martywittrock
2004-02-14 22:23:46 UTC
This is to any new owner, or is anticipating owning, a St. Croix corn
burning Stove:
Overall, I've been happy with the performance of my St. Croix Auburn
corn burning stove. At the 'level 4' heat adjustment, I've found that
my Auburn burns about 3/4 bushel of corn per day with about 10% wood
pellet mixed-in to help the firepot burn a little hotter. There is a
period of 'adjustment' that the owner will experience since the the
St. Croix will 'train' the owner on how it wants to be maintained (more
on this later).
I've also found that the Auburn's (and most likely the Lancaster's)
digital control is best used in the 3 - 4 heat setting since the
level 5 heat setting will drop corn so fast that the firepot cannot
keep up no matter what the damper setting is (and we had to adjust it
wide open to keep up). Also, there's no perceived difference in the
heat that the St. Croix Auburn outputs at level 4 than that of level
5. In fact, it's less problematic at level 4 and the heating is the
same. At level 5, you REALLY have to 'babysit' the stove or else it's
going to get 'smogged-out' from all the corn being augered into the
firepot. So stick with level's 3 - 4. You won't have problems and
the heating is the same.
I have found that the dryness of the source of corn is important. If
you're obtaining the corn from a farmer who doesn't know the moisture
content (it needs to be no higher than 15%) then you're going to need
to buy a bag of wood pellet to mix in with the corn to help out with
combustion. We found that the source of grain we were getting had a
moisture content of 12% or a little higher and that was probably a
little more than our stove could stand to keep it burning consistently
hot. To counteract that problem, I began to mix a 10% (per volume)
wood pellet into the corn to help the firepot out and keep the corn
burning solidly. After I began mixing this 10% wood pellet in, we
kept a constant flame and EXCELLENT performance. We also had to play
with the damper (it's about 80% closed) at level 4 heating.
In the beginning, we were CONSTANTLY babysitting our stove. For
nearly 2 weeks we played with the heating control (kept it at '5'
thinking that it would be 'hotter') and keeping the damper wide open
(as it turned out, both were the recipe for disaster - the flame kept
going out). The manual was absolutely no help and was written so
generically that you couldn't tell what the right mix of things to do
to keep the stove going. We were constantly 'mixing cocktails' (mixing
wood pellet to gelled alcohol firestarter) to keep the stove going.
We finally found two (IMPORTANT) things:
1.) Mixing corn with wood pellets (in a 90% corn to 10% wood pellet)
is a good thing to do to keep the combustion going.
2.) In heating levels 3 - 4 (and 5 if you can keep it running) YOU
MUST KEEP THE DAMPER 80% CLOSED TO KEEP THE FIRE GOING STRONG.
We also found out that there is a natural tendancy to 'babysit' the
stove. Well, in the first 2 weeks that we owned it, that was the
case. But once we figured out the damper control and corn/wood pellet
mix, this St. Croix corn stove has been performing FLAWLESSLY and
heats our entire house (about 2200 sqft 2 level older home).
As I mentioned in the beginning, the St. Croix Auburn 'taught' us what
it wanted and what you've read is the outcome of that. Forget their
manuals - they just tell you how to maintain it. What they DON'T tell
you is how to make the corn stove perform like it should and keep your
house warm in the winter.
If you follow the rules that I just outlined, you'll be a happy owner,
too!
MJW
burning Stove:
Overall, I've been happy with the performance of my St. Croix Auburn
corn burning stove. At the 'level 4' heat adjustment, I've found that
my Auburn burns about 3/4 bushel of corn per day with about 10% wood
pellet mixed-in to help the firepot burn a little hotter. There is a
period of 'adjustment' that the owner will experience since the the
St. Croix will 'train' the owner on how it wants to be maintained (more
on this later).
I've also found that the Auburn's (and most likely the Lancaster's)
digital control is best used in the 3 - 4 heat setting since the
level 5 heat setting will drop corn so fast that the firepot cannot
keep up no matter what the damper setting is (and we had to adjust it
wide open to keep up). Also, there's no perceived difference in the
heat that the St. Croix Auburn outputs at level 4 than that of level
5. In fact, it's less problematic at level 4 and the heating is the
same. At level 5, you REALLY have to 'babysit' the stove or else it's
going to get 'smogged-out' from all the corn being augered into the
firepot. So stick with level's 3 - 4. You won't have problems and
the heating is the same.
I have found that the dryness of the source of corn is important. If
you're obtaining the corn from a farmer who doesn't know the moisture
content (it needs to be no higher than 15%) then you're going to need
to buy a bag of wood pellet to mix in with the corn to help out with
combustion. We found that the source of grain we were getting had a
moisture content of 12% or a little higher and that was probably a
little more than our stove could stand to keep it burning consistently
hot. To counteract that problem, I began to mix a 10% (per volume)
wood pellet into the corn to help the firepot out and keep the corn
burning solidly. After I began mixing this 10% wood pellet in, we
kept a constant flame and EXCELLENT performance. We also had to play
with the damper (it's about 80% closed) at level 4 heating.
In the beginning, we were CONSTANTLY babysitting our stove. For
nearly 2 weeks we played with the heating control (kept it at '5'
thinking that it would be 'hotter') and keeping the damper wide open
(as it turned out, both were the recipe for disaster - the flame kept
going out). The manual was absolutely no help and was written so
generically that you couldn't tell what the right mix of things to do
to keep the stove going. We were constantly 'mixing cocktails' (mixing
wood pellet to gelled alcohol firestarter) to keep the stove going.
We finally found two (IMPORTANT) things:
1.) Mixing corn with wood pellets (in a 90% corn to 10% wood pellet)
is a good thing to do to keep the combustion going.
2.) In heating levels 3 - 4 (and 5 if you can keep it running) YOU
MUST KEEP THE DAMPER 80% CLOSED TO KEEP THE FIRE GOING STRONG.
We also found out that there is a natural tendancy to 'babysit' the
stove. Well, in the first 2 weeks that we owned it, that was the
case. But once we figured out the damper control and corn/wood pellet
mix, this St. Croix corn stove has been performing FLAWLESSLY and
heats our entire house (about 2200 sqft 2 level older home).
As I mentioned in the beginning, the St. Croix Auburn 'taught' us what
it wanted and what you've read is the outcome of that. Forget their
manuals - they just tell you how to maintain it. What they DON'T tell
you is how to make the corn stove perform like it should and keep your
house warm in the winter.
If you follow the rules that I just outlined, you'll be a happy owner,
too!
MJW