$8.67 a bag for wood pellets..That's crazy

[lime4x4]

A local ace hardware store just got a shipment in.There getting $8.67 a bag 20 bag limit..I feel for u people who heat only with wood pellets.I myself use a pellet stove in are kitchen/dining room cause the way the house is designed heat doesn't travle to well into that area of the house. I was thinking of heating my whole house with wood pellets but choose to go the coal route instead..Glad i did.. To me that's just price gouging at it's best..
That's over 100% increase..Last month i was able to buy a bag for $3.45.When i called the ace store to find out the price i was shocked told the guy at the other end of the phone for that kinda money he can keep them he politly told me that i guess i'll freeze this year..no chance of that with the coal stoker

 

[babalu87]

Looks like the oil companies already bought interest in pellets

Oh, BTW
GO PATRIOTS
Domination of the Bucs today

 

[roac]

That's supply and demand, econ101. I've got news for all you pellet stove owners or even people that rely on other people to get their wood, prices are going up up up. You can't have one form of energy going up and not the other. It creates an imbalance/vacumn in that it causes big shifts in what type of energy gets used. Do you think pellet manufactures aren't going to jack up prices? They have to. They need to some extent discourage the herd from over running them. It all works out in the supply/demand equation. Prices are going up because demand is so high and supply so low. Next year will be the same. The only way I can see to avoid higher prices is to own your own forest or be close to a national forest so you can cut your own. Corn prices will probably go up some too with increased demand but that commodity has bigger influences on its pricing. Just my opinion...

 

[babalu87]

The only way I can see to avoid higher prices is to own your own forest or be close to a national forest so you can cut your own.

Cut your own?
At a National Forest?????????

You may be better off shooting a Bald Eagle and selling it for some oil/gas

 

[roac]

Live east of the Mississippi? I was wondering if they allowed that back there. For 10$ a cord we can cut our own personal firewood, 10 cord limit per family per year. Some national forests charge only 5$ a cord. Too many people back east to allow that probably...

(broken link removed)

 

[Corie]

That's quite a deal!

 

[babalu87]

Quit crazy too IMHO

I always thought a National Forest was a National Forest????????????

Odd that they only allow cutting of dead standing as those are most likely to be used by birds and animals for nesting etc.
Woodpeckers love dead trees

 

[roac]

babalu87,

Quick lesson on western forests. Living in the east I know you have no experience with what we deal with every year, forest fires. What would you do with all that standing dead timber. Most people think the whole tree is burned up but most of the trees have only the outer bark slightly blackened. The high heat kills the trees. Most of these trees are killed in late summer so between the fire and being left standing until the next year makes for great dry wood. The other killer of forests are bark beetles. Taking these trees actually does more good than harm. Jealous huh??????????

 

[Amaralluis]

I am in the process of buying a pellet stove and one of the reasons was pellet prices being much cheaper than oil/gas/electricity.

At $8/bag its not even worth looking at.

Is this what to expect in the near future, ie next year??

I wanted to get out of the claws of oil companies, but I guess it's no better on the natural/renewable energy side either

 

[roac]

I think the wood/corn pellet stoves would be the best way to cover your bases. Flexibility will be the key to surviving shortages and or high price fluctuations. You know oil/gas/elect isn't going down.

 

[lime4x4]

I refuse to use natural gas.Coal will cost me 125.00 a ton. I could've also went with wood since i have access to all the free wood i want just to much work plus with the coal stove i just have to fill the hopper every couple of days and remove the ashes every 3 to 4 days

 

[richg]

I'm in sales, and am courting a massive corporation that plans on investing heavily in alternative energy. I'll spare you their motives (it's not profit), but they are out to help lessen our dependence on fossil fuels. Their advice is that people should not make use of alternative energy such as pellets because it is cheaper than oil or gas, rather, it should be because you want to lessen dependence on non-renewable fuels. They are planning a large investment in developing biomass pellets, such as switchgrass. These people are coming, and they're coming on strong.

 

[davemich]

Hey Lime4by4...is that the price you pay for bagged or loose coal? It may behoove me to plan a vaca/fuel trip to Pa. next summer with a truck and stock up on coal! I pay $350/ton for bagged Blaschak coal.

 

[lime4x4]

that's pick up price with my truck and it's for hard anthracite coal

 

[Mike Wilson]

Hmmmm... geothermal... goes up zero percent per year, government subsidises most of my installation... won't heat the house entirely but would knock a significant percentage off the heat load... I'm not moving anytime soon... hmmm....
(commence firing )

 

[begreen]

Mike, do you have geothermal?

 

[Todd]

What about solar? The installation cost is way up there, but the oil companies can't buy the sun can they?

 

[vgrund]

Mike, question.
he only question now is the cost of electricity . . .

I think it was around 13.5 cents per kWH delivered the last time I looked. Ouch!

Victor in NH

 

[begreen]

What about solar? The installation cost is way up there, but the oil companies can't buy the sun can they?

If possible, new construction should leverage as much passive solar gain as possible. With good sighting and design, solar heating does not cost a lot more. And as soon as it's built, it starts and keeps paying back. This is especially true if one is not going for 100% solar. New Englanders have known this for quite awhile. For example, look at the basic salt-box design. Face a salt-box south or southwest and it is taking advantage of the sun. Add good windows and insulation and smile.

 

[Mike Wilson]

Frank and BeGreen,

Yep, that's the idea behind it. I do not have geothermal... yet. My friend down the road just built a new house, used geothermal as well as solar panels. Basically the government and/or utility subsidized both projects to about 75%. He has an insert in the fireplace as well. This is his first winter in the house, so he is my own personal test case. (I'll report in on the results as they come up) They run a pipe field in the property behind his house that sucks/exchanges the 55 degree ground temperature into and out of the house, depending on the temperature... yes, he can use this as an air conditioner in the summer, because of the way the system is plumbed. He has a wall panel in the basement with a manifold setup that rivals the Gatun Locks in Panama. And a computer runs it all, of course. Long story short, the systems are easily retrofitted into an existing house, so long as you don't mind your lawn being dug up. From what I have seen, why all of America isn't using this is beyond me. Its stupid simple.
As for the solar, he has solar hot water and solar electric panels on the roof. Generates most all his electricity himself, however he gets ripped off selling it back to the utility. They buy it back for less than 1/2 of what they sell it to him for.
So, I am keeping an eye on this project, seems like it may be worthwhile, provided you plan on staying in the house and not moving soon.

Me, I have a central atrium with major passive solar onto stone. On calm days it can be 30 outside, and its 70 inside, all from the sun. We also have solar hot water, which is great. It can be 30 outside, and I get hot water for free... go figure.
Other than that, I am going to throw another 4 splits in the Jotul and bank the sucker for the night... at night there's no high tech here, just logs


-- Mike


PS - electric around here was up to 16.8 cents, that was before Katrina, which is the last time I looked.

 

[begreen]

Frank and BeGreen,
PS - electric around here was up to 16.8 cents, that before Katrina, which is the last time I looked.

Thanks, agreed it seems like a no-brainer if one can accomodate it. Can you find out what brand system they have? Keep us posted.

Electricity at 16.8 cent/kw, holy cow! At that price I will be really interested to see what they think of geo-thermal.

 

[DavidV]

This is why I asked a month ago what people burn in southern Colorado. My brother is building a place that is off the electric grid. Solar, passive heat, etc. he is looking at every option. he is considering some kind of stove for winter heat, as well as wind and solar for electrical.

 

[DonCT]

why they build outside heat pumps in the colder climates is beyond me Frank is right. Once it get to around 35-40, I run pretty much on auxilary (heat coils) which tends to push my electric bill over the $300 mark

 

[vgrund]

Watching the price of pellets go up and up, I'm glad I waited. I would be extremely annoyed to spend ~ $4K to get an insert installed only to find it is cheaper to burn my hassle-free LP central furnace. This situation underscores the utility of owning a multi-fuel stove, such as corn & pellet. Interestingly, a local (southern NH) Quadrafire dealer told me it is difficult to source the right kind of corn around here. I haven't checked the validity of that claim; they may just want to sell me pellets. Who here burns corn in Northern New England?

 

[vgrund]

Mike, question.
I was thinking of using geothermal in the house I build. I figure in New Hampshire it would work well because it is colder than 55 so much of the winter. The only question now is the cost of electricity . . .

Out of curiousity, I lightly researched retrofitting options after reading this thread. It appears to be doable, most likely using vertical wells to minimize lawn damage. It sure looked expensive, however. Somebody paid $20K for a system sized for a 3500 sq. ft. home in CT.

Victor