Pellets in Northern Colorado

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maradel

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May 26, 2008
3
Northern Colorado
Hi, I live in the mountains in N Colo, and with the price of LP, I won't be able to afford to heat my house (1200 sq ft) next winter. I'm considering putting in a pellet stove, but I'm having trouble finding out the cost of pellets in my area (near Ft. Collins) and who will deliver in bulk (a couple pallets at a time). It makes me a bit worried that the dealers can't point me to a few suppliers, other than Home Depot and Ace Hardware.

The fuel price section doesn't have any listings for Colorado. Are there any Colorado posters with pellet stoves on this forum?

I know there are a couple new pellet mills coming on line in N. Colorado pretty soon, but I don't want to spend $4000 for a pellet stove and installation, and then not have it be economical if pellets are hard to get and expensive. After reading a bunch of posts here, I'm starting to think I should consider a wood stove. But I'd have to put a chimney in my house and I think that will be more expensive an installation than a pellet stove installation. I guess I need to start getting some quotes for a wood stove installation, though.

Any comments/advice will be appreciated...
 
Hi

I'm having the same problem - I live out east of Colorado Springs and I can't seem to find anyone besides Home Depot or Walmart/Sams who sell pellets around here and of course they are all out now as it's seasonal. I just bought a Harman P-68 which will be installed next Tuesday, but still trying to figure out where to get my pellets. I also heard of the two new mills that are opening up, but I have no idea who will be selling those particular pellets. If you happen to hear anything, please let me know. My dealer was hopeful that since there are now pellet mills in Colorado the prices for pellets should be very competitive this year and also there is no tax on those pellets because they are from the lodgepole pines destroyed by the pine beetle.

If I find out anything, I'll be sure and pass it along to you as well.

Cheri
 
It looks like Confluence Energy in Kremmling has just started pumping out pellets on June 1. Give them a call.

www.confluenceenergy.com
 
If I was 10 yrs younger I`d buy a wood stove in a heartbeat .
Cheaper to install, needs no electricity , fuel more apt to be available, and flame is most attractive.
I miss a wood fire but I`m nearly 66 now and not anxious to return to a wood pile .
Not to mention the drawbacks like splinter, ashes, dust, bugs, stacking and handling the wood repeatedly.
However if the cost of pellets get too far out of line I`ll give wood another go. I`m committed to weaning myself off the oil one way or another.
Right now my pellet stove is in and ready for the next heating season.
Next spring I plan to buy a fuel efficient car.
John
 
Well, since my original post, I have gotten more information on pellets. The plant in Kremmling is making lots of pellets and there is a new place in Walden, west of Ft. Collins:
Rocky Mountain Pellet Company, Inc. Walden, CO (970)531-3820 Joe Kostelac

I found a very helpful link after much searching:
http://www.pelletheat.org/3/residential/fuelAvailability.cfm#west

That's how I found the place in Walden. They're supplying pellets to a new business in Loveland (pelletstogo.com) who will deliver the pellets to the surrounding area. He's going to charge $250/pallet + delivery. The guy says they're premium pellets with very little dust (in contrast to what Home Depot sells).

I'm getting very close to deciding to go ahead with the pellet stove, although I'm still a little undecided between that and another wood stove. I had a wood stove in my last house and it heated my house fine, but of course, as the previous poster mentioned, there are drawbacks--hauling wood in, hauling ash out, bugs, dirt, etc. The stove installer told me the total cost of a wood stove + installation would be about the same as for a pellet stove. What I wish I knew more about, though, is what are the relative costs of heating with cord wood vs pellets. I spent around $800/yr the last 2 years for split & stacked wood. I think it might cost me $800 - $1000 next winter for pellets, but that's a complete guess.

Any comments/suggestions/opinions?

MaryAnne
 
MaryAnne.

Thanks for the info - I knew the name of the mills, but not the contact numbers. I gave both of them a call today and am waiting for them to call me back with info on who will be selling their pellets here in the Colorado Springs area. Confluence Energy did tell me that Wal-mart and either Home Depot or Lowes may be carrying their product but not to quote him on that and someone in that dept would call me back and let me know for sure. He said that the cost of pellets shouldn't be as high because transportation would be minimal. They actually have a pdf file on their website that lists the price they are selling to dealers, so add on transportation cost and we should be able to see if they are really passing the savings on to us.

Sorry I can't help you out about the pellet vs wood - this will be my first year with a pellet stove, and it just seemed very expensive for wood as all the places I looked were selling a cord of hardwood for close to $400 - YIKES!!

Good luck,

Cheri
 
Cheri,
You're welcome! Confluence Energy told me they'll probably be supplying pellets to one of the hardware stores in Estes Park, but they don't know who yet. I guess I'll wait until they know and then decide which way is cheaper. Ace Hardware was selling at around $7.00/bag if you bought a pallet!! That's what started me on this quest to find out if I could get pellets cheaper. The guy in Loveland charges less than that including shipping.

Wow! $400/cord is unreal. I haven't priced wood here yet, but if it's that expensive, the pellet stove will win.

MaryAnne
 
Wow, $7.00 a bag- that is ridiculous!!! I am sure hoping that it will much cheaper since there are two mills right in our state and maybe more dealers and competition. Right now around my area it is basically the big box retailers, (Walmart- Home Depot, Lowes, and Sams Club) who sell pellets, but of course none of them have any stock right now. I called one guy who is a small local chimney company and also sells pellets and he told me he was charging $292 for a ton. I told him that was way to expensive and he blamed the transportation costs, etc. I said okay what were you charging last year for pellets, his answer, $292 -LOL My local Harman dealer warned me this particular place was selling pellets for an inflated price around here, so I just wanted to see what his going rate was.

Hopefully it will be cheaper from a Walmart, Home Depot, etc and plus no state sales tax which will save even more. Oh and about the wood- maybe it is cheaper up north where you live, but it's never been cheap for hardwood down here. I might have gone with a wood insert if our wood was as cheap as it is back east, but hopefully the pellet stove will work fine for us.

Cheri
 
If your in need of Pallets of Pellets call PelletsToGo for your needs in Northern Colorado! My goal is to give the consumer the best price possble for Super premium brand Pellets from Rocky Mountain Pellet Company Walden Colorado
You can vist my site PelletsToGo.com
or call me direct for quotes for the Ft. collins to Loveland down to Boulder east to Greeley and in between!
My goal is to keep our heating prices as low as possible and also keeping a clean way to heat our homes !
Call me (970) 663-7830
or go to my web site thanks for your time ;)
 
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