Public Media for Alaska's Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Toyostoves are scarce this year. That's bad news for keeping homes in rural Alaska warm

Toyostoves, which are the primary heat source for many rural Alaska homes, are scarce this year due to effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Katie Basile
/
KYUK
Toyostoves, which are the primary heat source for many rural Alaska homes, are scarce this year due to effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some families in rural Alaska may have trouble heating their homes this winter. Toyostoves, which may be the most prevalent way to heat homes in rural Alaska, are scarce this year. The stove shortage is yet another symptom of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Step into any home in rural Alaska and there’s a good chance that a Toyostove is what’s keeping it warm. Toyostoves are heaters that run efficiently on stove oil. The supply of Toyostoves in Alaska is running low. Bethel Toyostove dealer Grant Fairbanks has four Toyostoves in stock, and he said that his supplier told him they can’t fill any additional orders until November at the earliest.

“And then those supplies will be limited. So it's going to be a rough year for people that want to get a Toyostove,” Fairbanks said.

Rural Energy Enterprises is the only Toyostove importer for all of Alaska and several other states. CEO and President Jason Evans declined a recorded interview with KYUK, and instead answered questions through email, saying that the company has half the inventory of Toyostoves it normally does. He said that the company has placed limits on the number of Toyostoves that dealers can purchase so they don’t create a run on the low inventory. Evans added that the shortage has, “no end in sight.”

For the limited number of Toyostoves that are available this year, Evans said that they may be more expensive due to huge increases in shipping costs. Toyostoves generally cost between $1,000 and $3,000.

Toyostoves are made by a company in Japan called TOYOTOMI. Fairbanks said that company is facing the same pandemic-fueled problems that are plaguing the auto industry.

“They are having a very hard time getting computer chips and circuit boards and relays, and then also ocean shipping,” Fairbanks said.

Evans, the statewide importer, confirmed this explanation for the shortage. During the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for computer chips skyrocketed as more people are staying home and using electronic devices. On top of that, various COVID-19 outbreaks temporarily shut down major ports, creating shipping backlogs that still haven’t been resolved.

Robert Pitka is the tribal administrator in Toksook Bay, a village with about 650 people on the coast of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Pitka said that in Toksook Bay, Toyostoves are ubiquitous.

“Practically every household in Toksook I know of uses Toyostoves,” Pitka said.

He says about half of homes also have a wood stove, but many rely solely on Toyostoves to heat their home. Like any appliance, Toyostoves can break down. Pitka said that the tribe was planning to use coronavirus relief funds to stockpile several Toyostoves this year. That way, they could provide a replacement for families if theirs stopped working. But so far, he said that the tribe has only been able to purchase one.

Pitka said that for many rural communities in Alaska, the Toyostove shortage could become a matter of life or death.

“It's an emergency need. I can only put it that way,” Pitka said. “Sooner or later, someone's going to break down a Toyostove. We can’t just leave out a family in the cold.”

While the Toyostove shortage will hit families hardest, businesses that sell the heaters will suffer as well. In Bethel, Fairbanks said that he sells anywhere from 20 to 80 stoves per year. He had expected a strong year of sales because villages like Toksook Bay have coronavirus relief funds to spend.

“And so they want to buy Toyostoves, and they can't get them,” Fairbanks said. “It's really gonna hurt my business.”

Fairbanks said that while Toyostove sales will suffer, another business opportunity will open up: repairing old, broken stoves.

“I encourage people, instead of buying a new one, to rebuild them because you can rebuild an old Toyostove for half the price of a new one and it's just as good,” Fairbanks said.

He said that even if people in Y-K Delta villages pay to ship their broken Toyostoves for him to repair in Bethel, it would still be cheaper than buying it new. But he won’t be able to service all the Toyostoves in the region. For anyone in rural Alaska that is mechanically inclined, he said that this would be a good year to start a Toyostove repair business.

Updated: October 16, 2021 at 12:56 PM AKDT
This story has been changed to say that Rural Energy Enterprises CEO and President Jason Evans declined a recorded interview with KYUK. It previously said that Evan declined an interview with KYUK.
Greg Kim was a news reporter for KYUK from 2019-2022.
Related Content