Heating oil prices spur wood stove sales
Toolbox
By BRUCE EDWARDS Staff Writer - Published: February 3, 2008
They're Center Merrill's best friend right now.
Home heating oil prices that are well above $3 a gallon are the best friend of anyone like Merrill who sells wood and pellet stoves for a living.
"I'm not spending that kind of money on oil any more," is what Merrill says some of his customers are telling him.
Merrill, who owns The Stove Depot on Route 7 in Clarendon, said wood and pellet stove sales are slightly ahead of last year, which he considered a good year.
Jackie Borella of Friends of the Sun in Manchester said with oil prices likely to remain high, there shouldn't be any shortage of customers. She said stove sales jumped right after Hurricane Katrina in 2006 and along with it oil prices. This season, she said there's been a bit of an increase in stove sales.
Having already pre-bought their oil for this winter, Borella said some homeowners are putting off buying a wood or pellet stove until summer.
But Borella warned that the price of stoves is likely to increase in the spring, driven by the cost of raw materials driven by China's demand for steel and cast iron.
"We're trying to encourage people to buy now," said Borella, who owns the business with her husband.
At Montpelier Stove & Flag Works, owner Raymond Plagge said pellet stoves are a hot commodity.
"It's wood heat and it's a lot easier to deal with than a wood stove," Plagge said.
He said pellet stoves burn longer, which means more time between refueling. Pellet stoves also have a thermostat to control the temperature and there is less ash to take care of, he said.
He said the only drawback is that it's a good idea to have a battery backup in case power is lost. Pellet stoves require electricity to operate the thermostat and the auger, which automatically feeds pellets into the stove.
Wood stoves cost between $1,000 and $3,000 while pellet stoves range between $1,550 and $4,000. Prices depend on size and options, including the type of exterior finish.
Dealers say both wood and pellets are less expensive than heating oil. While Borella and Plagge say wood remains the cheapest fuel, Merrill said based on his calculations pellets are a less expensive fuel source.
Pellets come in 40 pound bags that sell from $230 to $275 a ton. A cord of wood can range from $125 to $200 or more, depending on the time of year.
Although more expensive, dealers say pellet stoves are more convenient than wood stoves and requires less maintenance.
"Pellet stoves are great for people who are out of their house for long hours during the day because they don't need to be fed," said Borella of Friends of the Sun.
Plagge said a typical customer will use three to five tons of pellets during the heating season and spend up to $1,250.
"There's a quick payback if you switch to pellets," he said.
Merrill of The Stove Depot said the other advantage to pellets is that there is no creosote buildup to worry about because pellets burn hotter and it's a constant heat.
Plagge said, however, that both types of stoves should have a backup heating source because neither is designed to heat an entire house.
"You can put a pellet stove in and use it as your primary heat source if it works out that way for you," he said. "But you're living in Vermont and you always want to have a backup, something you can rely on if something happens to that pellet stove."
Contact Bruce Edwards at bruce.edwards@rutlandherald.com.
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