Burning pellets an energy alternative for winter GREENFIELD, - TopicsExpress

Burning pellets an energy alternative for winter GREENFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Fall just started, but some western Massachusetts residents are busy preparing for the winter chill. One local business owner told 22News that he’s saving a lot of money heating his bike shop by burning pellets. Robert Perry owns “Bicycles and Skis Unlimited” in Greenfield, a 5-thousand square foot shop. He’s been heating his shop using wood pellets for about a year. Perry said, “We’re going into our second season of our pellet use.” He used to heat his shop with propane. He said, “What we found was the cost of propane was going up and up and up.” Aubuchon Hardware in Greenfield started selling pellets last month. The assistant manager there told 22News they’d sold two tons of pellet wood Tuesday. Heating with wood pellets will be more expensive this season. Allen Peterson from Aubuchon Hardware said, “They have gone up a little bit this past year. There was a huge shortage last year, especially coming towards the end of it, but this year they’re ready to go. I think the price went up because of the fact of shortage last year, but this year there should be a problem.” You’ll pay 260 dollars for a ton of pellets at Aubuchon’s. That’s ten dollars more than last year, but the price for individual bags of pellets has stayed the same. The assistant manager at Aubuchon’s told me that they have an adequate supply of pellets for people who want to stock up early for the winter heating season.