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!
