The price of firewood this year has reached 4.800 denars per cubic meter, including transportation, which is an increase compared to last year's price, when firewood was sold for 4.000 to 4.500 denars. The owners of the warehouses say that demand is constantly increasing, especially on the eve of the heating season. In addition, they are also faced with a shortage of labor, since, as they say, few people want to do this hard physical work. Naim Alija, the owner of a warehouse, tells Alsat that this is one of the most difficult seasons, as local reserves are limited, while transportation and import costs contribute to the price increase.
"This year we don't have ah, usually we have more oak. Every year we have had it, but this year we are bringing it from abroad, from Serbia. According to our analysis, every year our demand increases - even those who have air conditioners, after trying it, are returning to wood, because heating with wood is healthier and more efficient," said Naim Alija - owner of the wood warehouse.
While some citizens say they still heat with wood, many others are giving up wood and switching to air conditioners and pellets, since, as they say, heating is more economical.
Citizen survey:
"Firewood is expensive, you need 4-5 cubic meters. That's how we spend the day."
“At the moment, it is more economical to heat with air conditioning.”
“With pellets.”
For one season, a family consumes about six cubic meters of wood.
More than half of households in the country heat with wood, data from the latest census shows. Out of about 600 thousand households, as many as 312 thousand use wood for heating, of which almost 150 thousand are in urban areas.
Wood remains the most widely used source of heating – especially in urban areas and in Skopje, where around 55.000 households still heat with wood. Meanwhile, central heating is available only to a part of the population. Namely, 21 percent or around 125.700 households are connected to radiator heating systems./Alsat.mk
