Getting Ready to Buy for Next Year

I recently got my stove (Accentra insert) with the help from you guys on the forum and now am trying to decide which pellets to stock up with for next winter. I live a couple miles from BT Pellet here in CT so I want to purchase there to help support local business. The only problem is that I have only gone through two bags of pellets. One New Englands and almost through one of Maine Woods Pellets softies. The New Englands seemed to burn ok. They burned longer than than the Maine Woods, but not as clean. Heat output seemed similar to a novice. I would try some more, but I am running out of time and doubt I'll get through more than 1 more bag.

So with such a small sample, I have been reading a lot of old threads and now asking for some opinions. If you were going to stock up (about 3 tons) for next year at BT Pellet, what would you suggest? I wanted to try Turmans based on reviews, but BT doesn't have them online. Thanks in advance.

man, you live really close of the house full of "toys"....they have so many brands there...

Based on your comment it sounds like BT is selling the MWP softies by the bag, if so I'd stop by this Friday and get a couple bags.
Did the MWP softies burn hotter? I assume so compared to NEWP, if so you could dial down the feed rate a bit.

The Accentra is a nice unit, enjoy...where are the pics??

I did purchase two bags of MWPs softies from them this week. Almost through one. It seemed to burn a little hotter, but I don't much experience with it. I don't have much time to try out more.

Heres a pic for you. I've cleaned up the bricks since I took the pic. Previous owners werent too careful with the paint.

Turmans would be from another dealer in the area(CTpellet). To me the Logik-e Super Premium are a deal at $250/ton. But it depends on your budget.

Some other good ones are the Cubex/Northern and Hamer Hot Ones. Vermont are also good. Potomac at $215 would be a good spring/fall shoulder season pellet if you need to save a nickle or 2. Your Harman should eat any of these, But in the future try to get a feel for whats available near you. This way there is no guessing. Hate to see you get stuck with a dog.

I will be trying more next year no matter what I end up buying, but I'd rather save some money buying ahead now. I heard some good things about MWPs that why I wanted to try them now.

Great stove, Cubex, Hamers or any hardwood pellet will treat you well.

Keep in mind MWP makes 2 kinds of pellets, a 60/40 blend and 100% softwood. The blend pellets are in a bag with a log cabin on it. The softwood pellets are clearly mrked 100% softwood.

I saw that. I got the 100% softwood.

Based on the prices I see on their web site, I think I'd be getting a combo order of the Vermonts and the Logik-e.

The softwood batch is very limited. I think only a few thousand tons this year. They will go quick. Especially with SIB selling truckloads already.

Out of curiousity, why would there be a shortage of softwood more than hardwood?

I don't believe there is a shortage. I think what it is is that MWP hardwood blend is in much higher demand and the current faciltiy isn't setup to be able to handle doing a lot of the 100% softwood.

Ok. Just trying to learn about this stuff. Thanks.

Thats the best way to learn! Keep asking and we'll keep trying to answer as many as we can.

MWP only does the softwoods in the spring when the normal burning season has ended and the demand is low. Once they get a buffer, They will switch over to the softwoods. They also make softwood horse bedding around the same time frame(2 birds one stone). So its logical for them to do them in this period. Once they swap back over to the blend, They will stay on them until next seasons lull in production.

Hi - I've been following along on JM15 thread. Another newbie here, recently purchased a used Harman P68. I'm in western CT and have been looking over pricing from the same vendor as JM15. My question is similiar to the OP question about what pellets to buy for my stove, cost is a big factor. The previous owner of the stove told me that he bought whatever the big box stores carried and never had any issue. So for the anyone that has a similiar stove would you buy now from one of the vendors which appear to be around $250 ton plus delivery. Or buy from the box stores and try to go without delivery charges by picking up myself? I'm guessing I will use about 3-5 tons, with 1 ton of American Wood Fibers on hand from previous owner. Incuded with sale of stove. He was running these when I went to see the stove seemed to work well from what I saw. Not sure if there is a cost savings from the box stores. Seems last year box store pricing was 200-240 ton from what I've read? If it were to be the same this year I suppose I could save some money but quality could be an issue or not a problem for Harman?

I may have a install location question but I'll save that for another time/thread.


I've learned a lot from the boards as a lurker for the last 3months. Harman seemed the way to go, but could not swing what the dealer wants for a new unit. By reading the posts here I felt more confident to go and look for a used unit. Mine happens to have just hit 4yrs old.So thanks for the info provided here, as a newbie it's been a huge help.

Sorry about the rambling...

Save some money and go for the cheaper stuff. I have burned about 7 brands and haven't had a terrible experience. Pretty much came down to ash content but my P61A is easy to clean and I'm sure the P68 is just as easy if not easier. I have only burned Lowes/HD pellets and have been pretty happy. Just got some MWP softwoods and am looking forward to trying them out. I don't think Lowes/HD will carry them.

Thanks for the feedback. I suppose I'll need to wait to see what the box stores cost will be when new stock arrives. I did see those Maine Choice/Power House for $199 + delivery. Those are the lowest price I've seen and not sure if that is a deal compared to big box stores and having to haul it and restack it myself from box store.

To "piggy" back, the MWP Softwood also takes twice the raw material that it takes for a hardwood pellet, as well as longer drying times, etc. Their bread and butter ($) is in their blend. That said, I wouldn't buy the MWP Blend again ~ maybe I got a bad batch, but ti was the worst pellet I have burned (low heat, and high ash). By contrast, the MWP Softwood have been the best pellet I have ever burned (including Okanagan, LG's, and CleanFire Pacific).

Thanks for the help guys. Any particular reason people seem to be favoring hardwood pellets?

The plant manager of MWP commented on here recently that it takes longer and costs more to produce 100% softwood pellets in that mill, so they stick with the blend. Plus their orders for the blend are strong, so they limit the 100% softwood production run to around 3000 tons.

Could be the old hard headed hardwood thing from the woodstove days. Some may still believe you should only burn hardwoods in your stove. Softwoods burn to fast and could soot up the flue. When in fact softwoods as a general rule burn hotter and cleaner than many hardwoods.

Or it could be the most driving factor? Price, Most got into this pellet game to save some cash. If a hardwood is cheapier than a softy and is close in quality. Usually the cheapier pellet will get the sale. Just my 2 cents.

Ok. Thanks again. I'm going to try to get down there this weekend to purchase. If not, definitely next weekend.

next year I will be burning VT's, folks at BT's told me they have the lowest ash so thats what I went for.