I wonder if he has the smarts to offer pellets for sale throughout his service area, other than to people who buy his expensive imported boilers. He would proably make more money selling pellets than they will off the boilers.
No way would I invest 12K$ in a pellet boiler and rip my oil boiler out.
THe have 2 flaws in their plan, removing the peoples current oil boiler and using an expensive german boiler. Plus it seems they use the term local contractor a little too often, ie you depend on the local contractor, not Maine Energ Systems to maintain and install you pellet system and boiler.
Good luck to them though. I do hope they dont drive the price of local pellets up.
Interesting indeed. This quote sums up my concerns:
“Another question is whether buyers will balk at spending $12,000 for pellet heating systems, an expenditure that’s nearly twice as high as a typical oil boiler.
The initial cost also raises questions for Patrick McGowan, Maine’s conservation commissioner. He wonders if Mainers instead will choose less-costly pellet-burning stoves over new central heating systems, for supplemental heat.”
I’m also concerned about the market effect on pellet prices. I’d be really worried if I were a European. As the market for pellets grows in the United States, a lot of pellets that would have been bound for Europe may stay close to home.
An increase in demand, if it’s met with an increase in production, may actually be a good thing. I’d like to see mills come on-line that make pellets from pulp. This will get us away from having to depend entirely on the sawdust market.
Harman makes a pellet boiler. Costs a lot less than $12,000, provides American jobs, and is serviced and supported by a local dealer. Europe eagerly takes our pellets, and now wants to send us their boilers? No thanks.
1) I think this is great news as it shows that an entrepeneur is willing to put up big bucks to achieve on a meaningful scale what everyone on this forum has done is trying to do on their own. That is not be beholden to fossil fuel from away. Especially in the NE we need ALTERNATIVES to gas and oil to keep warm, I thinkg this is huge step in the right direction.
2) The details of course can be nitpicked, why buy European Boilers? I agree we all would rather have a domestic maker . Perhaps they would not be able to crank up the numbers quickly enough?? Also shipping is cheap compared to trucking long distances, I would wager it costs less to ship across the Atlantic than to truck across America.
3) I like the idea of Pellet Trucks rumbling through the neighborhood filling customers up with several months worth of pellets, though I imagine it would take up my entire basement !
I think the plan is the beginning....of course they’ll be doubts etc......but Les Otten has the finances to start this off the ground. And his plan is for all of New England, not just Maine. As for if people will pay the price for the boilers...were people against paying 700 for the first VCR’s? How pricey was Hybrids when they were first introduced? All things are $$ when they are relatively new and introduced. I think its a great idea he has....time will tell on the results.
It certainly is an ambitious plan. To start from scratch is going to require not only staffing up for qualified installers and repair people, but he has to create infrastructure from scratch. That goes from logging, to processing, to storage, to bulk delivery. It is a big investment and risk, but will be very interesting to watch. Our neck of the woods also has potential for bulk pellet boilers. I could see it working here if it succeeds in Maine. The Swedish systems systems have impressed me since I first read about them about 5 years ago.
I hope the poor homeowners don’t get taken for a ride. People who are desperate for solutions are sometimes too easy to sell to - and this entire scheme may rely on one foreign manufacturer who may be here today, gone tomorrow. Maybe the state should get involved and have some sort of bond or guarantee about parts and service for “x” years (10-15) just to make sure the consumers are protected. Those of us in the HVAC field have seen some European equipment come and go and the parts/service situation dry up quickly. With a wood stove you can usually make do, but these electronic pellet boilers are not going to be able to be easily repaired except with original parts.
Personally, I’d rather take the independent route - fill one side of the equation (the boilers, etc.) and then get Pelletsales.com, etc. to fill another part, etc.
If fuel prices stay high people in the Northeast will have to change to something other than oil to heat their homes. That should be abundantly clear to everyone by now.
Given that fact we need to look at alternatives to oil. Some people will opt for the tried and true firewood option. Some people just can’t or won’t go that rout.
Many people will turn to wood pellets just because it is the next cheapest way to heat their home. Some people will turn to LP gas which will be cheaper to install but not so cheap to heat with. Some will go for geo thermal, solar, heat pumps or electric but the way it looks right now wood pellets are a very good bet in many ways. It’s clean, it’s renewable, it will help drive the US economy and it’s cheaper than most alternatives.
Boilers from Europe will not be a hot item or a long term solution because manufacturers in the US and China will be able to produce them cheaper. We are in transition right now. There may be a few bumps along the way but pellet fuels are here to stay if oil stays high and all indications point toward high oil prices.
I spoke with the gentleman doing this prodject and it seems like he has no intention of bagging or selling bagged product but just bulk. So that being said you would have to buy a silo and have the pellets blown into your silo. $$$$$$$$$ no the real question is how much for a silo??????
Having meet him years ago hes out for one thing cornering the market in his favor and making big bucks. He tried to do the same with the Northeast ski industry. Watch out and approach with caution.
He’s doing just what should be should be done by anyone that wants to cash in on the coming oil crises years.
He can see a need and he is trying to fill it and make some $$$ doing it. If any of us had the money we’d be doing the same thing. He is going to make a bundle just wait and see.
The only way he will make money selling the pellets however is to sell lower then someone else, or offer something no one else is offering. With bulk delivery and silo sales he is out in front of the curve right now for sure.
The Bosh boiler he is offering is a very good boiler and no one I know is selling them in the US right now. I’d be interested to see what he is selling them for.
The way I see it, even if we never buy anything from him he’s gong to help us. The more people burning pellets the more pellets plants there will be. The more pellet plants the more compitition there will be in the market. If the guy in Strong making pellets trys to mark them up too high then we can go someplace else and thats a good thing. One thing to look out for will be price fixing however.
