So there's a farm store not too far from me that sells Valfei pellets. They quoted me a price of $250/ton for either Ambiance or Orford - not too bad. I burned a ton of Ambiance last year and liked them. There isn't much info on these pellets out there, and some of it confusing, so I called Valfei in QC. The gal on the phone seemed to know her stuff - here's some of what she had to say:
The hardwood blend in the Ambiance pellet is sugar maple, cherry, and oak.
There are two varieties of Orford pellets - hard and soft.
The hardwood Orfords are the same pellet as the Ambiance.
The softwood Orfords are by another manufacturer in QC - Valfei doesn't make their own softwood pellets, they swap inventory with the other (un-named) maker.
The softwood Orfords are not Douglas Fir - they are a mix of pine and spruce.
They had a fire in a plant a few years ago and, to satisfy softwood pellet demand, they imported pellets from the west coast for a time - those were of Jack Pine and a miserable failure - she burned some herself.
Subsequently, softwood Orfords were only marketed in the US starting last year.
The hardwood blend in the Ambiance pellet is sugar maple, cherry, and oak.
There are two varieties of Orford pellets - hard and soft.
The hardwood Orfords are the same pellet as the Ambiance.
The softwood Orfords are by another manufacturer in QC - Valfei doesn't make their own softwood pellets, they swap inventory with the other (un-named) maker.
The softwood Orfords are not Douglas Fir - they are a mix of pine and spruce.
They had a fire in a plant a few years ago and, to satisfy softwood pellet demand, they imported pellets from the west coast for a time - those were of Jack Pine and a miserable failure - she burned some herself.
Subsequently, softwood Orfords were only marketed in the US starting last year.
