Firewood Already In Demand
With spike in oil prices, more using wood stoves

Consumers are buying firewood early this year for their fireplaces or wood stoves, according to local tree removal companies that are selling wood by the cord.

With the pronounced run-up in oil prices over the past year, companies that sell firewood and wood stoves say many consumers are investing in alternatives to help offset those rising energy costs.

Oil suppliers Donald Fowler, who owns Williams Oil Co. in Uncasville, and Mark Mazzella, owner of Benvenuti Oil in Waterford, say analysts are advising them to brace for the likelihood that consumers will cut back on fuel usage - either through conservation or the use of alternative sources, such as wood stoves, by anywhere between 10 percent and 20 percent this coming heating season.

Scott Bourgeois, who owns C&S Tree Removal in Niantic and Salem, said he has had orders from between 70 and 100 people in the past six weeks - and had to turn “quite a few” away.

He charges $200 for a cord of wood, up $25 from last year.

”A lot of people are trying to get orders in before the prices go up and up and up,” he added.

Typically, the season for regular customers starts in August but new requests usually don't come in until September or October, he said.

Another woodcutter, who declined to be named, said he was too busy to be interviewed.


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