Early buy delivered this morning.

[alternativeheat]

Burned a bag or 2 of FU''s... wouldn't buy again but can't remember why... it was in my 1st month or so of having a stove..

I had five bags of FU expecting big things, tons of ash. Like you, was early on in my experimenting with pellet brands. Couldn't wait to get through with them. People rave about them here but I have no idea why !

 

[karen_in_nh_2014]

Hi, all! I too have been thinking about pre-buying for next winter ... I actually have ~4 tons left from this past winter (I started with 8 tons -- used 4 tons plus about 150 gallons of oil, compared to ~750-800 gallons of oil the previous year!). I have 2 oil tanks and at least 350 gallons of oil left, so I am actually probably all set for next year, but I figured why not stock up? (Plenty of room in my garage for lots of pellets!)

Having said that, I was unhappy to see that my pellet supplier (woodpellets.com) is charging about $35/ton more for the same pellets I bought in spring '13 (Cleanfire Hardwood) -- a 14% increase. They worked well this past winter (which was brutal!!), but they seem really expensive to me now, considering that my local HD sold pellets this past winter for $219/ton (but of course you never know what kind of pellet you'll get). I put money aside in my "heat account" each month and have close to $3,000 in it now, so I can pay cash for lots of tons.

I was thinking of waiting until the fall and buying several tons from HD -- even if their prices go up $20/ton, that's still quite a bit cheaper than woodpellets.com. (I would then likely mix the CH pellets with the Home Depot ones, which I assume will be somewhat lower quality. OTOH, I have a Harman Accentra 52i, which is pretty good about burning just about anything, from what I've read.)

So what's your opinion: should I stick with the higher-priced pellets or wait 'til September and hope for the best from HD's pellets?

 

[St_Earl]

you can always mix the cheap with the pricey ones you have left.
i've decided to go back to the budget brand (mwp blend)
after trying more expensive pellets, it just didn't pan out as a cheaper way to go.

maybe if i had a stove that could infinitely vary the feed rate, i could benefit from a premium pellets extra btus.
but with just three settings, i'll be feeding the same amount per hour when it's cold. and the mwp's have proven they can keep me warm.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/pre-buy-from-sibs-in-jay.127584/#post-1721907

 

[karen_in_nh_2014]

you can always mix the cheap with the pricey ones you have left.
i've decided to go back to the budget brand (mwp blend)
after trying more expensive pellets, it just didn't pan out as a cheaper way to go.


maybe if i had a stove that could infinitely vary the feed rate i could benefit from a premium pellets extra btus. but with just three settings, i'll be feeding the same amount per hour when it's cold. and the mwp's have proven they can keep me warm.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/pre-buy-from-sibs-in-jay.127584/#post-1721907

MWP, that's Maine Wood Pellets, right? My local HD says they have a "limited quantity" of those right now ... well, actually, that's the brand they list online, but I just called the store and they have Green Supreme. Hmmm. I will have to do some research on those -- I've heard of them but I can't remember WHAT I've heard!

 

[St_Earl]

well, our house is pretty small. (925 sq. feet)
these work well for us. but something else may make sense for you.
and with a harman, from what i read, a hotter pellet will be fed more slowly.
i just can't bring myself to pay near $300 when i know these work for me even well below zero.

 

[karen_in_nh_2014]

well, our house is pretty small. (925 sq. feet)
these work well for us. but something else may make sense for you.
and with a harman, from what i read, a hotter pellet will be fed more slowly.
i just can't bring myself to pay near $300 when i know these work for me even well below zero.

Sorry, when you write "these," I assume you mean Maine Wood Pellets? That's what my local HD was LISTED as having online, but when I called the store I found out they have Green Supremes instead (23+ tons at the moment). Do you have any experience with that brand?

I agree about the pricing -- last spring I paid $245/ton and this year it's $280/ton. When it's that close to $300 I start looking for other options.

 

[alternativeheat]

Sorry, when you write "these," I assume you mean Maine Wood Pellets? That's what my local HD was LISTED as having online, but when I called the store I found out they have Green Supremes instead (23+ tons at the moment). Do you have any experience with that brand?

I agree about the pricing -- last spring I paid $245/ton and this year it's $280/ton. When it's that close to $300 I start looking for other options.

I have not read good things about Green Supreme so I stayed away when my HD had them here. THey are done stocking pellets for this season, have to wait till next and see what shows up.

I can tell you that the Maine Wood all hardwoods burned well in my P61a. Absolutely more ash than a more premium pellet, so you clear the burn pot a few times per day. On a Harman that is not a problem, just scrape it off. Some stoves you need to shut down to do that but not a Harman. Anyway, the hard wood version of these gave very good heat.

Just one last disclaimer. Everyone on the board says basically that pellets can vary from year to year. If your stove runs on the edge of heating your place in terms of size then you might want to buy a few of a batch before you lay them in for next winters stash. I'm hearing that Tractor Supply may be changing suppliers throughout their system for instance. In a case like that I wouldn't just order them up but try them first.

 

[karen_in_nh_2014]

I have not read good things about Green Supreme so I stayed away when my HD had them here. THey are done stocking pellets for this season, have to wait till next and see what shows up.

I can tell you that the Maine Wood all hardwoods burned well in my P61a. Absolutely more ash than a more premium pellet, so you clear the burn pot a few times per day. On a Harman that is not a problem, just scrape it off. Some stoves you need to shut down to do that but not a Harman. Anyway, the hard wood version of these gave very good heat.

Just one last disclaimer. Everyone on the board says basically that pellets can vary from year to year. If your stove runs on the edge of heating your place in terms of size then you might want to buy a few of a batch before you lay them in for next winters stash. I'm hearing that Tractor Supply may be changing suppliers throughout their system for instance. In a case like that I wouldn't just order them up but try them first.

I was planning to buy 6-7 tons from my HD but only AFTER reading some reviews. A lot of HD reviewers who mentioned the brand (so many don't mention the brand, which makes their reviews basically useless, aagggh) had bad experiences with Green Supreme, although the biggest complaint seemed to be a lot of ash. (If THAT is the problem, I can deal with it, as I usually empty the ash pan every 2-3 days anyway.) OTOH, a lot of hearth.com posters said the Green Supreme worked very well. So lots of mixed opinions!

Normally I would go buy a few bags to try them out, but given our current weather I doubt that I would go through even a bag a day, and I suspect by 3-4 days from now my local HD will be sold out yet again (they only have 23 tons left as of tonight). Trying bags out works great at the start of the season when they have plenty ... not so much now, alas.

Maybe I will just buy a couple of tons ... at a price difference of $60/ton over what I would normally buy, though, I am just so tempted to buy a lot!

Thanks for replying!

 

[alternativeheat]

I was planning to buy 6-7 tons from my HD but only AFTER reading some reviews. A lot of HD reviewers who mentioned the brand (so many don't mention the brand, which makes their reviews basically useless, aagggh) had bad experiences with Green Supreme, although the biggest complaint seemed to be a lot of ash. (If THAT is the problem, I can deal with it, as I usually empty the ash pan every 2-3 days anyway.) OTOH, a lot of hearth.com posters said the Green Supreme worked very well. So lots of mixed opinions!

Normally I would go buy a few bags to try them out, but given our current weather I doubt that I would go through even a bag a day, and I suspect by 3-4 days from now my local HD will be sold out yet again (they only have 23 tons left as of tonight). Trying bags out works great at the start of the season when they have plenty ... not so much now, alas.

Maybe I will just buy a couple of tons ... at a price difference of $60/ton over what I would normally buy, though, I am just so tempted to buy a lot!

Thanks for replying!

Well at least with HD I bet you get a reply. None so far from the two dealers I contacted today. Bet the Cape run turns them Off ! That would be typical and part of why most of us pick up our pellets. You would think this was a foreign country down here.

 

[Pellet-King]

Last thing I want to think about or buy right now is PELLET's Your all F'n nut's!, paying top dollar too, time to stop reading here too, summer is around to corner, who wants to be stacking pellets or even cleaning a stove, my stove is loaded with ash and it will stay that way until sept-oct!!

 

[karen_in_nh_2014]

Last thing I want to think about or buy right now is PELLET's Your all F'n nut's!, paying top dollar too, time to stop reading here too, summer is around to corner, who wants to be stacking pellets or even cleaning a stove, my stove is loaded with ash and it will stay that way until sept-oct!!

lol, um, $219/ton is the cheapest price in my area for at least the past couple of years -- not "top dollar"! And I take delivery directly into my garage ... lots of room there.

(But I definitely am a plan-ahead kind of woman!!)

 

[urkiddin]

This was not my experience with them. They manufacture them at more than one facility maybe ? Or by chance yours didn't get wet did they ? My only negative was competing with La Crete they burned abit more quickly with a little more ash as I stated someplace around here.

If they got wet then it was at wood pellets.com or on the truck. They were delivered and went right into the garage. They didn't look wet or soggy so no it was a manufacturer problem. These are chips not pellets. Sure the whole bags weren't like this but I sift my pellets and this is what the bottom of the bags were like.

 

[Tonyray]

If they got wet then it was at wood pellets.com or on the truck. They were delivered and went right into the garage. They didn't look wet or soggy so no it was a manufacturer problem. These are chips not pellets. Sure the whole bags weren't like this but I sift my pellets and this is what the bottom of the bags were like.View attachment 132883

 

[Tonyray]

I think one thing here that's not discussed much and that is having an Oversized stove as opposed to undersized.
my P61A is really oversized for my house but mostly running it at half way, regardless of pellets used, there is always room to throttle it up a lot more
so that even a "so called Shoulder pellet" would produce more than enough heat just due to having the capacity to blow out 61,000 BTU's per hour.
so much for Big Box Store pellets vrs 300.00 ton pellets..both are going to keep us warm...

 

[St_Earl]

Last thing I want to think about or buy right now is PELLET's Your all F'n nut's!, paying top dollar too, time to stop reading here too, summer is around to corner, who wants to be stacking pellets or even cleaning a stove, my stove is loaded with ash and it will stay that way until sept-oct!!

i always lay my stash in in the spring.
i get them all dropped right at the hatch to my bunker.
a few hours work and they are all in and stacked.
no moaning and whining about shortages come fall/winter.

 

[chken]

If they got wet then it was at wood pellets.com or on the truck. They were delivered and went right into the garage. They didn't look wet or soggy so no it was a manufacturer problem. These are chips not pellets. Sure the whole bags weren't like this but I sift my pellets and this is what the bottom of the bags were like.View attachment 132883

Wow, that stinks. My experience, 1 ton of LGs, was that they were the best pellets I've seen. No fines, and little ash. I even posted a thread with a picture of the pellets in my hopper. They were like little pieces of french bread, they were so clean and crisp looking.

 

[alternativeheat]

If they got wet then it was at wood pellets.com or on the truck. They were delivered and went right into the garage. They didn't look wet or soggy so no it was a manufacturer problem. These are chips not pellets. Sure the whole bags weren't like this but I sift my pellets and this is what the bottom of the bags were like.View attachment 132883

Well that's a crappy pellet ! However, again it was not my experience with them. I have to think they have more than one facility and the one that produced yours dropped the ball.

Incidentally wet pellets blow up like a balloon when they dry they dry out and crumble to saw dust. I had the top bags of some Energex that had gotten wet at the dealer, about one third of the pellets at the very top of maybe 6 of the bags did that. I scraped them off and burned the rest in my P61. Burned fine but the fines box filled a little faster than usual.

 

[alternativeheat]

i always lay my stash in in the spring.
i get them all dropped right at the hatch to my bunker.
a few hours work and they are all in and stacked.
no moaning and whining about shortages come fall/winter.

I have to go out of my area if I want to stash pellets now and that means a minimum of a an 80 mile road trip round trip.. Nobody really stocking anything till late Aug or Sept here. I can put my order in now though and reserve 4 pallets if I choose to do that. Two places will also hold them for me, then go get them as I need them. That way I could bring home a ton at a time as I use them up next winter ( my little trailer will only hold one ton at a time). But in the fall everyone will have pellets anyway, HD, Lowes and TSC, The Cement Company, the stove shops etc etc etc. It's a fall thing here, they all have patio furniture, gas grills and gardening supplies now. no pellets at all. Just the Cement Company has them and at that only one of the three types they normally carry. My wife was driving by there yesterday and swung in to pick up 4 bags, which means now I have 5 bags. That will do it for this year, I'm barely burning now, just overnight in automatic, the stove barely runs. It burned 1/4 of a hopper overnight since 4 pm yesterday and will be off over the weekend.

 

[TimfromMA]

Last thing I want to think about or buy right now is PELLET's Your all F'n nut's!, paying top dollar too, time to stop reading here too, summer is around to corner, who wants to be stacking pellets or even cleaning a stove, my stove is loaded with ash and it will stay that way until sept-oct!!

It's called being prepared. That type of thinking is what caused so many people to have to scramble to find pellets during the shortage. As for me, I can probably stretch my stash for 2 years if I needed too. My stove hasn't had it end of season cleaning yet since I still use it a little at night. When cold temperatures do indeed return next fall, All I will have to do is dump some pellets in the stove and push the on button.

 

[alternativeheat]

It's called being prepared. That type of thinking is what caused so many people to have to scramble to find pellets during the shortage. As for me, I can probably stretch my stash for 2 years if I needed too. My stove hasn't had it end of season cleaning yet since I still use it a little at night. When cold temperatures do indeed return next fall, All I will have to do is dump some pellets in the stove and push the on button.

September here is our most beautiful weather of the year IMO. We won't be burning in Sept if all holds out as usual. It's a good month to lay in supplies for the winter, finish up any exterior paint work etc. October becomes impossible for those chores ( exterior painting and the like, obviously one could still stash pellets) and quickly, around the 15th will come the first frost etc. the shadows get long, the ground stays damp and so on. But real burning won't begin till Nov. and some years Dec. So plenty of time from Aug when the first pellets will show up and the end of Sept or early Oct to get pellets stored. No rush to get them in the spring here, heck they aren't even really available as I mentioned in my other post. I may put an order in in the spring though, depends if anyone returns my phone calls and emails I have in to them.. I'm not counting on that happening though.

 

[JohnD]

I have burned the Okanagon DF, and was blown away! They are super hot! Could hardly stand in front of the stove! I have also, never seen a bag of pellets with no dust! That's right.....No Dust What So Ever! I was amazed! Only problem was the same that others mentioned about these amazing pellets, was the amazingly high price! $8.00/bag cash and carry! I only bought 5 bags to test them out. Wish I could afford to burn these all the time! After burning all 5 bags, I went to clean the stove....I am not exaggerating when I say, there was barely enough fly ash to brush off of the top of the fire pot or ash box. I live in Salem, NH, and bought these pellets at East Coast Lumber on RTE 111. Anyone know where I can find these a bit cheaper? Thanks!
If I don't end up with these, anyone have an opinion on North Country? I've seen them for sale at Pellets Direct.
My go to pellet is Maine Woods blend. My Quad CB 1200 loves these pellets as much as me! $250/ton is awesome price for this clean, hot consistent pellet!

 

[TimfromMA]

I have burned the Okanagon DF, and was blown away! They are super hot! Could hardly stand in front of the stove! I have also, never seen a bag of pellets with no dust! That's right.....No Dust What So Ever! I was amazed! Only problem was the same that others mentioned about these amazing pellets, was the amazingly high price! $8.00/bag cash and carry! I only bought 5 bags to test them out. Wish I could afford to burn these all the time! After burning all 5 bags, I went to clean the stove....I am not exaggerating when I say, there was barely enough fly ash to brush off of the top of the fire pot or ash box. I live in Salem, NH, and bought these pellets at East Coast Lumber on RTE 111. Anyone know where I can find these a bit cheaper? Thanks!
If I don't end up with these, anyone have an opinion on North Country? I've seen them for sale at Pellets Direct.
My go to pellet is Maine Woods blend. My Quad CB 1200 loves these pellets as much as me! $250/ton is awesome price for this clean, hot consistent pellet!

It's a bit out of your area but Royal Fireside in Mendon, MA has them for $345 per ton which calculates to $6.90 per bag.