I knew I wasn't early -- but we learned out lesson. We are going to buy earlier next year. And thank you, louseyweather, for being more diplomatic than I was. I'll say "uninformed" from now on
yeayeayea....nonrenewable resource, my house is more comfy with pellets, not financing terrorism, etc
On the oil industry front I had heard that spruce pointe had bagging plant issues last year, and didn't fix it in any sort of quick fashion as they just shipped the pellets to oil industry as an adsorbant. if you can almost the same price for pellets bulk vs bagged it is a no brainer. i think that is why so many are going oil industry and overseas. I have to imagine bagging them and shipping pallets is considerably more expensive then bulk shipping via rail. doug or lousy could probably comment on that. my guess would be about 25% of the cost is bagging and shipping palletized.
For obvious reasons, I'm not getting into details, but I wish the transportation and bagging was only 25% of the cost...It is much more than that. Lousy brings in some pellets via rail and he can confirm this... To bring the pellets as far as NE, you better have a good pellet, cause it has to draw a premium or there just isn't any reason to do otherwise. Bagging is much more labor intensive and requires more planning to get to the end user than simply doing a bulk shipment. That said, shipping overseas has its own problems, so it really depends on what is available to you as a producer....but all things being equal, I think most manufactures would simply do bulk....much less hassle for the amounts involved. To address the comment above....do you really think someone is going to spend $3000-$5000 on a new stove, install, piping, hearth, etc etc only to turn around and flip the switch on their oil burner??..... I don't think so either.... Oil dropped to $35 a barrel in 2008 or 2009 and I remember we still sold a good amount of pellets back then as well...and it had dropped from $145...just sayin.... Pellet stoves are here to stay and this isn't just some fade we are going thru....for all the reasons Lousy mentioned above plus about 20 more, people will still use their pellet stoves even if there isn't as much savings as there was even a year ago...maybe not as much, but they will still get used plenty
I heard HeartLands pretty much stopped bagging for the public as all the mills production was spoken for. Not sure if they have returned to making fuel or still just working for big oil this season. Not just stoves anymore. Many of the stove users got tired of sitting by the stove and decide they'd heat the whole house. Furnaces and boilers are the new fade! Good for the pellet mills as they will more of the supply. Heating the extra space will require 1/3 to 1/2 more fuel. Funny thing is many also kept the stove for the ambiance.
I thought 25 maybe high lol guess not. Wonder if we will ever see bulk delivery to users going up. Doug ever think of setting that up out of upton or too big of an investment or not enough of a market? Dont know how feasible it would be but i hate the bags cant recycle em and they are a waste.
not not a Doug answer, but its a fairly large investment for a "build it and they will come" Hail Mary attempt. One would have to buy a truck, and if they had any storage at all, a large-ish silo and loading/unloading plant. There are a few other logistical issues in that when folks get low, ya better be there SOON ("er......forgot to check my silo...I am OUT, and its gonna be cold tonight!...")......having the built product brought in (rail siding? more expense)......all for a nebulous amount of customers (we have several thousand customers and ZERO do bulk)....... that being said, I believe Sandri does it somewhat on the cheap, because they are close-ish to Jaffrey, can run a truck up there pretty fast and do their deliveries that way....we are pretty far away to do that.....
Had to think about this for a little bit. Buying the stove this season and not finding fuel would certainly pizz them OFF bad enough to either dump the stove and burn oil. Or sit on it until fuel is available. Either way they have to stay warm, AFAIK there isn't an oil shortage and its too easy not too just fill up and ride. I think may will us oil if this is their case. Most likely run the oil on a lower stat setting and burn the rationed pellets to assist. Or as I said before ambiance. Don't forget many of us have multiple options. I personally don't have oil, But I can either burn pellets(and/or multifuels), wood or electric.(last resort)! Many of the stove buyers have kept their furnaces. They may rather us the pellet heat, But if nothings available. And push comes to shove. They will likely turn up the oil stat. If oil is close in price or cheaper than the pellets available, You can bet they will just fill and roll with it.
don't forget those poor folks who heat with electricity......got a mailer awhile ago telling me my rates were going up 30-something percent this year....and that's WITH a falling oil price......so, those folks might still see expensive pellets as a deal.....
Looks like Western Mass is also in a bit of a tussle looking for them too? http://www.wggb.com/2014/10/14/some-seeing-shortage-of-wood-pellets-in-western-mass/
Electricity rates in Maine are also going through the roof in March. I expect my bill to go up $30-$40/month.
Pellet prices would have to be bonkers before I'd use electric. I'll huff wood before I resorted to electric. Only thing cheap about electric heat is the install. Just don't turn it on.
I was suckered into building an electric heated house in 1975. 4in insulation in the wall, 6 inches in th attic. 3 inches in the floor. House was not sealed. Did that one year then in went the alnighter wood stove. Outrageous to have electric heat in New England. Spent my the next several years trying to make upgrades to save my money from seeping outside.
I am far from MA, from my estimation (we shall see) we should save 50% on our yearly heating cost using a pellet stove. The savings will hopefully be higher if we calculate electric heating into the equation, but we have to see how this old house works. Sorry to hear about slim pickin's on the pellets out there.
I just got a letter saying our electric and NG companies are asking for a rate increase… I stick with pellets because I can keep my house warmer for less $$$ than NG.
