That cozy wood fire is going to cost you more next year
CBC
Just like everything else, the cost of firewood is going up on P.E.I., and the main culprit is a familiar one.
"Your biggest killer at the end of the day is going to be your fuel cost," said Tommy Gillis, owner Wood Guys Firewood in Pleasant Grove.
The price of fuel is central to many of the costs of harvesting wood. Gas goes into the trucks that deliver the wood and even into the chainsaws that cut them.
Prices for a cord of firewood vary a lot depending on what you're getting — softwood or hardwood, blocked or split, green or seasoned — but Gillis said across the board prices will likelty be up $40 to $60 a cord over last season.
With the price of fuel so unpredictable, Gillis is reluctant to take advance orders, because it may cost a lot more for him to deliver it in the fall.
Trevor Smith, of TLC Firewood in South Granville, has been in the business for seven years, selling both cords and bags of firewood for campgrounds. His prices for bagged firewood have more than doubled in the last five years.
"We try not to put the price up too much, but you can only eat so much of the price too, where you're eventually working for nothing and might as well not be doing it at all," said Smith.
Despite the price increases, Gillis argues wood is still a bargain.
"If you were to compare $1,000 in wood to $1,000 in oil or electricity I think you're going to be way farther ahead with $1,000 of wood," he said.
Smith is of two minds about the price increases. One the one hand, he worries the price will get so high people will give up on it. On the other, he agrees with Gillis that wood remains a bargain, and he thinks the allure of a wood fire will keep customers coming back.
"If you're used to wood heat you're not going to go to anything else. It's a completely different kind of heat altogether."
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