Hate carrying 20-kg wood pellet bags in the winter? A Hay River, N.W.T., inventor has a solution

The weekly trip from the garage to the basement, carrying 20-kilogram sacks of wood pellets for the heater in 40 C temperatures is a fact of life for many living in Canada's North.

But a Hay River, N.W.T., inventor and contractor believes he's solved that.

Robert Chenard is marketing what he believes is an originalsystem called Pellets on Demand that transfers wood pellets directly from an outdoor storage container into the home.

"Would you like to carry a bucket of oil to your furnace?" Chenard asked.

"That's exactly what we do with the bags of pellets. It's very, very inconvenient. There are people who get injured, they fall on the stairs, the bags are heavy."

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The system includes an outdoor hopper holding about a week's worth of pellets that can be customized to match the exterior of the home, Chenard explained.

The airtight containers and pipes funnel the pellets inside the home where they can be accessed by opening a small door cut into the home's wall.

Chenardplans to launch adelivery service in the fall, so pellets will be delivered into the container, such as fuel or propane.

"For years, I've been thinking about it and this year, right after Christmas, I started working on itand I got it," Chenard said. "You never have to go outside anymore to get your pellets."

Chenard worked all winter in his garage developing the product, describing the scene as "a big lab" with pipes, containers full of pellets and machines filling his space.

"I do a lot of thinking," he said. "People may think I'm doing nothing, but I'm trying to find a solution to the situation that we have. I've always been like that."

Chenard has a patent pending on the technology and has built a few systems so far.

He's marketing a demonstration model in Hay River, but plans to expand into other communities in the Northwest Territories.

It's estimateda new system will cost about $2,900 plus installation.