Brrrr!! Ran out of pellets today

[Shane]

Hopefully they have some tomorrow. Running the electric baseboards now. The thermostat says 70 but sure doesn't feel like it. Thinking very hard about switching to a wood/gas combination. B&B in the living room and maybe a tudor with the solid doors in the bedroom. Then a noncat Encore or maybe even a heartstone in the basement. Anyone want a barely used Yankee?! J/K

 

[joshuaviktor]

yes, I would like one. $5 do it? or, wait, I'll go big here. $35 dollars!

Just give me an address, I'll be there soon!

Joshua

 

[richg]

I saw pellets in NJ for the first time since August.

 

[begreen]

Hopefully they have some tomorrow. Running the electric baseboards now. The thermostat says 70 but sure doesn't feel like it. Thinking very hard about switching to a wood/gas combination. B&B in the living room and maybe a tudor with the solid doors in the bedroom. Then a noncat Encore or maybe even a heartstone in the basement. Anyone want a barely used Yankee?! J/K

Yes, it can sneak up on you if you don't watch that supply. I just picked up another ton yesterday. My wife asked why, there's a stack of bags in the garage and it's warming up enough for the daffodils to start blooming. That stack in the garage was only 10 bags. It's still winter, some nights/mornings in the 30's and at a bag a day we'd have been out before the end of the month. It's hard to know what the weather will be for the next few months. I'd rather go into the summer with excess, then to be caught without any leftover.

 

[zogboy]

I saw pellets in NJ for the first time since August.

They have the pellts for $6.50 at the local true value in Auburn and no one is buying those at that price.
Tractor Supply and Home Depot and Lowes and Walmart have had them around 4bucks a bag in the past week. Still 30% to high in my opinon but that should change in another month.
Looks like the pellet indrustry is catching up with demand.

 

[begreen]

Geez, and I was grumbling at $3.78/bag. Sounds like $4 a bag back east is a pretty fair deal. I'd be impressed if one could find quality pellets @ $2.80/bag, even in the summer. We're close to the source here and I've never seen them that low. Best price last year was $3.39/bag locally.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

our pellets just went down from 7 buck's a bag (309/ton) to 5 bucks a bag (239/ton). Highway robbery.

 

[HarryBack]

yep! 4 bucks a bag? where do I sign up? Ive got a truckload of Energex coming in Monday (maybe not with the weather), and my landed cost is $4.40/bag.......Im actually glad just to have them, even if they are expensive. We are limiting folks to a ton, and based on the last T/L we got, itll take us abt 3 days to sell it, if the weather is ok.

 

[warminwisco]

It seems all states are different in cost of natural gas. I am at 1.14 a therm this month up from 1.20 last. If I am burning much past $3.25 a bag it is a toss up if the NG is a better tradeoff over the pellets considering the cost of the stove, my labor including drivetime to pick em up, and future repairs if needed. I get em bulk, hot BC fir Pellet Flame for 120 a ton. I think bear mountain are about 165.oo a ton and seem to be very hot in 40 lb bags. Dealer sells 3500 stoves a year, and has 2 grain elevators on rail lines. Thanks I burn between 6 and 11 therms a day of NG, without pellets.

 

[CK-1]

At the local Hearth and Patio shop here in Southern Maryland a notice was on the door saying there where sold out of pellets. Glad I was only there to purchase a Direct Connection Kit for a Pacific Energy Summit I'm installing in a few days...

 

[begreen]

It seems all states are different in cost of natural gas. I am at 1.14 a therm this month up from 1.20 last. If I am burning much past $3.25 a bag it is a toss up if the NG is a better tradeoff over the pellets considering the cost of the stove, my labor including drivetime to pick em up, and future repairs if needed. I get em bulk, hot BC fir Pellet Flame for 120 a ton. I think bear mountain are about 165.oo a ton and seem to be very hot in 40 lb bags. Dealer sells 3500 stoves a year, and has 2 grain elevators on rail lines. Thanks I burn between 6 and 11 therms a day of NG, without pellets.

I'd do the same, but no NG available. No grain elevators within a 100 miles either. It's propane here, which is still very pricey locally at $2.50 to $3.00 per gal.!

 

[paulgp602]

Not knocking you pellet and NG guys, but to me wood heat is security against these companies that change the prices on things whenever they feel like it. There will always be wood to burn for heat, and that makes me feel more secure than heating with oil (which I stopped using this year). I know that the price of cord wood goes up as everything else does, but at least I can get a chainsaw and go cut my own if need be.

 

[Shane]

I agree with you Paul. I chose a pellet stove based on two factors 1) my wife and I both work so completely heating our home with wood would not be as easy as pellets. 2)The pellet supply here up until this year was very steady, and economical. I think the pellet industry has simply re-solidfied it's reputation as a flaky industry this year. Maybe I'll put in a wood stove too. Heat with the pellets while gone and crank the wood stove up while home. Going to have to do something turning on baseboards is not good.

 

[HarryBack]

Not knocking you pellet and NG guys, but to me wood heat is security against these companies that change the prices on things whenever they feel like it. There will always be wood to burn for heat, and that makes me feel more secure than heating with oil (which I stopped using this year). I know that the price of cord wood goes up as everything else does, but at least I can get a chainsaw and go cut my own if need be.

Ever see any landscape pictures of New England between the Civil War and say, 1900? For those of you who have, you know where Im going with this one.

 

[paulgp602]

Not knocking you pellet and NG guys, but to me wood heat is security against these companies that change the prices on things whenever they feel like it. There will always be wood to burn for heat, and that makes me feel more secure than heating with oil (which I stopped using this year). I know that the price of cord wood goes up as everything else does, but at least I can get a chainsaw and go cut my own if need be.

Ever see any landscape pictures of New England between the Civil War and say, 1900? For those of you who have, you know where Im going with this one.

Sure, I have some historic books with pictures of new england. While the trees have been cut down quite a bit due to the housing and business growth, there is still alot of trees in New England. Here in CT, the state allows you to cut in the State forests. You can cut in certain areas, for around $10 per year for the permit. Wood fuel is renewable, unlike, oil, NG, etc. That is why I will enjoy heating with it.

 

[PAJerry]

I agree with Paul, especially since the guys that use pellets in this area (NW Pa) can't get them for any price. Seems like they've given control of their destiny to the pellet makers instead of the gas company. A friend of mine bought for $140 a ton last summer and is now being quoted $208 IF they can get any. I plan to use my 4 acres of woods wisely, which is why we are shopping for an insert.

The comment about the forests in New England at the turn of the last century was thought provoking, but I think that with all the strides in improving stove efficiency and home insulation, use of wood will not result in the same de-forestation. We also know more about how to harvest sustainably.

 

[Mo Heat]

While pellets are not necessarily cheaper than wood or NG, they do offer other benefits. Convenience, renewable resource, local economy support (sometimes), recycle of otherwise wasted materials, cleaner storage, etc. Different tools for different requirements. Wood stove here, pellet stove there, NG here, propane there, etc.

 

[paulgp602]

I agree with Paul, especially since the guys that use pellets in this area (NW Pa) can't get them for any price. Seems like they've given control of their destiny to the pellet makers instead of the gas company. A friend of mine bought for $140 a ton last summer and is now being quoted $208 IF they can get any. I plan to use my 4 acres of woods wisely, which is why we are shopping for an insert.

The comment about the forests in New England at the turn of the last century was thought provoking, but I think that with all the strides in improving stove efficiency and home insulation, use of wood will not result in the same de-forestation. We also know more about how to harvest sustainably.

In the olden days ,wood was "it" for heating and cooking. Today, there are so many other ways to heat, that wood is no longer the norm. Sure, if we all heated with wood like 100-200 years ago, the forests would all be gone. People have gotten very conditioned and lazy over the past couple centuries, which is good for us wood burners I guess...

 

[begreen]

While pellets are not necessarily cheaper than wood or NG, they do offer other benefits. Convenience, renewable resource, local economy support (sometimes), recycle of otherwise wasted materials, cleaner storage, etc. Different tools for different requirements. Wood stove here, pellet stove there, NG here, propane there, etc.

I add clean burning to that list.

 

[begreen]

Before jumping on the pellet industry it might be good to note that the whole alternative heating industry was unprepared for the sudden increase in fuel costs after Katrina. Stoves were no more available than the pellets. I don't fault them for this. They made contracts that they had to honor long in advance of natural and political disasters. FWIW, our NW pellet supply always has been steady, reliable and reasonably priced. This year has not been an exception locally except for a few gougers. Now that there is a larger customer base in the east coast, I suspect there will be a serious ramp up in the pellet supply chain to meet the demand.

 

[Shane]

My comment was directed at both manufacturers of appliances and fuel. I really don't think that Katrina is solely to blame for the surge in wood and pellet stove sales. Industry wide the pellet market was growing at a steady pace for a couple years before Katrina. I think it was largely ignored by manufacturers I believe many thought it to be an anomaly.

 

[CK-1]

My comment was directed at both manufacturers of appliances and fuel. I really don't think that Katrina is solely to blame for the surge in wood and pellet stove sales. Industry wide the pellet market was growing at a steady pace for a couple years before Katrina. I think it was largely ignored by manufacturers I believe many thought it to be an anomaly.

It was the surge in energy prices due to the effects of Katrina. Alot of people where converting over to Pellet Stoves and throwing away there old Cast Iron one with no glass door. Since the fuel surge of gas, oil and electric more people are buying Pellet Stoves and putting them anywhere. When driving by or visiting a local hardware store or fireplace shop, its common to see sign posted saying there out of Pellets. I never saw a sign posted stating that last year or years before..

 

[drizler]

Burn corn or at least a healthy mix of it. People who thought it crazy now are finding that you can burn a fairly high percentage of corn in any pellet stove. If nothing else it will help you stretch what you have.