How Does a Corn & Pellet Stove Work?

Corn and Pellets as Fuel

• Biomass stoves use a variety of fuels to provide heat at a location. A popular biomass fuel is corn kernels because they store large amounts of energy. In their natural role as corn seeds, the energy stored in the kernels is intended to support the young corn plants that sprout from them. When corn kernels are burned, all of this energy is released as an excellent source of heat. Pellets, which are made from a variety of biomass sources, are burned in stoves for the same purpose. The biomass that makes up pellets can be any kind of animal or plant matter, but condensed wood fibers often are used in biomass pellets.

Corn and Pellet Stove Mechanism

• Corn and pellet stoves have several components arranged to feed corn or pellets into the stove for burning. The three main components are the hopper, auger and burn pot. A secondary component is the ash pot. The corn kernels or pellets are loaded into a stove's hopper. The auger transfers the kernels or pellets from the hopper to the burn pot at an electronically controlled rate. The stove's temperature is determined by the speed of the auger. The faster the auger, the more fuel it loads and the higher the temperature will be. Finally, the burn pot ignites and burns the biomass to create heat energy. Ashes from the burn pot collect in the ash pot, a component that requires periodic cleaning.

How Do Corn and Pellet Stoves Heat an Area?

• These types of stoves use the process of convection to heat a space within a home or other building space. Cold or cool air from outside the stove -- and usually from outside the building -- is blown into the burn pot to feed the fire. Once hot, that air rises into a heat exchanger, usually a series of pipes that the air travels through until almost cool. Cool air from outside the stove -- but usually from inside the building -- is heated by being blown across the heat exchangers. In this way, the hot air exchanges its heat with the cold air by the process of convection without the two mixing. The air that was used in burning the fuel then is vented outside the building, taking any dangerous fumes with it. The warmed inside air is circulated around the area to be heated.

Benefits of Corn and Pellet Stoves

• The fuel for corn and pellet stoves is cheaper than propane, natural gas, wood, heating oil or other traditional fuels. These stoves burn fuel more efficiently, yielding more heat and less harmful gases than most other fuels. The placement of a corn or pellet stove is flexible. It can be inserted into an existing fireplace or be free standing. Many of them also can be converted to burn other fuels, such as nut shells, wood chips and grains. Finally, these stoves produce less ash and less creosote than traditional wood stoves.