what is corn heat

Corn heating units are devices which use shelled corn to generate heat. Although they are similar to wood-burning stoves, they have been designed to burn a dry granular fuel, such as shelled corn.

Corn heating units are very versatile and can be used to heat a single room, an entire house, an outdoor building like a shed or a barn, a greenhouse, a factory, or even an entire school system or college campus.

Types of Corn Heating Units

A number of different manufacturers make corn heating units. They are available in several different sizes and styles:

• fireplace insert
• space or room heater
• stove
• hot air furnace
• hot water boiler

Corn heating units differ from wood stoves in many ways. Most importantly, corn heating units burn 20 percent hotter and burn much cleaner than wood. The use of a corn heating unit eliminates the smoky smell of burning wood and also eliminates the messy clean-up. Corn heating units have a combustion air fan and a fuel stoker, both of which are not common on standard wood stoves. Corn heating units do not require a traditional chimney system, but instead require an exhaust vent. Some vents can exit the side of the building, much like a vent for a clothes dryer.

Fuel Source
Shelled corn - the typical fuel source - must be dry, preferably at 15 percent moisture content or less. In order for the unit to burn more efficiently, corn should be free of fine particulates. Corn with a lot of fine particulates and corn cobs can cause problems with a fuel stoker auger system.

Some units commonly called biomass furnaces are capable of burning corn in addition to other biomass fuels such as pellets, nutshells, small wood chips and other grains such as rye, wheat and barley.