Commuting revisited- 2011

[MossRoad]

Guess where 99 percent of his business is?

Outer space?

 

[riptides]

Outer space?

Nope. The shuttle is soon to be history.

Asia of course.

It is most unfortunate that this technology was not adopted by the US. Introduced in the early late 1960's-early 1970's it had great promise with actual customer (USA) prototype infrastructure.

 

[MossRoad]

Nope. The shuttle is soon to be history.

Asia of course.

It is most unfortunate that this technology was not adopted by the US. Introduced in the early late 1960's-early 1970's it had great promise with actual customer (USA) prototype infrastructure.

I read an article where the author determined it would be a more efficient use of BTUs if we burned corn to heat our homes and used natural gas to run our vehicles. Converting oil into gasoline or diesel fuel or converting corn into ethanol wastes too many BTUs whereas natural gas needs little conversion before it can be burned in a car and dry corn burns very efficiently in a house. Well into the 90% efficiency rating. And both natural gas and burned corn are very clean to burn compared to oil products.

Ethanol is a looser all the way around. Farmers could grow and sell corn to burn in houses instead of being converted to automobile fuel. Oil companies do not want you to know that because it cuts them out of the picture.

 

[clemsonfor]

I read an article where the author determined it would be a more efficient use of BTUs if we burned corn to heat our homes and used natural gas to run our vehicles. Converting oil into gasoline or diesel fuel or converting corn into ethanol wastes too many BTUs whereas natural gas needs little conversion before it can be burned in a car and dry corn burns very efficiently in a house. Well into the 90% efficiency rating. And both natural gas and burned corn are very clean to burn compared to oil products.

Ethanol is a looser all the way around. Farmers could grow and sell corn to burn in houses instead of being converted to automobile fuel. Oil companies do not want you to know that because it cuts them out of the picture.

But at the current price of corn what normal person could afford to buy it to heat with. I heard its something like$10 for a 50lb bag, at least thats what i pay for shelled deer corn, sometimes $8. It can be had cheaper if bought from the farm in 55 gallon drums though.

Anyway i get my wood for free out of the forest. Of course i have fuel expenses with it but so would i in going to the farm and buying corn from the combine. Also you have to load what i have heard several hundred pounds of corn for a 24 hr burn.

 

[MossRoad]

But at the current price of corn what normal person could afford to buy it to heat with. I heard its something like$10 for a 50lb bag, at least thats what i pay for shelled deer corn, sometimes $8. It can be had cheaper if bought from the farm in 55 gallon drums though.

Anyway i get my wood for free out of the forest. Of course i have fuel expenses with it but so would i in going to the farm and buying corn from the combine. Also you have to load what i have heard several hundred pounds of corn for a 24 hr burn.

The current price of corn is inflated because of ethanol.

 

[kenmac]

Just my opinion. I wouldn't put much $ into a vehicle that I was destroying @ 140 miles per day.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I just talked to a buddy with a brother in law who's a travelling salesman. He gets a stipend for a car monthly. The 1st go around he bought a new car. After seeing all the stipend go for the new car, he bought a 7 year old Honda Accord. Drove it for 5 years and just now bought another Accord 8 years old. He's pocketing pretty much his whole stipend.

Hey Moss, my neighbor works at a trucking company that uses chase cars. They had 3 Impalas like ours but now 2. It seems one crapped out at almost 400,000 miles. (It has had the tranny replaced).

 

[MossRoad]

Hey Moss, my neighbor works at a trucking company that uses chase cars. They had 3 Impalas like ours but now 2. It seems one crapped out at almost 400,000 miles. (It has had the tranny replaced).

Ours has 150K on it. Due to get to the tranny guy soon for another tune up/looksee. The body is starting to get some rust spots, but all things considered, an almost 12 year old car that sits outside 24/7 in northern Indiana where salt is quite prevalent. I am quite happy with it.

It is the LS model with the 3.8. The intake manifold started leaking coolant. It is a plastic manifold. I changed that myself. The waterpump started leaking. I changed that myself. The power steering cooler (which is just a long steel tube with a loop in it) sprung a leak at a clip. I patched that with hose. One rear strut went out. My neighbor replaced the rear pair and I could have done that myself with his directions. Only three sets of tires. Brake rotors 3 times. Pads about 5 or 6. Several sets of wipers. One monster hail storm with 2" stones! Oil every 3K miles... And a teenage driver for the last 2 years. :laughing:

 

[riptides]

I just talked to a buddy with a brother in law who's a travelling salesman. He gets a stipend for a car monthly. The 1st go around he bought a new car. After seeing all the stipend go for the new car, he bought a 7 year old Honda Accord. Drove it for 5 years and just now bought another Accord 8 years old. He's pocketing pretty much his whole stipend.

Hey Moss, my neighbor works at a trucking company that uses chase cars. They had 3 Impalas like ours but now 2. It seems one crapped out at almost 400,000 miles. (It has had the tranny replaced).

Kind of hard to argue with that.

I don't see getting a new car and trying to keep it fueled in my future. Too expensive.

 

[harleyguy302]

But at the current price of corn what normal person could afford to buy it to heat with. I heard its something like$10 for a 50lb bag, at least thats what i pay for shelled deer corn, sometimes $8. It can be had cheaper if bought from the farm in 55 gallon drums though.

Anyway i get my wood for free out of the forest. Of course i have fuel expenses with it but so would i in going to the farm and buying corn from the combine. Also you have to load what i have heard several hundred pounds of corn for a 24 hr burn.

I heat my house with only corn. It doesn't take several hundred pounds of corn for a 24 hr burn. On average I go through about a bushal of corn a day(I think 52 or 56lbs is what a busel weights) . Basically two 5 gallon buckets day. Less if its above 30. I buy my corn straight from the elevator and store it all winter in a gravity wagon. The local elevator is only 3 blocks away. This year from Sept till now I have heated my house for under $1k. I am still burning now. I Love my corn heat. I keep the house around 75 all winter. When I heated with gas we kept it at 68. By the way I am heating around 2200 sq ft with a corn stove that doesn't attach to the furnace.
When corn was $2 a bushel it was way cheaper. Last time I bought corn it was around $7. I maybe looking into burning some wood pellets next. I will need to do some price comparions to see which will be better. I may do a 50/50 mix.