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Alternative Fuel, Lower Energy Costs: Heat Your Home With Corn
While crude oil prices continue to climb there is one old-fashioned method of heating that, for now, is very cheap ? corn. Kevin Blind, a reporter for Lee Agri-Media, said Depression-Era farmers used corn to stoke their pot-belly stoves because it cost less to burn it than to haul it into town to sell. Although heating with corn is no longer common, Blind said the tasty grain is experiencing a revival. And various firms are designing corn-burning stoves as an alternative home-heating system. And almost anybody who has to heat a home knows why alternatives are important. In August of 2006 Light Crude Oil prices hit $70 per barrel. Since then prices have fallen, but home-owners know that even at $59 per barrel, it is expensive to keep a home cozy throughout the winter. At the same time, the price of corn futures dipped below the $2 per bushel level. Traders familiar with grains prices knew that this was a bargain because the yellow stuff was near all-time lows. Those folks who got in the market have been rewarded, because as of December 2006 Corn was trading at nearly $3 per bushel. ?At this time of year in this pattern, I can?t give any better advice?than to get in,? trading advisor T.J. Jolicoeur, of Paso Robles, California, said last summer. Today?s consumer likes corn as a heating source not only because it is cheap fuel. Corn is attracting attention because it is a ?green fuel? and renewable, thus lowering dependence of foreign energy sources. Heating with corn could prove particularly economical for those people living in areas where corn is grown, such as Iowa and Minnesota. Frank Robison, who sells corn-burning stoves in Farwell, Michigan told a reporter from the Midland Daily News that this method of heating is a ?no-brainer? because not only does the money for fuel stay in the United States it also stays local. Not to mention burning corn helps the environment, he said. The cost of corn-burning stoves now range from about $1,700 to $3,200. The cost to heat a home throughout winter can be as low as $400. A bushel of corn that can be purchased for less than $3 provides the same amount of energy as five gallons of propane and 3.4 gallons of fuel oil, Robison said Getting your hands on a stove this season might be difficult. The hurricane catastrophes in New Orleans and Texas in 2005 created a demand for the economical heaters that caught manufacturers off guard. Consumers are advised to do their research now and get in line for buying a heating stove before next year?s winter season. Concern about rising corn prices need not dissuade consumers from considering this form of heat. Like farmers who hedge their crop price by trading in the futures market, home-owners can easily learn to do the same. Although this same method could be used in the Light Crude Oil futures market, it costs a lot more money and know-how to trade energy commodities. Those interested in learning about trading corn can visit the Chicago Board of Trade?s website, where free tutorials on trading agriculture products like corn can be found by clicking on education>publications.
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