My first year buying pellets. I found Barefoot for 230/ton and TSC white bag Lignetics for 235/ton. Which is a better deal and are these typical prices for these brands this year? Anyone in central PA with other suggestions? Thanks for any feedback.
First time buyer. Which is a better deal?
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Not sure where in central PA you are but cove stake products has barefoots for $200 per ton but he said the price is to go up any day now. I tried a few of the TSC bags last year they were junk. Ecoblaze at Tussey mountain mulch in roaring springs pa is $200-215 depending on if the sale is still going on. Hamers hot ones in duncansville pa are $185 cash or $189 credit price per ton.
jertola
Member
I have burned those Barefoot pellets for my first two heating seasons. You can't go wrong with them. I burned the Clean Energy pellets last winter which from what I understand are rebagged Hamers for Lowe's. A little ashy but I would buy them again if I saw them. TSC has several suppliers so you have to check the barcode to find out who made them.
I found he barefoots to work very well in my Harman...they throw out great heat but they do have a bit of ash to them...not as severe as some other brands but I consider it a fair trade off to the heat output...if I have to clean my stove a little more to keep he house warm, I'm ok with that. Agree on the white bag TSC roulette...depends on who is making them for TSC..the barcode will help you decipher that. For me, I burned a few bags of these and hated them. I can't remember now who produced them but I know they weren't a lignetics or another premium brand. They may have been a NEWP brand as I recall now. I would go with the barefoots. The rebags can be good or bad.
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Louderr57
New Member
I am in Northern Ca. And I have burned several different bags. My son works at a feed store called Ag Unlimited and they sell a white bag with gold print called Clean Burn pellets. I get them with his discount for 4.90 a bag out the door tax included. I bought 10 bags and they are burning pretty good in my US King stobe we bought 3 years ago at TSC. Its the bigger one with the 3 bag hopper top feed. He sells another brand and the bag looks the same but they are called Golden Fire. They are supposeably 2 different companies. I guess I would have to scan the barcodes to see who actually manufactures them. Low ash and they seem to put out good heat for a hardwood pellet. Will post more info as I het it. I dont like the wht bags with Blue printing. Lots of ash and barely the heat although they advertise on the bad differently. Beware all pellets are not alike as I have found out over the last 4 years of burning pellets.
Louderr57
New Member
Turns out the Cleanburn pellets are made by Manke Lumber in Washington state. I am happy with them. The white bags with the blue writing are manufactured by Affiliated in Portland, Oregon. They dont burn as hot. However the Cleanburn brand says they are Premium hardwood pellets and the others dont say. 0854731000 is the number on them. The Cleanburn pellets number is 087580006 they are Tacoma Washington. FYI
dotman17
Member
I live in Washington state and don't burn Cleanburn. Get yourself some pellets coming out of Shelton, WA instead. These would be the Olympus, Sierra Supremes, or Cascade pellet brands. The Golden Fire are quality pellets too and are the upper brand for Bear Mountain brand coming out of Oregon. All these douglas fir pellets are by FAR your hottest and cleanest burning pellet -- but they may not be economical depending on where you live. If it were me, I'd be getting those Golden Fire's over the Cleanburn any day.
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Jhawknseattle
Member
100% agree about golden fire. I also bought some clean burn but they do not burn as hot and seem to have a lot of dust in the bag as well. I purchased clean burn for 4.25 a bag and golden fire for around 4.90.
dotman17
Member
I see you are in Lake Stevens. So am I. The best place I've found to buy pellets (cheapest) is Coastal Farm and Ranch in Mt. Vernon if you are buying by the ton. They're opening a store here in Marysville in February. They sell Golden Fire, Bear Mountain, and their own brand Coastal (which is really Sierra Supremes). These own brand ones are made by Pacific Coast Pellets out of Shelton and are one of the best (if not the best) on the market. Folks back east know them as Olympus. If you follow Coastal Farm and Ranch, even though their everyday prices are better than most by the ton, they have like 4-5 sales a year too and you can get some really good deals. All these brands I mention are Douglas Fir pellets and their the best -- at dirt cheap prices. Guys back East would kill to get the kind of prices we get.
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Jhawknseattle
Member
Great to know. This is my first year burning pellets and I bought a ton of golden fires from the Snohomish coop. A coworker of mine was telling me about the new place opening soon in Marysville. Will definitely check it out. The coop sells the coastal farms too but I haven't seen much reviews on them so I appreciate the recommendation. They were right at 4 bucks a bag if you bought a ton. Of course this was a non sale November price.
dotman17
Member
The Snohomish Coop has their own pellet and that too is made in Shelton. It's the same pellet as Olympus, Sierra Supreme, Cascade, and Coastal. And it's probably the best out there. And if you buy them at Coastal or Coop, they are the cheapest. Don't let that fool you! I reached out to the guy in Shelton and he said all those brands are the exact same pellet -- just different bags and marketing. Having said that, if you can't get those, then I'd strongly recommend Bear Mountain or Golden Fire (same manufacturer -- just different brands) out of Oregon. Greater heat and less ash. Less ash means less stove cleanings.
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dotman17
Member
I'm burning Bear Mountain right now as I got a ridiculously low price at Coastal. I'm kicking myself for not buying more.
Jhawknseattle
Member
What time of the year do you tend to find the best deals? I missed a sale at the coop in Snohomish when I bought mine but I haven't a clue what the sale price would have been.
dotman17
Member
You can ask to get on a mailing list at the Snohomish Coop. Another decent place is Dayville Hay and Grain. And then Coastal has them throughout the year. I haven't been able to peg a date on them. I know I bought my Bear Mountains at the best price ever during a 4 hour store sale in December that we luckily stumbled on to and bought a ton of Bear Mountains for $177! But Spring and Summer is usually your best bet. You just have to call them. Usually $209 for a ton of Bear Mountain and $200 or $205 for Coastal. But it's sales, so no guarantees. But that's what they were going for typically on sale prices or less for 2017.
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dotman17
Member
We also discovered that Lowes in Everett sometimes has seasonal sales at the end of February. We bought 2 tons of Sierra Supreme at 20% off for like $209 bucks. But just this last month I learned that same pellet was sold under local names like Coastal pellets and Snohomish Co-op pellets... and those places are most likely going to beat that Lowe's price.
Bottom line is if I can get a ton of Douglas Fir pellets for around $210 pre-tax, I consider it a great deal. That comes to about $228 post tax. I need 4 tons to heat my 2200 sq/ft house. That's like $920 to heat my house for the whole year.
Bottom line is if I can get a ton of Douglas Fir pellets for around $210 pre-tax, I consider it a great deal. That comes to about $228 post tax. I need 4 tons to heat my 2200 sq/ft house. That's like $920 to heat my house for the whole year.
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Jhawknseattle
Member
Yeah I'm still trying to figure exactly how much I need. I got the stove installed in the middle of December and have used half a ton so far but the last week has been very mild especially with the 63 degree day yesterday. I've got an 1800 sq foot rambler that's pretty open and even when we were down in the 20s over night I could heat the entire house without having to kick on any wall heaters on the lowest heat setting so I was pretty thrilled with that. My neighbor was saying he would get 2 tons a year when he had his but I like my house warm and I'm thinking I'll probably get 3 this next year. I went ahead and followed you on this site, if I come across any good deals I'll shoot you a message. If you could do the same I'd appreciate it as well.
dotman17
Member
My wife likes it warm too. I go through about 3 1/2 myself. At 4 tons with those prices that's $76.67 an average per month to heat my 2100 sq/ft house quite comfortably. Since I don't use 4 tons totally, I am guessing that's closer to $70. Quite reasonable.
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