By NANCY FOSTER
Union Leader Correspondent
Thursday, Sep. 7, 2006
Milford – More than a decade ago, corn stoves had a bit of a run in the Northeast, but as oil prices stabilized, the demand for alternative fuel sources waned, leaving corn stoves to collect dust.
Though burning corn has been a common heating method in the south and Midwest, New Englanders haven't put much demand on that market. But now that fuel costs are hovering between affordable and astronomical - and could tip at the first sign of natural disaster or war - New Englanders are once again looking to corn stoves to keep their home fires burning.
"Corn is a very clean and efficient way of heating," said Garth Witty of Blue Seal Feeds and Needs in Milford, which sells stove corn. "It's an annually-renewable fuel source and it gives off more heat than pellets or wood."
The low-grade corn, primarily shipped in from the Midwest and sold by the bag or by the ton, is not high enough in nutrition for livestock, Witty said. But once separated from the cob and dried, the corn is perfect for home heating needs.
"We pay farmers not to produce corn," said Jim Boucher of Sons Chimney in Milford, "and we throw away excess corn every year."
Burning corn requires a special kind of stove, said Loreen Racicot of Sons Chimney, and right now, there aren't many to be found. However, an increase in the demand for wood pellet stoves, and now, corn stoves, has forced local dealers to increase their available stock.
A corn stove works much like a pellet stove. The grain is fed into a hopper, an electric auger feeds the fire, and fans distribute the heat. The new models of corn stoves, such as the Dell-Point Europa, can run continuously and automatically for up to 60 hours on a hopper full of corn, Racicot said.
New technology is being used to produce stoves that can burn wood pellets, corn, and even wheat, according to Boucher.
"People want a multi-fuel stove," Boucher said, but while the technology breaks into the market, prices for this type of stove are high.
Where pellet stoves sell for about $2,600, Boucher said, the new corn stoves start around $4,000. But corn is cheaper and more efficient than wood or wood pellets, he added, and the stove will pay for itself quickly. The corn stoves also require far less electricity than pellet stoves, using 12 volts of power versus the pellet stove's 120-volt take.
And new models come with battery back-ups so that homes stay warm when the power goes out.
New Hampshire Commissioner of Agriculture Steven Taylor said there are people throughout the state using corn stoves, and the demand is creating a small niche market for corn growers.
"There's a man in Charlestown who has a corn stove who grows seven acres of corn and uses old-fashioned equipment to harvest it," Taylor said. And George Richard, a farmer in Suncook, has begun growing corn specifically for use in corn stoves, Taylor said.
But there is some concern that the demand for corn, as ethanol's popularity continues to gain momentum as a substitute for gasoline, may lead to higher prices for feed corn, and in turn, higher prices for beef and dairy products, Taylor said.
Still, corn stoves are gaining popularity, according to Richard Wright of Laconia, publisher of a trade magazine called Hearth and Home. According to Wright, one stove manufacturer based in the Midwest is expecting to sell close to 200,000 corn stoves this year.
"That's far more than the number of pellet stoves that are sold," Wright said.