Not buying pellets this spring.

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TimfromMA

Minister of Fire
Mar 6, 2014
2,306
Central MA
As much as I love my pellet stove, I've decided not to buy pellets this year. With oil being so cheap, it will once again become my primary heat source once my current pellet stash has been exhausted. I will keep a few bags on hand in case I want a fire for a special occasion.

Anyone else thinking about turning back to dino juice?
 
Although I cannot disagree about the price of oil I will burn on those cooler days for the extra comfort and ambiance. Truthfully, I would never have my oil burner thermostat up to 72-74 degrees burning oil so having a stove both up & recently installed downstairs has been fantastic. Heck, I'm getting an oil delivery today not because I need it, but simply because I'm filling up at $1.44 a gallon. Oh and BTW.... When is winter showing up?? Not complaining, but I've ridden my Harley in Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb and next week I see upper temps in the upper 50's :)
 
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better change your sig. Tim from
Telling the oil man no thank you when he wants to make a delivery: PRICELESS to
Telling the oil man yes please fill me up :)
 
Gas prices here have gone up 60 cents. Fuel oil probably isn't far behind. The cheap ride is probably over. Dropped a ton of pellets into the basement Saturday that I got at Thanksgiving for $160. Still have 12 bags of the ton I was blending with cheap corn.
 
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Not me. Hope for next year, bought a ton of O'Malley pellets from TSC for $189. marked down and with coupon. Individual bags still $4.99ea.. Last propane delivery was $1.99 gal..
 
As more pellets come on sale towards spring approaching we will probably pick up a couple of tons ( average year sees us using around 4 tons). This winter it looks like we will top out at having used between 3/4 of a ton and a full ton combined with oil. Been a mild winter except for a few really good hits of cold, one with well below 0 conditions. It's good to have some pellets on hand, you never know where oil is going or how a winter will treat us! And this winter as it passes by has had plenty of pellets in stock almost everywhere, it's not to say that will happen next winter. So we will go into next winter at least with 2 tons on hand, maybe grab a couple more if oil looks dicey.
 
I have enough pellets on hand to get me through at least the next 1 1/2 seasons. So I'll still be burning pellets until at least half way through the 2017 - 2018 winter. I will be watching oil and pellet prices carefully.
 
Buy as much as you can and lock in for as much as you can because after the election is over we are in in for a good old fashioned XXXXXXX by the oil companies.
 
I actually reinstalled my oil boiler recently as a backup heat source.
Im considering filling up my empty 1000 Gal underground tank and another 500 gal above ground. Iv decided to use oil in the shoulder season. Running any kind of solid fuel heat when i only need heat for a few hours in the morning doesnt make sense especially when the oil i probably cheaper now than most other forms of heat. Also if i want to go out of town for a few weeks its the only automatic form of heat i have. No matter how high to oil goes in the future ill always keep it a s a backup.
 
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Buy as much as you can and lock in for as much as you can because after the election is over we are in in for a good old fashioned XXXXXXX by the oil companies.
Its all about fracking. Just as america has been able to double and triple its oil output, the rest of the world will not let this technology pass them by. All other countries will surely be fracking their wells at some point and getting similar results. I dont assume oil will be prohibitively expensive for quite sometime
 
I hope you're right.
 
I wish I hadn't bought my last ton. Should've just kept a couple bags on hand and saved the space in the basement.
 
Sweet, save me some bags then. One season of cheap oil wont persuade me to ditch pellets. What I would do, is buy as much as I could now and see how long I could stretch it out. Propain was pretty cheap late summer so I handed the fuel company a grand and told them to notify when the account is empty. With the mild winter Ive only had 2 top-offs this far, compared to 4 or 5 top-offs last winter. Next winter could be brutal, or lame? I will have 100 bags of awesome heat though in the basement.
 
I have natural gas in my house and still prefer the pellets. Though maybe I'm just coo-coo. Haha.
 
Pellet stove will still be there when prices go the other way.
 
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One season of cheap oil wont persuade me to ditch pellets.
same here...
besides, my furnace would really burn thru oil at 74 degree house so not much savings there..
house has been at 75 all winter.
 
Sticking with pellets as the wife will not be appreciative of a cooler house if we switch back to oil. 'Just topped off the oil tank to take advantage of the lower prices, but only use it as a supplement to pellets.
 
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For next season if prices are right for the high end stuff I will get two ton, if not I will probably get one ton and supplement out oil. I have only gone through about 130 gallons of oil since June (half tank). this is after using oil exclusively for a few weeks around the holidays while away. Not bad all things considering. At the end of the day I like having options and right now although oil is cheaper than pellets but I like the ambience of the fire.
 
Noticed pellets were 199/ton at home depot (Dartmouth)earlier tonite

still 259 on the web site but 199/ton, 3.xx/bag just one ton on display outside and they've been pushed to the side making way for riding lawn mowers outside the entrance door left out in the rain.
 
oil traded up 3% today. up 17% in Feb.. Wouldn't unplug those pellet stoves just yet :)
Noticed a gas station I pass on the way to work was at $1.59 at 5 am yesterday. Going back home it was $1.63 around 4:30 pm. Wonder if it is heading back up (even a little), or just a blip.
 
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One season of cheap oil wont persuade me to ditch pellets.
same here...
besides, my furnace would really burn thru oil at 74 degree house so not much savings there..
house has been at 75 all winter.
In years past with my old Breckwell stove, we kept the house around 65 degrees. With the Harman this year, I look at the thermostat and say, "wow, 72, guess I should turn the stove down"! I'm feeling pretty old right now.
On the pellet front, I'm planning on stocking up this spring if the price is right. Usually buy 2-3 tons, maybe 4-5 this year. I don't think oil will stay low and if it does, pellets in the basement will keep.
 
Going back home it was $1.63
We went up now from 1.29 to 1.83 in two weeks. Midwest has gotten the worst hit. Nymex has went from .93 to 1.30. Most speculators think crude will get back into the 40's and probably stay there into 2017. Fracking can make money again with oil in the 40's so the market is thought that's the stabilizer.
 
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