This winter will be cold at my place.

[ByronBob]

Originally Posted by wjmst

Good luck. I ordered my pellet stove in May (Harman). Dealer said he'll have it in a week. I waited and waited. At the end of July I called him and he said they are backordered until the end of September, but I am first on the list!

I ordered 3 ton of pellets and have to get them home this week to store them. Home depot had pellets at 249 a ton but went up to 279 a week or so later after they realized the cost was higher than they thought.

My 3 ton at $259 came to $777 for my order. So it's going to cost me $2500 to heat my house this winter. The guy I talked to on Saturday told me to buy now because he didn't get any commitments on when another delivery would come in even when he bought another 60 ton.

This all reminds me of 3 winters ago when I ordered 3 ton from a guy and he held the pellets for me. When I went to get the last ton from him in February he was out. He gave me my money back but by then it was too late. Nobody would sell me pellets because of the shortages.

[Highbeam]

This is the weakness of pellets. You are DEPENDENT on some factory somewhere to make you funny little wood balls. No balls, no heat, you could be dead. Then you have the middle man, HD in this case, that can gouge you once they realize that they have the power. You know that the price increase from HD was to get more profit. They already bought their pellets in Spring. There always seems to be "shortages" or a factory burning down. Sounds just like oil with hurricanes, and other disasters reducing supply and raising prices.

Harman makes great stoves but has had a nasty little rash of bad luck here supplying stoves to dealers and customers. Some have said that they closed up shop and anybody that gets a stove now will get one that was made before the shutdown and in inventory.

This late in the season, I would be buying from stock on hand and taking it home if you want to get in the pellet game.

[jd0716]

Our lock in price for this coming season is $2.50 (we own our tank). Rate for company owned tanks $2.70. I know our propane suppliers well and was told to only buy 1/2 of waht we pre-bought last year, due to the volatility in pricing they are seeing. I bought 300 gallons. Last year I bought 600 & my tank is at about 75%. We do have a free-standing woodburner in our living room. It pretty much takes care of the main part of the house. We let it die down at night so the furnace will run and heat the bedrooms.

[turnkey4099]

Originally Posted by Highbeam

Boo. Electric is not the most expensive to heat with everywhere. Especially if you step into modern times and use electric to run a heat pump and extract energy from the air or ground for your heat.

Or better yet, get your axe. My heat is earned....

Very nice. You have a lot more patience than I have when it comes to stacking wood.




11 cord in that stack. Most due to a promise to a farmer to remove some trees hanging over his field. I still have a huge one to go and trying to think of an excuse to put it off for next year.

Could you clue me in on how to do thumbnails vice the full picture? I am more than a bit computer challenged.

Harry K

[dooleysm]

I just saw pellets for $195/ton at the local Rural King. Pay 50% now and 50% at delivery.

I'm glad I have geothermal. It's rare that our electric bill is over $125/month. Throw in an extra $10/month for propane for the fireplace and oven/range and it's the most affordable setup I've seen.

[wjmst]

Originally Posted by dooleysm

I just saw pellets for $195/ton at the local Rural King. Pay 50% now and 50% at delivery.

I'm glad I have geothermal. It's rare that our electric bill is over $125/month. Throw in an extra $10/month for propane for the fireplace and oven/range and it's the most affordable setup I've seen.

How many more years to pay off the geothermal? The ground water source pumps are around $15,000 to install here. That needs to be a factor in the monthly total utility bill.

[dooleysm]

I don't know far into the future the payoff is, but it's getting closer at an increasing rate based on anecdotal evidence of the rising cost of heating fuels vs. electricity.

I also get a $15k deduction on the assessed value of my house for the life of the system, for property tax computation purposes.

And I get to keep my house at a comfortable temperature with little regard to the cost of doing so.

My wife and I built our house over the course of most of 2004. It will take a major personal or natural disaster to force us to leave, so I'm sure we'll be there celebrate the payoff date

[Highbeam]

Regarding uploading pictures as thumbnails I only know how to do it this way and I first size the picture down to about 100KB and then use the "Post reply" button, type my message, then click on the "manage attachments" button, upload my jpg images using the browse button under the "upload files from your computer" heading. And then finally hit the "upload button when all my pictures are selected.


I need to sweep my chimney. (to keep it on topic) Also, even more important than putting up enough wood is making sure the insulation levels are up to snuff. I have no insulation in my floor and barely any like 3 inches in the ceiling. I had a man come out to make up a bid for the full insulation deal before this winter.

[turnkey4099]

Originally Posted by Highbeam

Regarding uploading pictures as thumbnails I only know how to do it this way and I first size the picture down to about 100KB and then use the "Post reply" button, type my message, then click on the "manage attachments" button, upload my jpg images using the browse button under the "upload files from your computer" heading. And then finally hit the "upload button when all my pictures are selected.


I need to sweep my chimney. (to keep it on topic) Also, even more important than putting up enough wood is making sure the insulation levels are up to snuff. I have no insulation in my floor and barely any like 3 inches in the ceiling. I had a man come out to make up a bid for the full insulation deal before this winter.

Thanks for the explantion - I just figured out how to post them from photobucket about a year ago but nothign there about thumbnails.

Back on topic again: I just called the guy I have been selling wood to for several years (2 cord/yr). Last spring I told him I wasn't selling any more and then I wind up with more wood that I can use in 5 years. Left a messge for him to call if he still wants some.

Wood prices here (just checked the ads) range from 180 (rounds/unsplit) to 230 split/delivered. Species not mentioned but here it would be fir/pine and,with luck, tamarack.

Harry K

[SPYDERLK]

When I built the house on the farm I installed a Charmaster central oil/wood furnace. Usually uses 3-4 cords a year for full wood heating. Thats going to save me at least $2K in oil this year. Ive never had to cut a tree yet. More fall than I can burn in the furnace.
larry