Dear Jim: I thought about installing a corn or wood pellet stove to help heat my home. Will they save money, will they work when the electric power goes off and are they convenient to use? – Chris G.

Dear Chris: Installing a corn or pellet stove can lower your utility bills overall and they are very convenient to use. I have used a pellet stove to supplement my heat pump since 1990. Every two days, I dump a 40-pound bag of pellets into the hopper and empty the ash pan twice a month. Mine has battery backup so it continues to heat my house when the electricity goes off.

Corn is even a better fuel than wood pellets for heating a home. With the high efficiency, up to 82 percent, of corn stoves (which also burn pellets), they are the cheapest source of heat for a home. Using pellets is more expensive than corn, but still much cheaper than using the heat pump at my house.

Using renewable corn or pellets is Earth-friendly and good for our country. All corn and wood is homegrown, so the money stays here and creates local jobs. They both also burn very cleanly, causing little air pollution. Pellets are made from waste sawdust, so they are basically a recycled fuel.

Corn weighs about 60 pounds per bushel. You can buy it at any feed store or directly from a farmer. They weigh the amount you want and charge as little as $2.50 per bushel. Pellets are available in 40-pound bags at many major home centers, wood stove stores, feed stores and some supermarkets.

Pellet and corn stoves look identical and are attractive, with large glass doors to view the fire. Some use very ornate styles and others have a high-tech look. Insert models are available to fit in an existing fireplace.

Since they are so efficient, these stoves do not need a chimney. They are vented outdoors by a 4-inch pipe through an outside wall, so you can locate one in any room in your home.

A draft blower draws combustion air through and over the pellets and forces it outdoors. This creates a slight vacuum inside the stove so no smoke gets indoors. These fuels burn so cleanly, you won’t even see any smoke coming from the pipe outdoors. Burning corn creates a wonderful sweet scent outdoors.

Write for (instantly download – www.dulley.com) Update Bulletin No. 880 – buyer’s guide of 14 pellet-corn stove manufacturers listing styles, heat output, hopper capacity, auger type, vent location, prices, features and a fuel cost comparison chart. Include $3 and a business-size SASE, and send to James Dulley, 6906 Royalgreen Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45244.