Alternative heating options in high demand as home heating costs soar
Home heating costs are on the rise, prompting people across Southern New England to look into alternative options.
At Bill's Sales in Portsmouth, it's all-hands-on-deck to keep up with the high demand for firewood and wood burning stoves.
"The heat, there's nothing better," Owner Bob Lantz said. "Its just nice and warm. It truly is a nice way to heat a house."
As energy costs skyrocket, they're seeing more and more people turning to alternative options to stay warm and save money.
"It's definitely busier than most years," he told NBC 10 News.
Normally, they'd be scheduling deliveries a month in advance, but right now they're booked through January.
"It's tough to get it out. It's really tough to keep everybody happy," Lantz said. “If we can get to them sooner, we certainly do. There are people that get moved up as go along if we can get more out in a day. We don't turn anyone away, it's just that they have to wait."
The boom in business is being felt across the industry.
In fact, several businesses across Southern New England told NBC 10 that they were simply too busy to spare five minutes to talk for this story.
Both wood burning and pellet stoves are hot items at Hearthside Fireplace & Patio in Warwick.
"We are very busy," Owner Sean Rosser said.
They say the supply chain is struggling to keep up with the high demand.
"We're also fortunate, we're the largest in New England, we have four locations," he said. "We stocked up, so we bought a lot of extra inventory last year coming into this year to be prepared for this situation."