Shelled Corn

- Cost of Heating with Corn

Before you can accurately compare heating with corn to other heating fuels you have to look at a number of factors. Not only is price of the fuel important, but also the heating efficiency of the heating system and the energy content of a unit of each fuel.

Here is a formula which you can use to calculate your cost per Million BTU's of useable energy. This formula takes into account all these factors:

• Cost per unit of fuel
• Energy content per unit of fuel
• Seasonal heating efficiency

Cost per Million BTU's of useable energy = (Cost Per Unit Of Fuel x 1,000,000) ÷ (Energy Content Per Unit Of Fuel (BTU) x Seasonal Heating Efficiency)

Where: Cost per unit of fuel is in Dollars Energy Content Per Unit of Fuel in BTU's Seasonal Heating Efficiency is in decimal form ie (70% = 0.7)

Example: Lets look at an example where you are using corn at $2.50 per bushel in a stove which has a seasonal heating efficiency of 60%. What is the cost per million BTU's of useable energy?

Corn Cost = $2.50 per bushel
Energy content per bushel = 7000 BTU/lb x 56 lb/bu. = 392,000 BTU
Seasonal Heating Efficiency = 60% = .6

Dollars per Million BTU's Useable Energy =

(Cost per unit of fuel ($) x 1,000,000) ÷ (Energy Content Per Unit Of Fuel (BTU) x Seasonal Heating Efficiency)

=($2.50 x 1,000,000) ÷ (392,000 x .6)

= $10.63

Therefore to supply one million BTU's of heat to the house costs $10.63 when this stove operates at 60% efficiency, burning corn at $2.50 per bushel. The average older home requires approximately 100 million BTU's of useable energy per year. When you do the calculations for your situation, keep in mind that the price charged per bushel of corn may vary from the market price when small quantities are purchased. Check the prices carefully before doing these calculations.