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Log inBusiness in Fort Kent benefits from coal
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Business in Fort Kent benefits from coal
by Outspoken on Thu Oct 02, 2008 5:56 am
Another alternative: Business in Fort Kent benefits from coal
By Julia Bayly
Special to the NEWS
Bangor Daily News
FORT KENT, Maine — Forget the image of a hapless Bob Cratchit huddled next to a small stove, scuttle in hand, stoking the boiler with his meager coal rations under a thick cloud of black smoke.
Today’s coal-fired furnaces burn hotter, cleaner and more efficiently than their Dickensian predecessors in addition to being less expensive to run than oil and less labor-intensive than firewood, Fort Kent businessman Robert Berube said.
Berube was so convinced last summer he retrofitted his warehouse and garage with a 260,000 Btu anthracite coal furnace.
Soon afterward, he became a dealer for the units.
“I started out looking at the cost of going to coal a couple of years ago,” said Berube, the northern Maine broker for New York-based HAPCO Farms. “When you look at the numbers you see some big differences.”
One ton of coal is equivalent to 200 gallons of home heating oil, which is selling for $3.74 a gallon statewide.
That works out to $748 versus Berube’s cost of $291 per ton of coal.
“That’s a savings, right there,” he said. “You are looking at some big differences.”
Given that a typical northern Maine household can run through 1,000 gallons of oil in a heating season, it’s no wonder many are listening to what Berube has to say.
And he has done his research.
A ton of coal equals 1.7 tons of wood pellets, which are averaging around $279 a ton, and equals 1.4 cords of firewood, which is ranging in price around the state from $250 to $285 a cord.
http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/90265.html
BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTOS BY JULIA BAYLY
By Julia Bayly
Special to the NEWS
Bangor Daily News
FORT KENT, Maine — Forget the image of a hapless Bob Cratchit huddled next to a small stove, scuttle in hand, stoking the boiler with his meager coal rations under a thick cloud of black smoke.
Today’s coal-fired furnaces burn hotter, cleaner and more efficiently than their Dickensian predecessors in addition to being less expensive to run than oil and less labor-intensive than firewood, Fort Kent businessman Robert Berube said.
Berube was so convinced last summer he retrofitted his warehouse and garage with a 260,000 Btu anthracite coal furnace.
Soon afterward, he became a dealer for the units.
“I started out looking at the cost of going to coal a couple of years ago,” said Berube, the northern Maine broker for New York-based HAPCO Farms. “When you look at the numbers you see some big differences.”
One ton of coal is equivalent to 200 gallons of home heating oil, which is selling for $3.74 a gallon statewide.
That works out to $748 versus Berube’s cost of $291 per ton of coal.
“That’s a savings, right there,” he said. “You are looking at some big differences.”
Given that a typical northern Maine household can run through 1,000 gallons of oil in a heating season, it’s no wonder many are listening to what Berube has to say.
And he has done his research.
A ton of coal equals 1.7 tons of wood pellets, which are averaging around $279 a ton, and equals 1.4 cords of firewood, which is ranging in price around the state from $250 to $285 a cord.
http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/90265.html
BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTOS BY JULIA BAYLY
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Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
