.... i stayed at a house for a week or so in BC that had a grain fed system. worked great....no smoke, easy to clean...burns pretty hot. it does have a different smell than a wood burning stove.....was kinda nutty smelling to me. the fellow i was staying with said his biggest complaint was a consitant source of grain...might not be as big of an issue out here.

crunchiespg · #15 03-06-2008, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheClash

the fireplace at my folks house has a fresh air draw system in it and also a fan...pulls in fresh air from outside...feeds the flames and heats up the air and then blows the heated air out. heats the basement...and well the whole house really well. use it all winter and it is a great system...my dad used to build/install them years ago....

however..on to your question.... i stayed at a house for a week or so in BC that had a grain fed system. worked great....no smoke, easy to clean...burns pretty hot. it does have a different smell than a wood burning stove.....was kinda nutty smelling to me. the fellow i was staying with said his biggest complaint was a consitant source of grain...might not be as big of an issue out here.

yeh we have a fan that draws heat from the fire and feeds it into the regular heating ducts. it works OK, but you have to have it running a lot to get any effect, especially as as one of the bedrooms is at the far opposite end of the basement to where the fire is on the main floor. the basement is a full walkout, with only 1/3 of it really underground.
and obviously heat rises, so not much gets forced downwards. plus the fan is a noisy bugger.. on really cold days if its 21C upstairs, then down in the basement it is normally less than 16c, even with the fan at full tilt...

as long as we had something just to keep the temp up a little it would do the job. when the furnace kicks in its lovely and warm downstairs, but obviously with having an endless supply of wood it seems daft having the gas furnace going..

TheClash · #16 03-06-2008, 09:16 AM

that is too bad that yours isn't working as well as it could. my family installed a larger ceiling fan in our open staircase going up stairs....when the fireplace is going hot we turn it on reverse and it pushes the heat back downstairs.

anyways..good luck.

crunchiespg · #17 03-06-2008, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheClash

that is too bad that yours isn't working as well as it could. my family installed a larger ceiling fan in our open staircase going up stairs....when the fireplace is going hot we turn it on reverse and it pushes the heat back downstairs.

anyways..good luck.

well thats sort of what we have. we have 3 floors, a basement with a large den, utility room and bedroom and bathroom, the main floor which has the log fire in the family room, kitchen, bedrooms etc, and an upper floor with a master suite..

but the main floor family room has a large cathedral ceiling, and we do have a fan there. but as the log fire is on the middle of the 3 floors, its hard to get the heat forced down.

the fan in the log burner does work ok, but its such a big space to heat downstairs its not great... so we definitely need some form of good heat downstairs..

a log burner was our first choice (we have 11 Acres of woods to collect fuel from!) but the chimney will be a big problem to install. hence the grain burner might be a good choice.

TheClash · #18 03-06-2008, 09:37 AM

ahh i see that is the difference...ours is in the basement and against the coldest wall...so it heats everything up and down. sometimes too well and we have to crack a window or two haha.

crunchiespg · #19 03-06-2008, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheClash

ahh i see that is the difference...ours is in the basement and against the coldest wall...so it heats everything up and down. sometimes too well and we have to crack a window or two haha.

oh yeah, ours is superb, REALLY hot, i mean if we stoke it up it can reach over 30c on the main and upper floor. often have to open a door to cool it down!

ideally we would have had the fire in the basement form the start, but the house is a cedar wood house, so came on a truck in one piece, and lowered on top of the basement floor which was built on site. so the fire was already installed in the middle..

moosecaller · #20 03-06-2008, 11:40 AM

[QUOTE=crunchiespg;120392]yeh we have a fan that draws heat from the fire and feeds it into the regular heating ducts. it works OK,

You have this hooked up to the same duct as your gas furnace duct???????

crunchiespg · #21 03-06-2008, 12:11 PM

[QUOTE=moosecaller;120467]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crunchiespg

yeh we have a fan that draws heat from the fire and feeds it into the regular heating ducts. it works OK,

You have this hooked up to the same duct as your gas furnace duct???????

sort of. the fan feeds into a main duct which runs the whole length of the basement up in the ceiling of the basement/floor of the main floor. the fire is right at the end of the house, and the duct runs right down the middle..

and one duct does lead from the furnace in the utility room in the back end of the basement and joins this to supply the furnace heated air to a bedroom and bathroom..

so its more a case the furnace sometimes sends air into the same one as the fire.. the fire is a large unti built into the wall, and the fan draws hot air from the main room and heats it as it passes around the main box of the log burner..

why? do you consider it a problem? the duct cleaners were only out last week and it was fine, and has been for the last 4 years. it was a professional install (as i say it was in the house when delivered)

moosecaller · #22 03-06-2008, 12:42 PM

As long as the warm air from the heater is introduced to the supply air duct and not the return air duct of the main gas furnace (Alberta building code violation), and the unit should state on it the following "certified solid fuel fired appliance down stream series add on furnace" there is a standata issued for this type of install and can be found on the Safety Codes council website. If you had the Home inspected by a alberta building inspector you should be good to go I am a alberta building inspector and I am certified to inspect solid fuel fired applinces, just in case you are wondering how i know this . if you want more info feel free to pm me.
MC[QUOTE=crunchiespg;120480]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moosecaller

sort of. the fan feeds into a main duct which runs the whole length of the basement up in the ceiling of the basement/floor of the main floor. the fire is right at the end of the house, and the duct runs right down the middle..

and one duct does lead from the furnace in the utility room in the back end of the basement and joins this to supply the furnace heated air to a bedroom and bathroom..

so its more a case the furnace sometimes sends air into the same one as the fire.. the fire is a large unti built into the wall, and the fan draws hot air from the main room and heats it as it passes around the main box of the log burner..

why? do you consider it a problem? the duct cleaners were only out last week and it was fine, and has been for the last 4 years. it was a professional install (as i say it was in the house when delivered)

crunchiespg · #23 03-06-2008, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moosecaller

As long as the warm air from the heater is introduced to the supply air duct and not the return air duct of the main gas furnace (Alberta building code violation), and the unit should state on it the following "certified solid fuel fired appliance down stream series add on furnace" there is a standata issued for this type of install and can be found on the Safety Codes council website. If you had the Home inspected by a alberta building inspector you should be good to go I am a alberta building inspector and I am certified to inspect solid fuel fired applinces, just in case you are wondering how i know this . if you want more info feel free to pm me.
MC

oh no its not feeding back to the furnace..

its all been inspected and is fine..