"its only cool to be green if you're saving money" ??? thats how we got where we are. struggling to develope viable technologies to offset, or replace the "seemingly" endless supply natural resources. this mentality has set us back for decades. remember, we are all still pioneers in this game. pioneers are the guys who blaze the trail, walking steadily into the unknown, step by step, looking not only for the $$$ payoff, but the adventure as well. pioneers traditionally risk life and limb to get to some magical destination beyond the horizon. right now we are at the perverbial "Donner Pass" of the pellet story. You dont think the drop in crude price has anything to do with mass exodus of people around the world leaving oil? come on. What better way to stifle the competition than to make it economically unappitizing. there are so many technologies on the verge of becoming commonplace that the oil peeps have to be nervous. they've invested billions in new and exciting ways to dig, drill, and advetise their new and exciting ways to dig and drill. If the future of oil consumpition is destined to be subplanted in the next 2-3 decades it doesn't leave much time for them to recoup their costs. if raising oil prices speeds the transition then they are screwed. don't you find it interesting that HHO, LP, and Pellets are so close in cost/BTU that we have multiple threads debating the use of all 3?? this I'm sure, is not by chance. Most of us understand the pellet thing (cost of woodmass, grinding,drying,compressing,trasport,storage,and elbow grease on the last leg of the journey) and can ALMOST respect where the dealers, and mills are coming from. very few of us understand the oil game at all. oil is bought, sold, bought,sold,bought and sold, long before its even out of the ground. very few know where OUR oil comes from, where it goes, and from whom we buy it. its like the KFC special herbs and spices, its a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, cloaked in shadows. You want cheaper pellets? get your congressman to change forestry policy so we can harvest the millions of acres that burn up every year out west. there are responsible ways to manage land, we just have to make it possible. How many BTU's do you htink were lost last year in California? Not to mention the destruction of private and public property and infrastructure. what's that cost us every year to rebuild? I've never sold pellets based on saving, sure you can save, but pellet is a mindset. How long does it take to recoup the cost of a compact flourescent bulb vs. incandescent? yet we all still switch, because its responsible, I know, its not quite the investment that a Pellet Stove is, but its an analogy people. Very frequently the right thing is harder, more costly and/or inconvenient (i.e. farming your own veggies, splitting your own wood, changing your own oil, heck these days even mowing your own grass is becoming a thing of the past). I'm not for pelelts at whatever price, but to jump ship on something that is here, right now, pushing its way into the most coveted of industries, at a competative price is amazing. Aside from that, I agree with most here that are in retail, 40%ish is as fair as we can expect for the most part.
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