Blog Action Day

I was looking for a good reason to make a blog entry. Today's Blog Action Day is that reason. I really wonder some times if burning corn is an environmentally concious thing to do. The fuel, its true, is renewable. But yet, it relies on the oil infrastructure to be in place. Farming is a resource intensive operation. Between the diesel fuel used in implements, to the natural gas feedstock that makes nitrogen based fertilizers, there is a lot of consumption. In the case of a serious shortage of these fossil fuels, corn burning isn't going to be in our future either.

So what is? Biomass fuels? Switchgrass? Or, something that is yet out there on the horizon? I have great confidence the inventor making up the corn burning community will be there at the forefront of what is next.


I would like to see this movie when it makes the rounds. Hopefully the preview shows up here in this blog above.

An interesting article in the Star Tribune last week. The Boom Fades as Ethanol Floods the Marketplace Profits are in the gutter because of the high cost of corn and the soft demand for ethanol. I wonder how much lower the profits are going to be in a couple of years when the administration in Washington changes and people are allowed to take a closer look at the ethanol business. My guess is the government payouts to the corporate ethanol producers are going to dissapear and suddenly there will be a firesale as oil, and other large corporations rush over themselves getting out of the business.

What will happen to farmers then? The ones that tied their whole future to selling five dollar a bushel corn are going to be in for a rude awaking. I hope that farm subsidies have not been allowed to expire while the general public has been looking the other way. Thinking about all the happy motoring they will be able to do in their ethanol powered SUV.

The weekend at Moms

I spent the weekend visiting my mother in the nursing home this last weekend. She is one of the few residents with an intact mind. Her problem is her 90 year old body just isn't what it used to be. Unfortunately for her also, her taste buds are still intact. It is a rough combination. Nothing worse than being mentally sharp enough to know; what you are eating should taste like meat...

The weekend also brought in in contact with the rest of the family who unlike me an my computer screen earn their money from farming. Two of them are big farmers, with thousands of acres in the ground, the others are much smaller operations. Universally their advice was to buy corn now. Two weeks ago would have been better. Now understand, this is a pretty small geographic sample, they farm in Mower and Filmore counties in Southern Minnesota. But all of them feel the crop is much smaller than expected. The good news for them, it is also dryer than expected. Corn was running 16-18% moisture. At this level no expensive drying would be necessary. They can run it into the bins and turn on the air circulation fan to dry it the last few points down to 15% needed for storage. It is much cheaper to run a fan rather than a fire. They will save thousands of dollars of propane. But, still, the crop is not as big as expected. The ears are smaller, the test weight is lighter and the yield is down from last year. All things that will cause our per bushel price to rise.

Also it was interesting to talk to them about the ethanol business. They all felt they were making hay while the sun shines. The ethanol business is a fluke of the government we live under right now. When the government changes, as it is almost sure to next fall, the status quo is going to change. My brother in law had invested money into an ethanol plant a couple of years ago, but he was very excited for it to begin production in the spring so he could immediately sell his shares.

An interesting report sent to me by my friend Andrew.

This report responds to a request by Senator James Inhofe for analysis of a “25-by-25" proposal that combines a requirement that a 25-percent share of electricity sales be produced from renewable sources by 2025 with a requirement that a 25-percent share of liquid transportation fuel sales also be derived from renewable sources by 2025.

This report I feel has some flaws. It assumes we continue our happy motoring society, everyone still behind the wheel of their own car. These people totally have their heads up their backsides. Everything is based on status quo. ...oh, wait, no, not status quo. They say auto traffic will go down by 1.6% :-) These polititions will blow sunshine up any oriface they can to not break it to the public the happy motoring utopia is over! Oil is the highest price it has ever been, with many people reporting we may have passed our world peak oil production in 2006. That means in the last hundred years we have used half of the available oil reserves, but yet according to this report, 25 years from now we are still going to be driving our cars to Walmart, buying plastic crap shipped here from China? Does that seem plausible to you?

Plus they make some rather bold leaps of faith. 61 billion gallons of ethanol produced? We produced 5.5 billion gallons last year and the price of corn doubled. And cellulosic ethanol? We haven't actually done that yet at the scale required to run an ethanol plant. Some people doubt we can get the feedstock to the ethanol plant in a viable fashion even if we figure out the technical hurdles of how to produce the ethanol.

We need to start thinking more locally.

Summer is wrapping up

Here is my annual promise to keep up better on my blog. :-)

It has been a busy summer. I have been painting the east side of the house this year. There were some old cedar shakes on the gable end that were falling off and rotten. So, I pulled all of them off and replaced them. I didn't replace the windows at the same time. I hope that wasn't a huge mistake. But, I was already enough $$ into this project.

Here is a shot from just after last weekend. I am just shy of finishing the first coat up on the gable end. And, I have about twelve feet of eves to do. Then, first coat will be finished. The second coat will go fast. I would think I could do it in about three days. Surely this year has three good days left in it, doesn't it?

Had to say though. Cold temps and rain tonight. I turned on the gas fireplace for a bit tonight because I was gone all day today. Usually the kitchen heat from baking and cooking warms the house during this season.

I have a few things to blog about. The first is something close to home.

The Chetek City Council recently approved the development agreement with James and Mary Bohl for Community Energy Corporation, a factory which will manufacture wood pellets as a form of alternative energy.

Quoted from this full article in the Cheteck Alert, of Cheteck Wisconsin. Though I have to say I don't like the picture much. These pellets look softer, less tightly packed than most I have seen. Maybe it is just the photo though. It is great to see these small scale pellet mills springing up on the market. My vision of the future doesn't have us hauling anything great distances, so to have more of these local producers is great! I really wish they were up to speed. I would love to buy pellets at $130/ton.

If agricultural scientists are right, all you need to reduce your home heating bills is an acre of land.

From an article in the CBC News. Is this the future? If these plants are hybridized and made to grow in northern climates, it could be a good thing. It has the capability of a much better acre to BTU ratio than what corn has. But, by growing it, we are offsetting our food supply. I am very happy to see this research though.

And, another article

Today, with 10 years of research under their belts, the farmers are gearing up to produce switchgrass for commercial use.

This one from Biomass Magazine, farmers are contracting their switchgrass to a 726 megawatt power generating station. This article also mentions growing the grass on land not particularly suited to growing corn.

So, as I say, I will try to keep up better on this blog. Jobs, kids, guitar and other web sites do take time too. Like a new year's resolution though, I will try to be better.

The State Fair

Welcome back everyone. It has been a long summer but it is time to start thinking about corn burning again.

The Minnesota State Fair.

I took off work an hour early today, since it was my day to sit in a cubical in St. Paul, and took a trip to the Minnesota State Fair. It was an enjoyable trip.

My first stop was at Freier's Fireplace Store where I ran into what I hope to be my next corn burning purchase. A Quadrafire Mt. Vernon fireplace insert. It is a beautiful stove and seemed to be very well made. It has a very nice design in the front made out of cast iron. I am heating an old house here with dark woodwork, I think the antique look of this stove will fit in perfect. The sales guy was very friendly. Seemed to know his stuff. I would buy there if I was closer.

I also hit the outdoor boiler circuit. Let me start by saying I don't know about any of these units. I am not interesting in outdoor boilers. Putting a building outside my house with the fire in it.? Ummm, part of the checking the enjoyment of corn burning is checking the fire. There is no way I could rig up a series of mirrors that far! So, what I am saying is I didn't look into the guts of these units. Unless noted, mechanically lets call them all equal.

So, with that caveat, Outdoor Boilers:
Central Boiler was the highlight of the customer service. The sales guy had literally no voice at all above a whisper. Yet he whispered his pitch, pointing out his products benefits. I looked at the Maxim. It is less of the garden shed look than most of the other brands. I also walked through the Woodmaster booth but the sales people were all involved in conversation. I saw the Heatmor and talked to the fellow there a bit. Pardon me. I just can't get enthused. Don't let me turn you away from one of these units. They have lots of advantages. They just arn't for me.

Last, of the outdoor units, I talked to a disarmingly beautiful sales woman who knew her product very well at the Aqua Therm booth. They carry the European manufactured Verner boiler. They make a product that seems very solidly built, though perhaps a little off in external looks. Yeah, yeah, I know, this is something that sits in your basement. But remember people, I do computer graphics for part of my living... So, I look at external design too. It could be I have to think about the fact eventually all of these corn burners will need to be worked on. Maybe having a less wrapped up design would be very practical when it comes to repair. So, I encourage you to take a look at this boiler. It is expensive, compared to what I am used to in indoor boilers. But I admit, I didn't price any of the others outdoor units. Maybe they are all more expensive. Also, this unit can't just sit in the outdoors. It needs to sit in a building. So you have to build your own garden shed for this unit. Humm. Before buying though, I would like to know how common the parts are for this unit in the states. If I can go down to Grangers to buy parts, I am happy.

Moving indoors, I talked to a fellow at the St. Croix booth that really seemed to know his stuff. I looked at their SCF-050. It seemed to be well made. The corn hopper is maybe a touch undersized by current standards, but, this is only a 45,000BTU unit, so a 200lb hopper might not be so bad. The St. Croix looks like a solid unit.

OK, I apologize for what I am about to do. I am going to gush. I don't have $11,000. I don't have anywhere near $11,000. But if I did.... I would spend it on an HS Tarm boiler. This boiler is a thing of beauty. The fit and finish was first class. Closing the door on an HS Tarm is like closing the door on a Mercedes. You turn the handle and the door gives you the impression of sealing, pressure cooker style. The paint was thick and professional looking. The metal was heavy. The feed auger seemed strong enough to chew up entire cornstalks if you really wanted. The heavy insulation and thick firebrick in the door would stop heat loss and increase efficiency. The hopper is tall. I would no longer be able to bucket the corn into the boiler.

I have to give credit where credit is due. My neighbor Jason first saw the Tarm boilers. He came home gushing. But, Jason is a touch more prone to gush that I am.

But, I do have to grumble a touch. The sales people at the HS Tarm booth were totally disinterested in my presence. I did flag down one sales person, saying to him "Wow, these units are incredible! I have only seen them in pictures, never in person!" Which is a pretty positive sales line to hear from a potential customer. But, the sales guy just grunted and walked away. I dunno. Maybe it was the pony tail. And, I like I said, I don't have $11,000, maybe it shows. And, to be totally honest, it was the end of a day, a few days into a state fair. But being a former employer of sales people, seeing this sort of thing show up doesn't bode well for customer service. Make sure you like who you are dealing with.

Absent, or maybe I just didn't find them. Bixby, and Energy King. I would have loved to see Energy King there. After all, I made the drive from Chippewa Falls, couldn't they? Bixby, were you there?

Mid November

Just a few details on what is going on here.

First off, I am sorry about keeping the "Fresh" graphic on the blog tab of the forum. In my mind, there was a fresh entry. My body had just simply not gotten around to typing it out.

I now have about a month of burn time on the new style bottom feed burn pot on the Traeger. Alls in all, I would have to say this burn pot runs exactly like the old style Traeger pot. It seems that clinker formation is not all about where the corn comes into the pot. At the corn symposium up in Rice Lake last month, it was proposed that lighter metals, such as stainless steel in the case of Traeger, conduct too much heat. This heat conduction allows the heat to pass right through, cooling the surface of the stainless. The cooled surface is what creates the clinker. Under this theory, burn pots made of stainless will always have clinker problems. Burn pots that are heavier metals and hold the heat, such as cast iron, won't have the clinker issue. ....humm. Opinions, anyone?

Open house at Energy King
Our local corn burning manufacturer Energy King, had an open house the other night. It was during the time I was sick with my two week long cold. So I had to pop a couple of Advil to break the fever and hop in the truck. Energy King furnaces continue to impress me. It seems like they are very well made. Just guessing, I am thinking I saw about a hundred furnaces sitting on their assembly line floor.

They had one unit in operation, heating a section of the shop, and it seemed to be pumping out the BTUs quite nicely. It seemed to be running real good. The burn pot seemed quite clean and free of clinker. The unit itself is quite function. It won't win any style awards for its feed auger and draft fan designs, because they hook right at the front of the unit instead of many other manufacturers that tuck their unsightly appendages off the back of their burners. But, having the parts out front could be real handy when something goes wrong. As we know from Cosmo Castorini, "And something always goes wrong." He was right. Something always goes wrong. Having the working parts right up front when you are having troubles far outweighs any aesthetic difference. ...And, as people would point out to me, this is a forced air furnace. You don't put it in your living room!

The Energy King controls are quite complex. They are two duel timer dials, so you can precisely set the auger run/wait for a high burn and a low burn (as I remember it... I wasn't a hundred percent that night) I think this complexity gets you a very high level of control about how the furnace is running. Initially it would take some work to get fined tuned I bet. Still, I think it would be worth it. Every setup is different and to tune your boiler to your exact setup, would be great!

The unit they have built is a forced air furnace. They are talking about building a boiler as well. Being a hot water heat guy, I would love to see it!

It was a brief visit there. I would have loved to hang around and meet some of the dozen or so dealers and other interested parties who were hanging around. I didn't figure I needed to infect that many people though, so I called it an early night.

In other news, I got word of yet another new corn burning manufacturer who is currently going through UL testing for its new line of corn furnaces. I have had an early peak at their designs and they look real nice. Look for more news here in a couple of months or so, after UL certification.

My house project.
Hey can anyone spot where in the attic I installed that first roll of insulation? I call this picture "Postage Stamp" for obvious reasons. I am looking forward to some improved heating efficiency once I am done with this project. Unfortunately, that might not be until next year. I worked on the project today again and got through all the insulation I have purchased so far. Seven rolls/batts. Still though, a long way to go. I figure another 22 rolls of R-29 and maybe ten more bags of R-15 batts. It is a big insulation project! When done it will take my house from having attic insulation of R-0, because I currently have no attic insulation up to R-29! For an old house, this is quite a bit of attic insulation. I have got to think I am going to be burning less corn next year. I still have old windows. I still have woodchips as my sidewall insulation. But up top, where most of the heat enters the atmosphere, I am going to be looking pretty good!

Thursday of this week.

Thinking maybe you are making your plans for the coming week, I am going to be speaking to a group of like minded folk, corn burners all. I will be in Rice Lake Wisconsin on October 26th, speaking for the Northwest Wisconsin Corn and Wood pellet Forum will be held at the WITC conference center, 1900 College Drive, in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. Barron and Polk County UW-Extension are organizing the 6-9 p.m. event,

I am going to be there and also Herb Schweitzer from Burns Best in Spooner, WI. There will also be some information sent from a professor in Milwakee on switchgrass pellets.

It should be an interesting time. Here is a link to additional info: http://www.iburncorn.com/artwork/Oct_26_Corn_and_Wood_Pellet_Forum.pdf

I also said I would post a blog entry about the new style Traeger corn burning pot. I have been putting it off because I would still say that I have not given it a good test. It did run a number of days without overflowing, and with minimal care. Still though, I did get clinker buildup eventually and had to pull the pot out because the airflow was blocked. Here is another downside, it seems the oyster shell we are used to feeding these units to keep the soft, no longer works with this bottom feeding design. When I pulled the burn pot yesterday morning, it was filled with a lay about 2/3s of the way up with very hard clinker. Clinker I have not been able to remove yet.

But, and here is where the stickler is, I am not even starting on the burning season yet. Is the burn pot going to work better once it is into a more steady burn? It sure could. Maybe the clinker buildup in this pot only occured because the temperature was swinging 40 degrees over a few days. So don't hold me to this yet.

Quick News

The pre-2006 heating season stuff.
Well, the corn has been ordered. It is coming from River County Co-op here in Chippewa Falls. I just bought today (Friday), as the price continues to climb. I feel like it will drop down at some point but right now I am predicting the corn prices to continue to rise. I think that the rise in price is somewhat due to speculation on buying corn for ethanol production and also I have heard due to poor world wheat harvest. I am leaning toward thinking the former. It is also an election year.

The price was around $2.90-$3.00 a bushel. I seem to have misplaced the reciept at the moment. I will get it posted later.

Burning Corn 2006, Day Five

Today is day five of burning corn in the new style Traeger burn pot. I would have to say I am cautiously optimistic. It has really been going quite well. Five days and I have been running the same burn pot. I have not poked or prodded at the fire and clinker, hoping to just see how it goes un-attended.

I can't give it an unequivocal thumbs up though because we have been having some warm days and because I am buying bagged corn and ran out on Sunday when the Co-op was closed. So, the fire has not been burning hard or continuously. So it is really hard to say for sure. Still though, five days of burning in a Trager pot without having to dig out clinker or swap out the pot for cleaning, seems really hopeful.