Nightmares -- or daydreams -- on 2021 pellet costs?

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I had a hard time finding softwoods and good pellets until I started looking around for local hearth stores/dealers.
 
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Yes, and funny enough the one of the dealers has good softwoods at practically the same prices as the crappy big box stuff.
 
maraakate said:
Yes, and funny enough the one of the dealers has good softwoods at practically the same prices as the crappy big box stuff.
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Thats good. I usually pay around 50.00 more a ton for the good softies.. not bad. Some wont pay that but people will spend that for one takeout meal while the ton of pellets last heck of a lot longer.. month or for some....
 
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Even if you're frugal, I think the time you save from having to clean the stove more frequently and the extra heat output make that $50/ton not a bad deal at all.
 
maraakate said:
Even if you're frugal, I think the time you save from having to clean the stove more frequently and the extra heat output make that $50/ton not a bad deal at all.
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For me, it is worth it to run the middling pellets from the local TSC. So what if I have to clean the P43 every 2 or 3 weeks (this year has been mild enough that it is 3 or more weeks). Not like cleaning the stoves is keeping me from doing something else that I want to do.

Of course my house is small, so I don't need big heat - neither stove works hard, that's for sure. I'm certainly happy to burn better pellets when the opportunity presents itself for the P43. However, the P61a just plain needs to run the middling pellets since it is heating such a small space . With really good pellets it will literally only run minutes to get the room air to temp, which doesn't produce great results in the firebox. When I was still heating the foundation and concrete floor, that wasn't an issue.

But, I recognize my circumstances are unique and I cheer you guys on from the sidelines when you can find great pellets.
 
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I have never seen softwood pellets around me. I used Hamers for a few years and really liked them. I bought them from a place about 40 miles away and they delivered to me for 60 bucks not bad as I would get 3 -4 ton. I had a guy with a high lift unload them for me, I think that was part of the reason delivery was cheap the driver wasn't waiting around for them to be unloaded by hand. They guy I had unloading his high lift broke down, and I ended getting AWP from the local feed store, they deliver and unload stack right inside my garage. But it is 27 a ton for delivery. I had 270 each in 3 ton this year.
 
Hamer's are supposed to be great hardwoods, but I never burned them. The hearth store I get the Easy Blaze Softwoods from also has Hamer's and Turman's but funny enough those are slightly more than the Easy Blaze and I'm very satisfied with them never had a reason to try the others.
 
I expect to burn 7 tons of pellets this season. Seven times $50 would cover an extra ton of pellets and then some. A limited selection of softwood pellets is available here, and I haven't noticed a big increase in heat output when I burn them. They're certainly clean burning. Maybe their quality isn't on a par with other manufacturers'.

We have a few pellet factories here in the Western Great Lakes. I suspect their "hardwood" pellets are mostly poplar and maple. Once in a while I stock up on Somerset hardwoods, most likely oak and hickory. I certainly get fractionally more heat out of the Sets than local brands ... but the last time I checked, the Somerset retailer here wanted $280/ton. I did an early buy at TSC for $210/skid. The Sets' extra BTU output isn't worth the extra outlay.
 
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If you're satisfied thats all that matters. Where i live the tsc and other big box hardwoods were terrible. Low heat output unless the feed rate and heat mode was maxed out and they required more frequent cleaning on the burn pot.
 
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Yup lots of Soft Wood Pellets here in Pacific NW. No Hardwood at all (Except Food Certified Ones). I think they are $175 last time I checked at Feed Store and 220 at ACE HW plus 70 bucks delivery. Plan on getting 2-3 tones (2 Tons leftover such warm winter).
 
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Dataman said:
Yup lots of Soft Wood Pellets here in Pacific NW. No Hardwood at all (Except Food Certified Ones). I think they are $175 last time I checked at Feed Store and 220 at ACE HW plus 70 bucks delivery. Plan on getting 2-3 tones (2 Tons leftover such warm winter).
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Ya play the hand you're dealt. I like that I can heat my home with fuel processed about 150 miles away. And if that benefits some loggers in my state, all the better.
 
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