Aug 25, 2008 6:34 pm US/Eastern
High Demand For Alternate Heating Depletes Supply
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Thayer Nursery Manager Josh Oldfield suggests getting your firewood early this year.
WBZ
As we enjoy the final weeks of summer, many families are already planning for the long cold weeks of winter. With home heating oil prices hovering around $4 a gallon, plenty of people are looking for alternatives.
"I would suggest you get your wood early this season."
This is fair warning from a firewood supplier in Milton, where
Thayer Nursery manager Josh Oldfield is forecasting a wood shortage this season.
At Thayer Nursery, the busy period started early this year. "It normally starts (at the) end of September through Christmas. This year it started in August."
High oil prices are heating up demand, and that's sending prices through the chimney. Premium kiln-dried firewood is $520 a cord - higher than the going rate of $345 and higher than it was last year, but customers like Peter Gacicia, who buys a cord a year, says it's still worth it. "You know everything goes up. You just have to absorb it."
It's a fact. Prices are high and supply is low, so stocking your stove will be costly, that is, if you can find one.
"Demand is out of control."
Aaron Walisever of Commonwealth Fireplace and Grill in Norwood says his wood stove customers save between 35 and 50 percent on their oil bills. "That's a tremendous amount of money in my book."
His busy season, which usually starts tax-free weekend in August, started this year on June 1. "We are backed up to Thanksgiving now for installation," he said.
So avoid the waiting list and tackle your wish list now. "I just want to have enough wood to supply my customers," said Oldfield.
If you are buying a cord of wood, you want to make sure you get your money's worth. When tightly stacked -- a cord of wood should be 4 feet tall by 4 feet wide by 8 feet long.
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