Which pellets to buy (not a lot of choices though)

[OhioBurner©]

After reading the thread on the shortage it seems around here pellets are scarce too. I got my new refurb Englander 25-PAH / 55-TRPAH getting dropped off Monday, and ordered the pieces I need for the venting (I think, but I didnt get a single response on my question thread here so just hoping it all works the way I have envisioned) from Home Depot and should be arriving next week.

So I've called around and visited a few places in search of pellets. Here is what I got:

Local stove shop
- Easy Heat $215 in short supply (might be able to get some next truckload)
-Allegheny $260 they have several tons

TSC
-All out currently but said they should have a truckload of Supreme Heat $248 but no guarantees since they have a lot pre-bought
-said they also sell Sommerset but havent been able to get any lately (gal thought it was same price $248)

Local feed store
-Easy Heat $179 but said they are probably all pre-bought through November

Ace Hardware
-Said they were out but truckload next week. Said manager would call me back with price / brand but never did

Local hardware store
-Sommerset 5.79/bag (gal thought they were $250 by the ton but thats sounds like a really big difference so IDK) all out now but truckload on Monday to which they were not sure if they would have any leftover beyond pre-buys

Home Depot
-Confused look at first then, no we dont sell those or any of the other HDs around here

Lowes
-$239/ton not sure what brand they are:


So what to do? I have researched around here best I could in short time, seems like Easy Heat people say are junk, little reviews but promising about Allegheny, good reviews on Somerset but not sure if I can get any or not (will find out Monday). Lowes seems to have those in stock but no clue on quality?

Also I did a quick calc... the stove maxes out at 4#/hr according to the manual I downloaded. If the stove burns okay long term at max, then I figure I'll usually be running it at max, which would be 96#day, 672#week, and guessing the bulk of the heating season about 5 mo at 13,440# or about 7 ton. There will be a shoulder month on each side too. I know it wont run full blast the entire time, but even if you average out to the same total including the shoulder months thats a bit more than I thought. But still got to be way cheaper than propane. Even still if I have to go with say $260 + tax thats just about $2,000 yeeks.

 

[stmar]

We have 3 choices in my town: Heartlands at Co-op, Heartlands at the lumber store or Heartlands at the other lumber store. Luckily Heartlands seem like good pellets compared to others that I have seen over the years in this part of the country.
If it was me and I had all those choices I would get a variety and see what I liked since this is your first year. Sounds like you should not wait too long and get what you can when you can and look at this year as a learning experience.

 

[Cleetussnow]

If you check into somersets, they are regarded very well among the box store pellets. I dont think 250 a ton is bad at all for them.

I burned a ton of the awf pellets you have pictured, and they were pretty decent.

Everyone will say try them all, but if you arent in the mood to do that, somersets, and maybe try just those for proof.

 

[apandori]

I'd love to buy pellets at $179 a ton. I don't care what brand they are. I'd be ordering some of those if I could and picking up a ton of something else to hold me until I could get those.

 

[MtDew]

The ones you pictured are made by American Wood Fibers. They are in those bags for the big box stores. I burned 4 tons of those last year, no issues.

 

[OhioBurner©]

If you check into somersets, they are regarded very well among the box store pellets. I dont think 250 a ton is bad at all for them.

I burned a ton of the awf pellets you have pictured, and they were pretty decent.

Everyone will say try them all, but if you arent in the mood to do that, somersets, and maybe try just those for proof.

Yeah seems the Somersets have nothing but positive reviews. I think I'll try to get atleast a couple tons if I can next week. Can always pick up bags of the others and try them also, but want to get at least a couple/few tons of something that's going to be reliable. And also @ MtnDew, If AWF is the name, I searched here got some mixed reports but overall a lot more positive reports than negative. So if I cant get Somerset I think I'll get some of these next week.

I'd love to buy pellets at $179 a ton. I don't care what brand they are. I'd be ordering some of those if I could and picking up a ton of something else to hold me until I could get those.

Well when it comes down to it I'll try anything but these get pretty bad reviews here and that place for $179 was out through November estimated, and he said it might go up $10-20 by then. Some bad reviews here, like for example https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/easy-heat-pellets.112539/ I've seen some folks say there stove maxed out 100F less with these or filled up with ash and overflowed within one day. If I can get a hold of a couple bags this might be one to try, especially in shoulder season, but I'm not going to bet a few tons on it with terrible reviews unless I get desperate.

 

[OhioBurner©]

Ok went by a different Lowes today on way to breakfast, and a new one to add to the list, Cheat River Hardwood. They had a stack of 5 pallets sitting out front with a sign that said 40# bag $4.39/ea or $4.19 contractor pack when order 50. However inside the store and online it had hardwood pellets listed as $4.98/4.78 same as my other lowes that sells AWF. Hmmm. They seem to get pretty mixed reviews here too. But at least I learned how to check Lowes inventory while researching this, the one store has ~500 bags and the other ~1100.

Still going to at least hold off until tomorrow and see if I can get any Somersets. If not I'll probably get 3 tons of either these Cheats if I can get em at the $4.19 price or the AWF, and then wait and see if Sets or anything else become available later.