getting sick and tired of pellet shortages

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Fsappo said:
ever worry about summer time moisture destroying some of your hoard?
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i don't. the basement is bone dry.
this is the 4th season and never a problem. :)
i'm lucky though. not only do i have plenty of space for storage, but also we live on high ground and the soil is basically all sand and rock.
 
ad356 said:
im getting a little fed up with this non-sense. when i started heating with pellets back in 2008 they were $170-190 per ton. it was quite reasonable but not particularly cheap. pellets were also readily available and there was NEVER a shortage, i just went and bought them when i needed them. now the two pellet dealers nearby have $245 and $265 respectively with the dealer priced at $265 only having them by the bag. the pellets at $265 are dry creeks BUT are only being sold on the individual bag basis. the pellets sold at $245 are crap pellets either PA pellet or instant heat-less neither of which i am particularly fond of. i love this stove, it has been a rock solid harman, extremely reliable and adaquate heat. i do not even worry about it sometimes it can go months during the really cold season of just emptying the hopper. the most maintenance free, reliable, best heating pellet stoves on the planet are harman P series i think.

the fuel source on the other hand, i have nothing but complaints the last two winters. very high prices and poor availability. its a game that i think im tired of playing. if i ever get any money think i might get a coal stove and a thru-wall power vent. problem is im kind of trapped into owning a $2000 stove, a great unit but its hard for me to justify parting ways.

i have natural gas here but have a very old junky furance, i also have NO ducting upstairs in a home was built in 1895. the harman stove does a fairly good job of getting heat upstairs, its not really warn but its tolerable low 60's which is ideal for sleeping. my home is very old plank construction and DOES not have deep walls or an easy way to add upstairs ducting.

i also know that the newer high efficiency gas furnaces can be a real pain in the side if they have any problems. they can be a maintenance nightmare and certainly not as reliable as a harman stove. i have heard several complaints over the years of their furnaces giving out in the cold. i also have a very old, damp basement my well is actually in my basement so at times i can have water on the floor. i did not want to invest in a furnace full of electronics to go into an environment like that.

i have a wife that cannot seem to find a job, i work full time and barely make ends meet. i dont know what to do anymore. i feel like pellets are becoming a scam.
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How many things have you seen that are the same price as 7 years ago? Priced health ins lately? how about other things like getting a car repaired or new tires or even any health related items like a trip to the dentist or doctor. If you can buy your pellets ahead of time and store them until you need them you will solve the problem of being in your situation. If not then you will always be in your situation. A lot of people think they can prepay and get their paid for pellets as needed but in reality the store is providing free storage when doing that and not many places will do this. You also run the risk that they may not have the pellets on hand when you need them.
One idea that may work would be for some pellet burners to get together and form a type of coop where they can buy a semi load and rent a storage site.
 
Michael6268 said:
Yeah I guess if you call emptying an ash pan "work"..

On the other hand, you dont have all the cleaning as you do with pellets. Depending on type of stove, pipe configuration etc you can go from months to the whole season without cleaning. I lit my stove in Oct and its been going since. It wont be cleaned till April for the off season.
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Wife and I don't roll that way. We have a tripple-pane South-facing window wall.in the great room. We have the special glass thar allows heat in depending on the sun's angle so the stove shuts down and restarts quite a bit on sunny days.
 
I buy my entire season's worth of pellets (+2 ton buffer) in April. I have 4 tons + 41 bags left as of right now. I'm on track to use 3 tons this year.
 
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F4jock said:
Wife and I don't roll that way. We have a tripple-pane South-facing window wall.in the great room. We have the special glass thar allows heat in depending on the sun's angle so the stove shuts down and restarts quite a bit on sunny days.
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With the coal trol a stoker can dial down to under 5K btus for hours at a time. That's less than two Oprahs talking.
 
Rona, my neighbor has almost zero storage at his house for pellets. He has a covered porch where he can keep 1 tons at a time. He uses your idea and rents a storage locker about 10 minutes from his house. $35 a month for a 10x20 locker and he orders his pellets with another neighbor and they have them delivered right to the storage locker. They just grab them from there a ton at a time as they need them.
 
Johnny_Fiv3 said:
Rona, my neighbor has almost zero storage at his house for pellets. He has a covered porch where he can keep 1 tons at a time. He uses your idea and rents a storage locker about 10 minutes from his house. $35 a month for a 10x20 locker and he orders his pellets with another neighbor and they have them delivered right to the storage locker. They just grab them from there a ton at a time as they need them.
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Great idea!
 
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What are we talking about again?

F4's avatar keeps distracting me damn it!
 
Michael6268 said:
Well you say it wasnt money.
it sure wasnt "ease of use" / minimal maintenence, or abundant cheap fuel supply. Then what was it??
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Not the last but having had experience with coal and after looking at what was available we wanted auto ignition, no coal dust, no coal bin, no coal ash, auto feed. And we actually don't consider the maintenance high. Clean once a month. Dump ash twice a month.​
 
F4jock said:
Not the last but having had experience with coal and after looking at what was available we wanted auto ignition, no coal dust, no coal bin, no coal ash, auto feed. And we actually don't consider the maintenance high. Clean once a month. Dump ash twice a month.​
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Put your stove in your sig!
 
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