Pellet Stove Sales Must be Down

Had been another thread about why a major stove seller had a price increase. Not a good time to hike prices when regular fuels are going way down. I doubt many dealers are stocking up with pellet stoves.

Hello
Believe it or not I just spoke to one of my dealer friends today and they sold a lot of new stoves during the month of July! A temporary drop in oil does not seem to be impacting this Biz in our area! The good heat output and viewable fire continue to make wood and wood pellet stoves the heat of choice these days! Biz is great!

A lot of us can remember high prices and inability to get propane. Had a discussion today about upgrading a propane freestanding stove to one with higher efficiency and it just did not compute, nor would the new one be able to run without electricity I believe as the newer ones have a fan induced venting system.

Once people start to feel disdain for the pellet industry like they do for the oil industry, sales will drop for pellets and their stoves. We're not there yet but prices keep rising, we'll get there soon enough.

Peterfield said:

Once people start to feel disdain for the pellet industry like they do for the oil industry, sales will drop for pellets and their stoves. We're not there yet but prices keep rising, we'll get there soon enough.

Click to expand...

UpStateNY said:

With price of fuel oil to under $2.00 a gallon in many parts of the Northeast and cost of pellets close to $300 per ton, I got to believe sales of new Pellet Stoves have decreased significantly. This may make it harder to get our Pellet Stoves serviced by a professional if Pellet Stove dealers and manufactures close up shop and go out of business.

Click to expand...

It`s hard to believe new pellet stove sales are thriving with the high price of pellets and oil being so low .Pellet sales should also take a hit this year.
Of course I`m looking at all this from the perspective of living in New England, where oil heat is more prevalent than in other regions of the country.

MCPO said:

It`s hard to believe new pellet stove sales are thriving with the high price of pellets and oil being so low .Pellet sales should also take a hit this year.
Of course I`m looking at all this from the perspective of living in New England, where oil heat is more prevalent than in other regions of the country.

Click to expand...

Propane is down significantly here as well. I know there are other areas that the price hasn't come down, but it's much cheaper here than it usually is. I filled my tank for 1.39/gallon. Not even accounting for the work associated with pellets, propane is cheaper at that point. I have a corn burning furnace and a freestanding pellet burner. I'll be burning corn, as that's hanging around 130/ton, but I doubt I burn any pellets this year.

I burn corn but have burned pellets when corn was high. With propain down there is no way I could justify anything right now. I know hydrocarbon prices will go back up but the prediction isn't for a couple years.

Not everyone here in NE still burns oil. Quite a few have concerted to NG the last three years. I considered it but running a gas line with my home setback was too close to prohibitively expensive. NG isn't exactly cheap when you finally get a monthly bill despite price quotes you see. Some have heat pumps and burn wood/pellets when it gets too cold for the heat pumps.

It is all relative. Every home heating fuel will continue to climb like in the past. For example guys selling firewood here keep there cord prices in line with what a ton of pellets cost each year for the most part. Electric climbs along when other fuels do as well. It's all just a big SCAM to a degree. Some increases are justified while others are simply gouging the working man.

Just like gas prices happen to climb on holiday weekends.

I would ideally like to go the ductless mini split direction to supplement my stoves and the a/c benefits in the summer go without saying. However $16,000 initial investment hurts my immediate financial situation.

I am having Solar installed next weekend so that should illeviate my anxiety of having blowers on both pellet stove and Wood Stove going fall and winter

Many people feel that Propane or Natural Gas appliances do not throw out the heat like wood or wood pellet stoves. Also if the gas appliance is old then due too poor efficiency it may use more gas and the total cost may not be as economical as it may appear.

Don2222 said:

Many people feel that Propane or Natural Gas appliances do not throw out the heat like wood or wood pellet stoves. Also if the gas appliance is old then due too poor efficiency it may use more gas and the total cost may not be as economical as it may appear.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I agree with that 100% because it is a fact pellet and wood stoves have better hotter heat. Convenience and being a bit lazier comes with a surcharge. I was more than happy to eat that surcharge of pellet costs last season to give me a break from wood. I simply had no time, was working out of town, and beyond burnt out on wood processing. It worked out well but I paid a premium vs. my "free" firewood. Time is money too depending how one views that. I was happy to buy another 7 tons this year too for some cash layout. I think after my rookie pellet season this past season I will incorporate a bit more wood burning this year. But then again a big issue I do not like is going out in the cold I have once comfy inside to toss a load of wood in. We shall see where my motivation lies soon enough.

JTRock said:

I would ideally like to go the ductless mini split direction to supplement my stoves and the a/c benefits in the summer go without saying. However $16,000 initial investment hurts my immediate financial situation.

I am having Solar installed next weekend so that should illeviate my anxiety of having blowers on both pellet stove and Wood Stove going fall and winter

Click to expand...

$16000 for a mini-split?

JTRock said:

I would ideally like to go the ductless mini split direction to supplement my stoves and the a/c benefits in the summer go without saying. However $16,000 initial investment hurts my immediate financial situation.

I am having Solar installed next weekend so that should illeviate my anxiety of having blowers on both pellet stove and Wood Stove going fall and winter

Click to expand...

Whooo.... Unless your getting 3-4 mini-splits call around for other quotes.

maple1 said:

$16000 for a mini-split?

Click to expand...

Yea it's a whole house 7 head unit

UpStateNY said:

With price of fuel oil to under $2.00 a gallon in many parts of the Northeast and cost of pellets close to $300 per ton, I got to believe sales of new Pellet Stoves have decreased significantly. This may make it harder to get our Pellet Stoves serviced by a professional if Pellet Stove dealers and manufactures close up shop and go out of business.

Click to expand...

That's what independent service people are for. Judy sayin....

JTRock said:

Yea it's a whole house 7 head unit

Click to expand...

I've been considering doing it myself, with a LG unit from Pexsupply. I'm looking at a 52.5k btu outdoor unit with up to 8 head units. I only need 5, three 7k and one 18k and another 24k. The outdoor unit and 5 head units will cost about $5k. Add another $1000 for all the tubing. Get my electrician buddy to wire the electrical for about $500, though I could probably do it. I may get him to add a 40amp circuit for an EV car charger at the same time. I think I can do the hardware install, and the base unit comes pre-charged with the coolant, so I should be able to do it all for $6500 not including my labor. How big is your base unit?

chken said:

I've been considering doing it myself, with a LG unit from Pexsupply. I'm looking at a 52.5k btu outdoor unit with up to 8 head units. I only need 5, three 7k and one 18k and another 24k. The outdoor unit and 5 head units will cost about $5k. Add another $1000 for all the tubing. Get my electrician buddy to wire the electrical for about $500, though I could probably do it. I may get him to add a 40amp circuit for an EV car charger at the same time. I think I can do the hardware install, and the base unit comes pre-charged with the coolant, so I should be able to do it all for $6500 not including my labor. How big is your base unit?

Click to expand...

Not sure, do not have the skill myself to take the job on. My buddy owns a mechanical company. My utility provider eversource will let you finance a good portion for 0% 10 years. They are still looking for $5000 down and units have to meet guidelines for square footage seer rating etc.

JTRock said:

Yea it's a whole house 7 head unit

Click to expand...

Not sure how big your house is or the layout. But it cost us about 20k for our geothermal unit that included ductwork install for about 2700 sq/ft. Im sure CT is more expensive though.

With regards to the mini splits: I was seriously considering one myself until Eversource announced the 37% increase in electric rates. That put a huge dent in any savings I had anticipated .The recent drop in oil is a big relief.

Pellet stove sales went crazy in 2008 due to high oil prices, so.

Just ran a scan of my states CL for pellet stoves and I counted 44 stoves for sale. I have not seen that many for sale at once, let alone anyone trying to sell way before heating season. Only a handful I would recommend thou.

Sales are doing quite well here in SE CT, people are skeptical oil will stay low for winter. Pellet sales are still happening, but July and August shoppers (as in past years) mainly are the wood stove folks. Wood interest/sales are starting to move. Last couple of years I've burned about 50 percent wood 50 percent pellet, this year I've got more wood ready, with pellets being my backup....

I have a feeling that oil will skyrocket after the first cold snap. I could be wrong though.
The first heating season in our home, we spent close to 3,000 dollars in oil to keep warm (1000sq ft cape cod circa 1940). Last winter I switched to pellet fuel only and spent 750 for the season. I'll probably just stick with pellets and keep the oil furnace as a back up.