Last modified: Sunday, July 27, 2008 1:50 AM EDT Wood and coal burning stoves are becoming a hot item as homeowners are anticipating the cost of heating their homes this winter. Tyler Strom fires up a wood pellet stove in the showroom at Kirley Masonry Supply and Stove Emporium in Mansfield. (Staff photo by Tom Maguire) Seeking alternatives BY RICK FOSTER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF More area residents will be heating their homes with wood pellets, coal and fireplaces next winter than anytime in the recent past, as they seek alternatives to skyrocketing fuel oil and natural gas costs. But there's a hitch for anyone hoping to keep warm at a stable cost: The price of alternative fuels is also climbing as demand heats up. Wood pellets, manufactured to be burned more easily than logs in wood stoves and furnaces, were selling for as little as $220 a ton last summer. This year, with more customers seeking to shift at least some of their heating needs to wood, area dealers are quoting prices in the $255 to $290 range, according to the Web site www.hearth.com. Prices of coal, both bagged and in bulk, are also heading up - in part, because of the cost of transporting fuel from the mine in diesel-powered trucks. Area stove installers and fuel dealers say climbing heating oil prices have promoted intense interest in coal and wood at a level not seen since the 1970s, when the Arab oil embargo roiled the markets and inspired many to seek energy alternatives. "Our sales are up easily 200 to 300 percent," said Eric Strom, co-owner of Kirley Masonry Supply Co. in Mansfield, which sells and installs wood pellet heating equipment. Pellet stoves typically cost $800 to $1,500 to install and pellet-fired central heating furnaces range from $3,000 to $6,000, Strom said. But the cost of wood pellet fuel has climbed 7 to 10 percent over the past year, and fuel suppliers have asked dealers to implement customer allocations to prevent hoarding. Demand for pellet stoves is so high that some manufacturers are sold out of their supply for the season, Strom said. Marty Pearson, whose Stone Comfort Fireplace Gallery in Plainville sells and installs stoves and a novel form of soapstone fireplace, said he knew he was in for a bump in business when consumers began turning up at his showroom on July weekends. "That never happens in the summer," Pearson said. Local dealers aren't alone. Sales of pellet stoves and related equipment nationwide is estimated to have increased more than 50 percent in the first half of 2008, according to one industry source. Sale of coal for residential stoves and furnaces is also up substantially. Jeffrey Mushnick, owner of Medway Oil, said his sales of Pennsylvania anthracite have doubled from last year at this time. He said enthusiasm for coal is partly a reaction to oil and gas costs - partly because of the introduction of new technology. "Those who are old enough to remember when most people burned coal probably remember their parents shoveling coal and banking the fire," Mushnick said. Modern coal furnaces and appliances have been made much easier to use. "It's not like that anymore," he said. The price of coal, which comes in several grades, has risen about 25 percent over last year at this time, Mushnick said. Most of the increase is due to the cost to transport the fuel from the Pennsylvania coal mines. Currently, Mushnick is charging $285 per ton. Despite price increases, heating with wood pellets should still offer a price advantage over oil next winter, said Deidra Darsa, communications manager for the Pellet Fuels Institute. The cost for a home totally heated by pellets and using three tons of wood pellets per season is expected to be in the vicinity of $750 to $1,000 this winter, she said. An Attleboro area home using 500 gallons of fuel oil that cost $1,275 to heat last year with fuel at $2.55 per gallon could well cost its owner $2,170 this year at the current average price of $4.34. But with exploding oil costs driving more and more homeowners to alternative fuels, some consumers are concerned that supplies of wood and coal may become scarce this winter. However, industry experts say supplies are likely to be plentiful. "If there's a blessing here, it's that we know about this in July," said Darsa, who added that the time between now and the beginning of the winter heating season should allow wood pellet production facilities to gear up to produce more. And availability of coal isn't expected to be a problem, Mushnick said. Lowe's, one of the country's biggest sellers of wood stoves and pellet fuel, isn't expecting a shortage, said spokeswoman Abby Buford, although the home improvement chain has imposed a limit of four, one-ton pallets of pellets per purchase. Lowe's is currently charging $288.50 per ton for the bagged pellets. Although wood and coal have enjoyed cost advantages over oil and natural gas previously, the perception of such alternative fuels as dirty or inconvenient kept most homeowners loyal to conventional fuels. But mushrooming oil costs and improvements in technology are causing some to reconsider. While stoking a coal furnace used to involve labor-intensive shoveling and fire-tending, Medway Oil's Mushnick said modern, thermostatically controlled versions can feed fuel automatically, rendering them almost as trouble-free as oil-burning alternatives. However, there's still the matter of emptying ashes. "People who are new to coal need to understand there's a little more to it," he said.