Here last week Marth dropped there prices to flood the market. $170 a ton I can buy them for. Alot of other brands are around $189 a ton and up. I was told there goal is to force the other pellet mill to go under becasue most of them are just starting up and have alot of money invested. I was told that by the end of the year here in Wisconsin there will only be 3 pellet mills selling pellets. Now my question is pellets being so cheap would you buy the cheap brand and put up with lots of fines, high ash, and low BTU's or would you buy the better pellet for a higher dollar amount and lets make that amount $40 - $60 more a ton. What would you do?
Let the pellet price war begin...
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I'm just getting into the pellet market Jeff. First month with a stove. I have wondered what offseason pellet prices will look like and look forward to not paying $5/bag as I have this winter.
To answer your question, I say both. I don't mind paying a little more for the pellets I will burn in Jan/Feb when the avg OAT drops here in Ohio. At the same time I wouldn't mind having a $150/ton pellet to burn in the mild months of Nov/Dec/Mar when I won't burn nearly as much and don't need a ton of heat.
JMHO.
To answer your question, I say both. I don't mind paying a little more for the pellets I will burn in Jan/Feb when the avg OAT drops here in Ohio. At the same time I wouldn't mind having a $150/ton pellet to burn in the mild months of Nov/Dec/Mar when I won't burn nearly as much and don't need a ton of heat.
JMHO.
DawgOnKing said:
Yep, what Dawg said. Pay a little more for good high BTU pellets for cold months, and pay less for cheaper "shoulder" season pellets. Hey, I have a multi fuel stove....I can burn most anything, but would rather use better quality if i can.
Well what I am looking at here is that I sell pellets. This year do I go out and buy the less grade pellets and sell them or do I stick with selling better grade pellet or do I sell both?
You must have somewhat of an idea of the income level of the communities around you....If it's a medium to lower income area, stock 75% lower cost pellets, and 25% higher end.R-Heating said:
If the community is middle-high income area, then do the opposite. If it's in the middle, split the types 50/50.
My 2 cents.
I've used Marth and wasn't crazy about them...but if the price is right...
$170 a ton/cost doesn't seem that great???
$170 a ton/cost doesn't seem that great???
R-Heating said:
We sell pellets as well, and what we've found is that every year is different! Lessons learned THIS year almost certianly dont apply to next year, Im sad to say. In theory, Mac is spot on......but in practice, we find most poeple will still tend to buy the better pellet AS LONG AS IT ISNT ALOT HIGHER IN PRICE. Whats that price difference where people will go to the cheaper pellet? I'd guess somewhere between $20-$30/ton. Of course, there will always be a portion of the population who has to buy the cheapest product available regardless of quality, but those folks are always around everywhere.....those folks are also generally the folks who complain about the quality of the cheap brand in the future. Then theres the customers who always go and buy the "too good to be true" deal, and they usually get their heads handed to them....(what was that PT Barnum saying, anyhow?).
If you are going to make the jump, I cant say I agree with Mac's analysis (75% bad, 25% good)....I would flip those, and say 75% GOOD, 25% BAD........gee...I'd hate to be stuck with a large amount of BAD pellets.....theres always a market for the GOOD pellets.
Being a dealer and a 5 stove burner I would rather have the better pellets at a higher price to a point. I will pay $20 more per ton knowing they will heat the home and shop better. I also know money is tight in the area so we plan on selling a low cost maybe not as good pellet and a high end high temp pellet.
Lousyweather said:
What Lousyweather states is true in my case.
My stoves are very tolerant of any pellet I put in them so I could buy a lower quality if need be.
However, as mentioned if the prices on the better brands are somewhat competitive, I would
rather purchase the better brands instead.
I'd get the good pellets. Period. Your high ash low BTU pellets become even lower BTU within the first 10 bags because they are filling your stove with fly ash and lowering it's heat output. it'll burn WAY more pellets and end up costing you MORE than the good pellets you paid more for up front. Plus, let's be honest, cleaning a pellet stove sucks, and my time on the weekend is more valuable than a few bucks I may have saved by buying pellets that burn dirty. The less often I need to clean it, the better.
SXIPro said:
well said.....and since I work weekends to sell pellets, my time is even more valuable!
Been buying pellets for 14 years or so, long before it was the 'green' thing to do. I've been running solid fuel appliances because it's cheaper than propane, sometimes much cheaper sometimes not.
A try to buy everything I need for a whole heating season at one time (in the summer) and sometimes enough for 2 seasons if I can barter a good price. Pellets don't move in the summer and retailers don't like to 'sit' on pallets of pellets all summer because they get damaged, wet, whatever, besides, they want to get new stock in so the people that wait until the last minute have fresh (at a price) pellets. Having said that, I always buy premium hardwood, low ash pellets and I read all the forums and comments concerning various brands to see, what's good and what's not.
For years I used Indiana Hardwood, one, because that was the only pellet available in the early days and two, because it's a good pellet. A couple years ago, I tried Somerset Hardwood. Their pellet plant is right next door to a Weyerhauser flooring plant in Somerset, Kentucky and I knew the pellets were top shelf as soon as I opened the first bag. They had the unmistakable odor of oak. That slightly vinegar smell and I wasn't at all disappointed. I bought 12 tons, took my drop deck to the retailer and loaded them up. I've been using them up for 2 years now.
This last summer I got a pretty good deal on Michigan Hardwood Pellets, they smelled right so I bought an additional 4 ton. I go by my nose most of the time. I'll have about a ton left over for next year, maybe slightly more, maybe less, depending on my usage. Because I run a multi fuel now, I mix corn and pellets at 10% by weight, 90% corn, 10% pellets to keep the clinkers under control.
I keep my pellets on the original plastic wrapped pallets, stacked in the barn alongside my round bales. I usually stack 3 high, 2 rows wide. Because we feed stock, we have grain tank capacity in multiple tanks. I usually segregate one tank for stove corn only.
I personally believe that if you buy in quantity, in the off season and you have the machinery to move full pallets and a place to store them, that's the only way to fly, excuse me, burn.
A try to buy everything I need for a whole heating season at one time (in the summer) and sometimes enough for 2 seasons if I can barter a good price. Pellets don't move in the summer and retailers don't like to 'sit' on pallets of pellets all summer because they get damaged, wet, whatever, besides, they want to get new stock in so the people that wait until the last minute have fresh (at a price) pellets. Having said that, I always buy premium hardwood, low ash pellets and I read all the forums and comments concerning various brands to see, what's good and what's not.
For years I used Indiana Hardwood, one, because that was the only pellet available in the early days and two, because it's a good pellet. A couple years ago, I tried Somerset Hardwood. Their pellet plant is right next door to a Weyerhauser flooring plant in Somerset, Kentucky and I knew the pellets were top shelf as soon as I opened the first bag. They had the unmistakable odor of oak. That slightly vinegar smell and I wasn't at all disappointed. I bought 12 tons, took my drop deck to the retailer and loaded them up. I've been using them up for 2 years now.
This last summer I got a pretty good deal on Michigan Hardwood Pellets, they smelled right so I bought an additional 4 ton. I go by my nose most of the time. I'll have about a ton left over for next year, maybe slightly more, maybe less, depending on my usage. Because I run a multi fuel now, I mix corn and pellets at 10% by weight, 90% corn, 10% pellets to keep the clinkers under control.
I keep my pellets on the original plastic wrapped pallets, stacked in the barn alongside my round bales. I usually stack 3 high, 2 rows wide. Because we feed stock, we have grain tank capacity in multiple tanks. I usually segregate one tank for stove corn only.
I personally believe that if you buy in quantity, in the off season and you have the machinery to move full pallets and a place to store them, that's the only way to fly, excuse me, burn.
Thank you. I appreciate the welcome and hopefully will be able to pass on some knowledge and experience. I've lurked for sometime, reading the posts and comments and finally decided to join in.
I'm seriously considering switching to an outdoor corn or coal fired boiler so I can heat the machine shop as well as the house. My old Englander is in the shop but it's a pellet pig. I'm thinking that I can do a water to air heat exchanger in the shop and a slope coil in the central furnace. Right now, I'm doing some serious reading on wet systems and of course Sting is mentoring me.
I like the idea of a coal stoker outside but with corn so readily available to me, it's hard to think about switching fuels and then there is the financial end as well. If I lived in proximity to anthricite coal, the switch would be less painless, however, I don't.
Again, thanks for the welcome. I'll be posting here as well as there.
I'm seriously considering switching to an outdoor corn or coal fired boiler so I can heat the machine shop as well as the house. My old Englander is in the shop but it's a pellet pig. I'm thinking that I can do a water to air heat exchanger in the shop and a slope coil in the central furnace. Right now, I'm doing some serious reading on wet systems and of course Sting is mentoring me.
I like the idea of a coal stoker outside but with corn so readily available to me, it's hard to think about switching fuels and then there is the financial end as well. If I lived in proximity to anthricite coal, the switch would be less painless, however, I don't.
Again, thanks for the welcome. I'll be posting here as well as there.
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