The stores are running out of pellets......

Today I had to drive a couple of towns away to buy pellets. Both stores in my town (Walmart and Aubuchon's) that sell them are out for the season. Aubuchon's may or may not get more, but for now they're out, and their requests for more are not being filled. They sell the good Energex pellets, and they said the Energex plant had a problem with their production line which cut production for a while. I don't know if this is true.

So I loaded my Toyota Corolla with 24 bags (960 lbs) of Energex at an Aubuchon's in the other town !! I hope this, plus the little bit I have here, will get me through the end of the heating season here in northern New York State.

Being new to pellet burning, I hadn't expected the stores to run out in mid-March. I'll have to keep that in mind for next year....

Any comments ?

Ya ,kinda like the oil companies have a problem with a pipeline or refinery or the gulf is fogged over so that no tankers can get in and unload.

Theres plenty at various locations here in southern maine...

I was told no problem with a May pickup.

Plenty around here so far. Dealers still have plenty but regular
stores are now making room for spring items.

Interesting that you other Northeasterners (Maine, Conn, Mass) still have plenty. Maybe it's because I live in a slightly remote area. If I lived in a regular city maybe I would find more supply. The local Agway is also out - they ran out a month or so ago.

I understand that buying in the summer is a good idea as far as cost, and also it's a lot easier to handle pellets then (I can drive right up to my cellar door in the summer and unload into the cellar). I'm anxious to what the rates will be....

I think your right....but sometimes for price it works the other way....I am in Maine and sometimes it hard to find the price that someone gets in the not as colder parts of the country.

Yes it is amazing to me how folks in Missouri, etc, even Pennsylvania, get much lower pellet prices than we Northeasterners do. Maybe because there is more demand up here - not sure. Oh well, it's still worth burning the pellets

Yup....I think demand has a great deal to do with it....the lowest I could get up here in Maine was 4.49 a bag(bulk by the ton). But still....saved a tremendous amount using pellets rather than oil

I just picked up 4 ton for $189/ton today at my dealer. He had all the pellets you could want. Located in North-central MD.
I'm confused why so many pellet dealers do not keep more in stock considering spring is slower to arrive up north where a lot of you are.

That is amazing. Some places dont want them in stock I guess. The store I went to yesterday only had a number of bags left after selling 4 tons in a one day shipment. Betcha they bring some more in with sales like that.

All the cheap places (Lowes, HD) for buying by the trunk load are out around here - Eastern CT. All I can find are New England brand at smaller hardware stores and Agway. $6/bag at the hardware store and $6.99 at Agway. No way am I paying that. Since the wood pile is gone too I told my wife to kiss 70 degrees goodbye until next year and set the thermostat at 65. Shouldn't need to heat for too much longer. It's time to buck/split/stack for next year and wait on the April pellet sales.

We are down to about 25 bags of pellets left for the season from
of 3 ton, so I will probably be out by the middle of April.
I plan to wait till summer before ordering more for next winter.

Around here purchasing pellets by the bag is always more expensive than
buying them in bulk. There are a couple of stores here that are
selling upwards of $6.00 a bag and complain they are overstocked.

geeeze! I wonder why.

I just paid $5.99 a bag to get 24 bags so I don't have to shut down in the next few days. $6.99 would be an amazingly high price. Those stores in your area, tinkabranc, need to learn what a clearance sale is !!

I have 27 left bags now. I am heating warmer than I would with oil - right now it's 70F in my house, and without the pellet stove I would have it at 65. Feels great, though I am spending a little bit to have it this way. At this rate, I'll run out in early to mid April, a little longer if I cut the temp.

Hey Shooter where are you at in Michigan? I cannot find any good pellets in Midland.

Still plenty of pellets here in Vermont. I was just talking to my dealer (Vermont Pellet Stoves in Colchester, VT) and he expects the price to drop to $205 a ton within the next few weeks...

Wow fletchb - I'm not far from Vermont. What brand of pellets is your dealer talking about maybe being $205 ?

I'm up here in Charlevoix. We have 3 places in town but when I picked up 3 bags (just for starting my new CB1200i) from one place she said they had 4 tons come and go the same day with just a few bags left. Will go for more tomorrow and will probably have to hunt for it but I'm sure there's some out there. May have to drive 20mi to get it.

I was just down in Midland last weekend

Last weekend I was on Torch Lake

When I was at Vermont Pellet Stoves last weekend, pellets were $225 a ton for both LG Granules and Boreal Pellets.

The owner expects the Boreal Pellets to go to $205 soon and was expecting the LG pellets to go to about $210 or $215.

I have been critical of the Boreal pellets in the past, but after fiddling around with the damper on my stove, I have been able to get good temps from the Boreals. I still feel they make the stove dirtier quicker.

In addition to usually getting a better price, if you have the space, stock up! End of March and I still have 1.5 tons left. Even at a bag a day, I am good until mid-May. It ill take you a year or two to figure out exactly how much you will burn. After that no excuses for running out!

Literally "on"? As in whitefish fishing? Still plenty of ice out on the inland lakes.

Yes on the lake. I can't seem to catch a whitefish but I did catch a burbot. I try to get up there to fish once a year. There was 7-8" of ice yet. I'd like to try o get there this summer, that lake has the bluest water.

Damn how did you get that many pellets into such a small car? I only put 20 bags in my minivan and I feel like it is at max capacity. I could only put 8 bags in my old Ford Escort wagon before the suspension would start to sag and I worried about losing my muffler on any pebbles in the roadway.
I haven't heard anything about Energex mishaps...and I do think they have more than one mill producing them.
Always remember when you see the gas grills on the sales floor...pellets are long gone. Home Depot down the street had the grills out in the middle of February this year Da bastards

All 3 of our local pellet suppliers were completely out....not a single bag....yesterday. There is a shipment coming in today so I prepaid for 20 bags to be sure some of that was mine

I'm using my wife's Jeep Cherokee to do the hauling so I'll get to see how this one handles the weight.