Pellet fuels, stoves make fiery comeback this winter

NICOLE CARNEVALE, The Saratogian October 21, 2000 SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Unstable oil supplies and rising prices for natural gas and electricity have made pellet fuels and stoves such hot sellers that some models are becoming hard to find. Tim Webb, owner of Saratoga Fireplace and Stove, said the West Coast is the home of the pellet stove. The product was introduced on the East Coast about 10 years ago.

''They were perceived as the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel,'' he said.

Sales took a downturn, though, because the stoves need electricity to run the blowers and motor. That was a big worry in January.

''No one wanted a stove that needs electricity to run because of the Y2K hoax,'' Webb said.

But the power didn't go out Jan. 1, and the Pellet Fuels Institute in Arlington, Va. recently reported 2000 sales in pellet fuels and appliances haven't been this high since the 1970s energy crisis.

According to PFI, some appliance manufacturers are reporting as much as a 50 percent increase in sales compared to last year, and Webb said he's already beginning to see spot shortages of some stove models.

Frank Troelstra, manager of Hall of Flame Stove and Fireplace Shop at Garden Time Inc. in Queensbury, agrees this year's sales have been great.

''I wouldn't say they've doubled,'' Troelstra said. ''But I'd say they're up a good 30 to 40 percent. Once the cold weather kicks in and people see their heating bills, sales will go up more.''

Webb said the price of pellet fuels has remained stable in the last few years, and the stoves are convenient and easy to use.

While a wood burning stove typically costs from $1,000 to $1,500, pellet stoves generally start at $1,500 and can cost as much as $2,200, Webb said.

A wood stove, however, requires a chimney, which may add as much as $1,300, Webb added. A pellet stove requires only an outside vent, which usually costs around $100.

Webb said the pellet stove's blowers and feed motor consume about 3.5 amperes of electricity, equivalent to about three 100-watt lightbulbs. Compared that to a television's 8 amperes -- even when it's not turned on -- or a refrigerator's 14 amperes.

Webb said the tiny pellets are made from a manufacturing byproduct -- sawdust.

''This is the stuff that usually goes into a landfill,'' Webb said.

The pellets burn cleaner than wood, Webb said, and they burn so cleanly that no smoke comes out of the exhaust vent.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=992098&BRD=1169&PAG=461&dept_id=17708&rfi=6

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 21, 2000

Answers

Anyone not familiar with pellet stoves ought to try one. They will be disappointed. They are not economical. At all.

-- Buck (bigbuck@trailways.net), October 21, 2000.