St. Paul, Minnesota, where it gets pretty frigid in the winter, Arthur Hallman says the good news is that he's saving a bundle on his heating bills since February when he converted to a furnace that burns corn.
"I paid $400 dollars for December, $400 for January," said Arthur Hallman.
He told our Lee Cowan that's when he made the switch to corn.
"Now I'm paying $60," said Hallman.
"That much of a difference?" asked CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT LEE COWAN.
"That much of a difference," said Hallman.
It's the same kind of corn farmers feed their cattle. And there's plenty of it. The United States grows more of it than any country in the world. Hallman feels good about that too.
"I'd rather pay a local farmer who's a hard working guy that has a tough time today," said Hallman.
"As opposed to paying the big energy companies," said Cowan
"Paying the big energy companies," said Hallman.
A bushel of corn, which now sells for $2.41, can replace 3 gallons of heating oil. This winter oil was about 2 dollars a gallon.
No wonder corn stoves and furnaces are catching on.
"This is heading to mainstream absolutely," said Mike Haefner, American Energy Systems.
Mike Haefner went into the corn burning stove business early. Mike Mickolichek says his business is thriving too.
"We have a waiting list," said Mike Mickolichek, Homeland Heating and Fireplaces
He's even selling to city folks at about 3000 dollars per corn stove.
"We did all of last year's business in about two months this fall," said Mickolichek.
He feels like a pretty shrewd guy right now.
"You know a lot of people thought it was crazy to get into this. Now they say I'm crazy as a fox," said Mickolichek.
As for Arthur Hallman who does have to lug a couple of buckets of corn every morning and clean out the ash bin, he does so with a smile.
"Where else can you save $300 dollars for 5 minutes work?" said Hallman.
