NB - Wood, Pellet Stove Sales Heating Up

It's hard to top a record summer, but those selling wood and pellet stoves in Fredericton say they're at least going to be close

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Wood, Pellet Stove Sales Heating Up

By CHRIS FOX
Published Wednesday August 12th, 2009

It's hard to top a record summer, but those selling wood and pellet stoves in Fredericton say they're at least going to be close.

Helped in part by skyrocketing home-heating oil prices, wood and pellet stoves flew of the shelves last summer and were practically impossible to find by mid-August.

Demand is down slightly this summer, but most in the industry say sales have been steady and will only pick up as August moves on and fall nears.

"Things are rolling right along. We aren't getting the backlog that we were last year. Last year we were selling stoves in June and weren't receiving them till November, but it has been busy," said Steve Buckingham, owner of Sunpoke Energy Systems.

"We have four seasons here. Start of winter, winter, end of winter and getting ready for winter, and I suppose everybody is getting ready for winter now."

At this time last summer the maximum price for furnace oil including delivery was capped at $1.29 per litre by the Energy and Utilities Board. The maximum price now is 83 cents.

Buckingham said the decrease in price hasn't had a major effect on sales. He said an increased number of federal and provincial programs providing financial incentives to those purchasing EPA-approved stoves are the major factor for his customers.

"There are an awful lot of government incentives at the present to go green and that has helped," he said.

"If you do it right, you can put a new EPA-approved wood stove or a pellet stove in and if the math works out, you can spend $2,000 on a new wood stove and eventually all it will cost you will be $575, so that is pretty big savings there."

Gene Cavanaugh, owner of the Chimney Sweeps on Union Street, said he has been surprised with how strong business has been recently, especially when compared to a record summer for his store in 2008.

"I don't think there is any change. From my end everything has been pretty much on pace. I mean last year it did take a boom especially with pellet stoves, but so far our sales have been pretty much the same," he said.

"I suppose people are just more and more wanting the alternative and I think they do think environmentally."

Cavanaugh, who noted that pellet stoves have been his most popular product this summer, said the only significant change from 2008 he has seen is in the number of stoves stores such as his have in stock. He said because of that he doesn't expect retailers to run out of stoves, as they did in 2008.

"You never can tell for sure, but I expect it (a shortage) won't be a problem," he said.

While a stove shortage or a pellet shortage similar to last summer is unlikely, Bill Goss, a supervisor at Home Hardware on Main Street, said wood might be in short supply, especially if wood stoves continue to be a hot ticket.

"I think there will be a shortage of wood, not necessarily pellets, but wood," he said. "A friend of mine cuts wood for a living and he says he has lost at least four weeks this summer due to the wet woods.

"Everybody is going to buy their wood stoves, but if they don't have a source of wood, they are going to have a rather expensive ornament sitting in their family room."

Additional Information

Web Site: http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/cityregion/article/757990

Category: Forestry>Wood Pellets

Region: NB, Canada

Ad Running: 8/12/2009-8/12/2011

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