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With energy prices expected to rise again this winter, some Blount County residents are turning to an old-fashioned heating solution: firewood.

"I've been getting calls for the past two weeks, people checking prices and wanting wood," said Patrick Tracy, who sells firewood in Blount County. "It's starting a lot earlier. Usually, it doesn't start until later on in October."

Tracy lives just across the line in Knox County but serves many Blount County clients. The demand has caused him to increase his prices.

"I moved mine to $60 a rick, but a lot of people are getting more for it," he said. "If I deliver it, costs more. I went up $5. I'm just trying to stay competitive."

The source of Tracy's product is trees that have already being cut down for landscaping purposes.

"I get mine basically through recycling," he said. "I get mine through tree services. What normally would go into the dump, we're processing into firewood. Basically, it's saving energy in two places."

Andy Hatcher of Hatcher Tree Service in Louisville said that demand for firewood from his business has increased.

"It's hard to say this early in the season, but we've been moving a large amount already," he said.

Wood stove demand

Steve Young, owner of England's Wood Stove Store, 1420 W. Broadway, said there has been a great deal of interest in wood stoves this year.

"It's hard to bring somebody in here in 90 degrees and buy a wood stove in the summer time, but we had tons-and-tons more lookers this year in the hot summer time," he said. "Sales are up this year. Everybody comes in here is fussing about the high natural gas prices. I'm expecting a big year. We have stocked up on more wood stoves this year then in the past, and we're definitely hoping we're selling them."

Another heating option is the use of pellet stoves, which burn pellets of compressed sawdust. Young's source for the pellets is a hardwood flooring factory in Kentucky.

"It's compressed sawdust," he said. "It's compressed and comes out looking like rabbit pellets."

With only one producer for the pellets, Young said the supply could be vulnerable to demand from the Northeast states.

"That could be a concern this year because of the high gasoline prices," Young said. "Everything is going up northeast, as far as the pellets. I don't think we're going to have a problem getting them, but I'm going to have to be doing more forward notice. I'm going to have to give them a month's notice (when ordering the pellets). I'm just going to have stay on top of it."

Natural gas increase

East Tennessee households that use natural gas for heating could see about a 20 percent increase in winter costs, according to projections from the Energy Information Administration, said Joel Ames, manager of public affairs for Atmos Energy, which provides natural gas in Blount County.

The 20 percent increase is being projected nationwide by the EIA, a group within the U.S. Department of Transportation, Ames said.

"There are huge variations," he said. "I'm sure the EIA is taking into account the impact of hurricanes, the impact of the damaged production facilities in the Gulf and is trying to look at long-term weather forecasting,. They are putting out an average based on a lot of variables."

Typically, January is the coldest month in East Tennessee. The average residential bill for natural gas in East Tennessee could be about $180 in January 2008, based on these projections.