Future Alternative Fuels for EFM 520

vermontday · Post by **vermontday** » Wed. Oct. 29, 2008 10:29 pm

Does EFM have any plans to make conversion kits available in the future for burning pellets, corn or ecocleancoal?

Or can an EFM burn any of these as even a mix with coal now?

EFM makes a great product and coal is presently a great fuel.

However, wouldn't more potential buyers purchase an EFM if they knew their 40 year investment would be flexible for burning other fuel combinations in the future in case fuel prices or regulations change?

billw · Post by **billw** » Wed. Oct. 29, 2008 11:14 pm

What's ecocleancoal? I never heard of it before.

Post by **stoker-man** » Thu. Oct. 30, 2008 5:52 am

Coal doesn't get much cleaner than Anthrcite.

Actually, you can use a 50/50 mixture of dry corn and coal with little change in the settings. Experiments were done in the '70s using 100% corn and they were successful, but the unit had to be run 24/7. No further tests were done.

Pa Dealer · Post by **Pa Dealer** » Thu. Oct. 30, 2008 7:27 am

Installed a couple dozen corn stoves last year for a dealer in my area.Not really impressed with them,lots of cleaning maintanance.I burnt corn in my 520 just to try it,yea it burns but COAL IS KING.

Freddy · Post by **Freddy** » Thu. Oct. 30, 2008 7:37 am

My neighbor burns corn in a corn stove. What a mess. He buys it one ton at a time and stores it in his garage. Sometimes it gets moldy. It draws so many mice my cats are going hungry. He should buy stock in Decon. He has to shut it down & clean it once a week and it's a sticky mess.

Mark (PA) · Post by **Mark (PA)** » Thu. Oct. 30, 2008 8:00 am

I'll chime in just a little on the side of corn here!

No its not right for everyone but if you are a farmer and have access... it may be right!

I myself have a corn stove and a GOOD one at that (not trying to brag). You get what you pay for with everything remember that! THe stove I bought 3 years ago to burn corn wasn't cheap. you can get your tractor supply models for $1500 and you get what you pay for as mentioned!

I have a Bixby 115 and basically all you do is fill it and dump the ashes... alot like an EFM to be honest. There is a bit more cleaning involved in that you should shut the stove down about every 2 weeks and clean it but its not sticky... its just flyash... same as coal.

So while I LOVE my EFM the corn stove certainly has its place also. especially on the higher degree days where it isn't warm enough to go without some heat during the day but running a boiler all day can be possibly wasteful.

vermontday · Post by **vermontday** » Thu. Oct. 30, 2008 9:03 pm

Agree that coal is the nicest burning solid fuel given present prices and regulations, just wanted to know what options an EFM owner has if the future changes.

Eco clean coal is 100% biomass, made by Newearth. They don't say how it is made, I assume it is some type of charcoal. They seem to be just in the development stage and just trying to pitch the idea to large power plants. I don't believe they sell to the public at this point. Even if it does prove viable, it looks like it is still years away from us.

Their web site is
I also talked to an EFM dealer that claimed he saw a demonstration at EFM where they were burning just wood pellets. If this is possible (not that anyone would want to do it at this point as they are more expensive than oil), I wonder what type of maintenance would be required with the EFM 520?

daluds · Post by **daluds** » Thu. Oct. 30, 2008 10:20 pm

How about a conversion kit for reactor-grade plutonium since this would last many years?

Post by **stoker-man** » Fri. Oct. 31, 2008 6:04 am

Pellets cannot be burned in the efm, to my knowledge. A farmer can burn corn, but why should the USA promote burning of food when the currently available fuels do a fine job?