Hahaha. Ok, you guys remember this conversation and when you hear of my success in pellet manufacturing you can say; "I remember him when he was a lowly thinning contractor trying to figure out what the heck to do with all the wood he was accumulating."
Believe it or not, firewood is a manufactured commodity also. It also sells at market prices, which are not quite as volotile because of the "jack legs" out there willing to manufacture firewood for beer money.
Corrigated board won't reduce the cost of making pellets because you would have to add a bonding agent which would raise the cost of manufacturing.
All fuels have to be stored somewhere...even firewood.
Yes, convenience comes at a cost to the consumer. Always has, always will.
Maintenance should always be a consideration in any piece of equipment.....But seldom is.
Ok, the blackouts are a problem with pellet stoves. But they are with a refridgerator too. I bet you've got one of those.:msp_rolleyes:
In my experience, a pellet stove will produce as much or more BTU's as a wood burner, and has much better control over the amount of heat being put out, and fuel being used.
Reliability of pellet supply & quality...Well that will be what I'll be trying to resolve on my end. I see it as an oppertunity rather than a liability.
Whether pellets cost more than wood probably depends on where you are. A ton of pellets is pretty close to equivelant of a cord of wood, given the controlability of the burn rate of a pellet stove.
The only zero energy cost is if you're cooking an egg on a flat rock heated by the sun.
It takes power to manufacture firewood, or any other commodity, even natural gas.
If Grandad can't pick up our 40# bag, maybe he'd be interested in our convenient 20# bag with a handy plastic lift handle conveniently located on top. :hmm3grin2orange:
No, pellets aren't for everyone. Neither is firewood, and where I am we'd have to put in a pipeline to get natural gas. I can burn money cheaper than propane.
I bet some people sounded like you guy's when someone decided gasoline would be a more efficient fuel than coal to power their horseless carrages.
Andy