Home Depot sale on wood pellets

[lordgrinz]

Your only kidding your selfs if you think pellets will go any lower and if they do it will be whats on hand at the big box stores just before the weather starts to turn better. You will have to be in the right place at the right time to get them any cheaper and they will probably be the junk, Inferno's, that no one wants. If you have the room I say get them stock piled using whatever long term financing you can get or rob some money out of the pillow your sleeping on.
I have just shy of 11 tons stashed and will get more a little later on.

Lower than what? Prices here are the same or higher then they were last Spring, 250-270 a ton here in Western MA for anything worth burning.

 

[jtakeman]

Understood, but if raw materials for making pellets are in short supply because new homes aren't being built and mills aren't making lumber, then the logs could just be used to make pellets.

There are some mills using logs to pellets. Vermont Wood pellets is one of them. There prices are no lower than any other mills. Due to having to hammer mill the chips to make a better(higher density) pellet. Chips don't compress as good as saw dust.

Why are we not seeing these low prices in Western MA?!!?!?

Cuzz youz guyz are richiez.

IMHO, The prices will climb in the east. West well probably not so much. Were all rich out here ya know! %-P

 

[lordgrinz]

Understood, but if raw materials for making pellets are in short supply because new homes aren't being built and mills aren't making lumber, then the logs could just be used to make pellets.

There are some mills using logs to pellets. Vermont Wood pellets is one of them. There prices are no lower than any other mills. Due to having to hammer mill the chips to make a better(higher density) pellet. Chips don't compress as good as saw dust.

Why are we not seeing these low prices in Western MA?!!?!?

Cuzz youz guyz are richiez.

IMHO, The prices will climb in the east. West well probably not so much. Were all rich out here ya know! %-P

Somebody forgot to tell my bank account about this

 

[FordMastertech]

Your only kidding your selfs if you think pellets will go any lower and if they do it will be whats on hand at the big box stores just before the weather starts to turn better. You will have to be in the right place at the right time to get them any cheaper and they will probably be the junk, Inferno's, that no one wants. If you have the room I say get them stock piled using whatever long term financing you can get or rob some money out of the pillow your sleeping on.
I have just shy of 11 tons stashed and will get more a little later on.

Lower than what? Prices here are the same or higher then they were last Spring, 250-270 a ton here in Western MA for anything worth burning.

Mainly the $187 a ton deals HD and Lowe's have running in some areas like mine. Use a 10% coupon and sweeten up the deal.

 

[Bigjim13]

Your only kidding your selfs if you think pellets will go any lower and if they do it will be whats on hand at the big box stores just before the weather starts to turn better. You will have to be in the right place at the right time to get them any cheaper and they will probably be the junk, Inferno's, that no one wants. If you have the room I say get them stock piled using whatever long term financing you can get or rob some money out of the pillow your sleeping on.
I have just shy of 11 tons stashed and will get more a little later on.

Lower than what? Prices here are the same or higher then they were last Spring, 250-270 a ton here in Western MA for anything worth burning.

I kinda see what your saying here in southern VT. We bought our stove in the summer of 2008 and scrambled a bit to find pellets. We finally bought 3 tons from our local TSC. In 2009 when we got our tax return we spent it on pellets. Prices had been climbing and we were worried about being able to find affordable pellets. WE settled on 4 tons of Maine Woods for $229/ton. They were ashy but OK. This year we have a new pellet plant, Vermont Wood Pellets, that has opened and their pick up prices have stayed right around $220-$240/ton. Right now they are $236.50/ton. At HD you can get freedom fuel for $187/ton but that is the only "deal" right now. Prices vary from $215-$260/ton depending on the store and the brand. I can't imagine them going that much higher in this area unless oil really goes WAY high, then we might see a bump in prices.

But who knows... I mean the last time oil went this high, it stayed high for awhile then crashed right along with the economy. IMHO if oil and gas go that high again, our economy is to fragile to keep them that high and we will have another crash. Of course I could be WAY wrong, I thought the Pats would beat the Jets after all!

 

[lordgrinz]

Your only kidding your selfs if you think pellets will go any lower and if they do it will be whats on hand at the big box stores just before the weather starts to turn better. You will have to be in the right place at the right time to get them any cheaper and they will probably be the junk, Inferno's, that no one wants. If you have the room I say get them stock piled using whatever long term financing you can get or rob some money out of the pillow your sleeping on.
I have just shy of 11 tons stashed and will get more a little later on.

Lower than what? Prices here are the same or higher then they were last Spring, 250-270 a ton here in Western MA for anything worth burning.

I kinda see what your saying here in southern VT. We bought our stove in the summer of 2008 and scrambled a bit to find pellets. We finally bought 3 tons from our local TSC. In 2009 when we got our tax return we spent it on pellets. Prices had been climbing and we were worried about being able to find affordable pellets. WE settled on 4 tons of Maine Woods for $229/ton. They were ashy but OK. This year we have a new pellet plant, Vermont Wood Pellets, that has opened and their pick up prices have stayed right around $220-$240/ton. Right now they are $236.50/ton. At HD you can get freedom fuel for $187/ton but that is the only "deal" right now. Prices vary from $215-$260/ton depending on the store and the brand. I can't imagine them going that much higher in this area unless oil really goes WAY high, then we might see a bump in prices.

But who knows... I mean the last time oil went this high, it stayed high for awhile then crashed right along with the economy. IMHO if oil and gas go that high again, our economy is to fragile to keep them that high and we will have another crash. Of course I could be WAY wrong, I thought the Pats would beat the Jets after all!

I noticed Woodpellets.com has the Cleanfire Pacific pellets at $289!?!?! Is there glue in the wood pellets they make? I am thinking someone must be sniffing too much of it.

 

[jtakeman]

Your only kidding your selfs if you think pellets will go any lower and if they do it will be whats on hand at the big box stores just before the weather starts to turn better. You will have to be in the right place at the right time to get them any cheaper and they will probably be the junk, Inferno's, that no one wants. If you have the room I say get them stock piled using whatever long term financing you can get or rob some money out of the pillow your sleeping on.
I have just shy of 11 tons stashed and will get more a little later on.

Lower than what? Prices here are the same or higher then they were last Spring, 250-270 a ton here in Western MA for anything worth burning.

I kinda see what your saying here in southern VT. We bought our stove in the summer of 2008 and scrambled a bit to find pellets. We finally bought 3 tons from our local TSC. In 2009 when we got our tax return we spent it on pellets. Prices had been climbing and we were worried about being able to find affordable pellets. WE settled on 4 tons of Maine Woods for $229/ton. They were ashy but OK. This year we have a new pellet plant, Vermont Wood Pellets, that has opened and their pick up prices have stayed right around $220-$240/ton. Right now they are $236.50/ton. At HD you can get freedom fuel for $187/ton but that is the only "deal" right now. Prices vary from $215-$260/ton depending on the store and the brand. I can't imagine them going that much higher in this area unless oil really goes WAY high, then we might see a bump in prices.

But who knows... I mean the last time oil went this high, it stayed high for awhile then crashed right along with the economy. IMHO if oil and gas go that high again, our economy is to fragile to keep them that high and we will have another crash. Of course I could be WAY wrong, I thought the Pats would beat the Jets after all!

I noticed Woodpellets.com has the Cleanfire Pacific pellets at $289!?!?! Is there glue in the wood pellets they make? I am thinking someone must be sniffing too much of it.

Pellet dealers aren't giving there pellets away like the bigbox's are. I doubt the bigboxes are making $10/ton on them! I still see pellets close to $300/ton in my area as well. I would say the average is about $250 to $260/ton from the dealers. But the topshelf stuff is still pretty darn high.

 

[mhagerty]

Must be the delivery area, I bought 3 tons of Cleanfire from them two weeks for $249 a ton with free delivery. I live in Southern NH.

 

[lordgrinz]

Your only kidding your selfs if you think pellets will go any lower and if they do it will be whats on hand at the big box stores just before the weather starts to turn better. You will have to be in the right place at the right time to get them any cheaper and they will probably be the junk, Inferno's, that no one wants. If you have the room I say get them stock piled using whatever long term financing you can get or rob some money out of the pillow your sleeping on.
I have just shy of 11 tons stashed and will get more a little later on.

Lower than what? Prices here are the same or higher then they were last Spring, 250-270 a ton here in Western MA for anything worth burning.

I kinda see what your saying here in southern VT. We bought our stove in the summer of 2008 and scrambled a bit to find pellets. We finally bought 3 tons from our local TSC. In 2009 when we got our tax return we spent it on pellets. Prices had been climbing and we were worried about being able to find affordable pellets. WE settled on 4 tons of Maine Woods for $229/ton. They were ashy but OK. This year we have a new pellet plant, Vermont Wood Pellets, that has opened and their pick up prices have stayed right around $220-$240/ton. Right now they are $236.50/ton. At HD you can get freedom fuel for $187/ton but that is the only "deal" right now. Prices vary from $215-$260/ton depending on the store and the brand. I can't imagine them going that much higher in this area unless oil really goes WAY high, then we might see a bump in prices.

But who knows... I mean the last time oil went this high, it stayed high for awhile then crashed right along with the economy. IMHO if oil and gas go that high again, our economy is to fragile to keep them that high and we will have another crash. Of course I could be WAY wrong, I thought the Pats would beat the Jets after all!

I noticed Woodpellets.com has the Cleanfire Pacific pellets at $289!?!?! Is there glue in the wood pellets they make? I am thinking someone must be sniffing too much of it.

Pellet dealers aren't giving there pellets away like the bigbox's are. I doubt the bigboxes are making $10/ton on them! I still see pellets close to $300/ton in my area as well. I would say the average is about $250 to $260/ton from the dealers. But the topshelf stuff is still pretty darn high.

Worst part is the delivery cost is about $25 per ton, not exactly cheap around here for pellets.

 

[chris288]

Pellets will be even cheaper next year when nobody is buying them because they are stacked to the gills this year at " rock bottom " prices.

 

[Greg M]

Your only kidding your selfs if you think pellets will go any lower and if they do it will be whats on hand at the big box stores just before the weather starts to turn better. You will have to be in the right place at the right time to get them any cheaper and they will probably be the junk, Inferno's, that no one wants. If you have the room I say get them stock piled using whatever long term financing you can get or rob some money out of the pillow your sleeping on.
I have just shy of 11 tons stashed and will get more a little later on.

Lower than what? Prices here are the same or higher then they were last Spring, 250-270 a ton here in Western MA for anything worth burning.

I kinda see what your saying here in southern VT. We bought our stove in the summer of 2008 and scrambled a bit to find pellets. We finally bought 3 tons from our local TSC. In 2009 when we got our tax return we spent it on pellets. Prices had been climbing and we were worried about being able to find affordable pellets. WE settled on 4 tons of Maine Woods for $229/ton. They were ashy but OK. This year we have a new pellet plant, Vermont Wood Pellets, that has opened and their pick up prices have stayed right around $220-$240/ton. Right now they are $236.50/ton. At HD you can get freedom fuel for $187/ton but that is the only "deal" right now. Prices vary from $215-$260/ton depending on the store and the brand. I can't imagine them going that much higher in this area unless oil really goes WAY high, then we might see a bump in prices.

But who knows... I mean the last time oil went this high, it stayed high for awhile then crashed right along with the economy. IMHO if oil and gas go that high again, our economy is to fragile to keep them that high and we will have another crash. Of course I could be WAY wrong, I thought the Pats would beat the Jets after all!

I noticed Woodpellets.com has the Cleanfire Pacific pellets at $289!?!?! Is there glue in the wood pellets they make? I am thinking someone must be sniffing too much of it.

Pellet dealers aren't giving there pellets away like the bigbox's are. I doubt the bigboxes are making $10/ton on them! I still see pellets close to $300/ton in my area as well. I would say the average is about $250 to $260/ton from the dealers. But the topshelf stuff is still pretty darn high.

Worst part is the delivery cost is about $25 per ton, not exactly cheap around here for pellets.

Think about the expense involved in delivering those pellets. $25 is pretty cheap. I bet that doesn't even cover expenses.

 

[lordgrinz]

Your only kidding your selfs if you think pellets will go any lower and if they do it will be whats on hand at the big box stores just before the weather starts to turn better. You will have to be in the right place at the right time to get them any cheaper and they will probably be the junk, Inferno's, that no one wants. If you have the room I say get them stock piled using whatever long term financing you can get or rob some money out of the pillow your sleeping on.
I have just shy of 11 tons stashed and will get more a little later on.

Lower than what? Prices here are the same or higher then they were last Spring, 250-270 a ton here in Western MA for anything worth burning.

I kinda see what your saying here in southern VT. We bought our stove in the summer of 2008 and scrambled a bit to find pellets. We finally bought 3 tons from our local TSC. In 2009 when we got our tax return we spent it on pellets. Prices had been climbing and we were worried about being able to find affordable pellets. WE settled on 4 tons of Maine Woods for $229/ton. They were ashy but OK. This year we have a new pellet plant, Vermont Wood Pellets, that has opened and their pick up prices have stayed right around $220-$240/ton. Right now they are $236.50/ton. At HD you can get freedom fuel for $187/ton but that is the only "deal" right now. Prices vary from $215-$260/ton depending on the store and the brand. I can't imagine them going that much higher in this area unless oil really goes WAY high, then we might see a bump in prices.

But who knows... I mean the last time oil went this high, it stayed high for awhile then crashed right along with the economy. IMHO if oil and gas go that high again, our economy is to fragile to keep them that high and we will have another crash. Of course I could be WAY wrong, I thought the Pats would beat the Jets after all!

I noticed Woodpellets.com has the Cleanfire Pacific pellets at $289!?!?! Is there glue in the wood pellets they make? I am thinking someone must be sniffing too much of it.

Pellet dealers aren't giving there pellets away like the bigbox's are. I doubt the bigboxes are making $10/ton on them! I still see pellets close to $300/ton in my area as well. I would say the average is about $250 to $260/ton from the dealers. But the topshelf stuff is still pretty darn high.

Worst part is the delivery cost is about $25 per ton, not exactly cheap around here for pellets.

Think about the expense involved in delivering those pellets. $25 is pretty cheap. I bet that doesn't even cover expenses.

All I think about is the cost to burn pellets compared to oil, and the extra work needed to take care of the pellet stove. Pellets need to stay much cheaper than oil to make it worth burning them, otherwise the pellet industry will implode from consumer backlash.

 

[FordMastertech]

Your only kidding your selfs if you think pellets will go any lower and if they do it will be whats on hand at the big box stores just before the weather starts to turn better. You will have to be in the right place at the right time to get them any cheaper and they will probably be the junk, Inferno's, that no one wants. If you have the room I say get them stock piled using whatever long term financing you can get or rob some money out of the pillow your sleeping on.
I have just shy of 11 tons stashed and will get more a little later on.

Lower than what? Prices here are the same or higher then they were last Spring, 250-270 a ton here in Western MA for anything worth burning.

I kinda see what your saying here in southern VT. We bought our stove in the summer of 2008 and scrambled a bit to find pellets. We finally bought 3 tons from our local TSC. In 2009 when we got our tax return we spent it on pellets. Prices had been climbing and we were worried about being able to find affordable pellets. WE settled on 4 tons of Maine Woods for $229/ton. They were ashy but OK. This year we have a new pellet plant, Vermont Wood Pellets, that has opened and their pick up prices have stayed right around $220-$240/ton. Right now they are $236.50/ton. At HD you can get freedom fuel for $187/ton but that is the only "deal" right now. Prices vary from $215-$260/ton depending on the store and the brand. I can't imagine them going that much higher in this area unless oil really goes WAY high, then we might see a bump in prices.

But who knows... I mean the last time oil went this high, it stayed high for awhile then crashed right along with the economy. IMHO if oil and gas go that high again, our economy is to fragile to keep them that high and we will have another crash. Of course I could be WAY wrong, I thought the Pats would beat the Jets after all!

I noticed Woodpellets.com has the Cleanfire Pacific pellets at $289!?!?! Is there glue in the wood pellets they make? I am thinking someone must be sniffing too much of it.

Pellet dealers aren't giving there pellets away like the bigbox's are. I doubt the bigboxes are making $10/ton on them! I still see pellets close to $300/ton in my area as well. I would say the average is about $250 to $260/ton from the dealers. But the topshelf stuff is still pretty darn high.

Worst part is the delivery cost is about $25 per ton, not exactly cheap around here for pellets.

Think about the expense involved in delivering those pellets. $25 is pretty cheap. I bet that doesn't even cover expenses.

Get chummy with someone who has something like this.

 

[Bigjim13]

Your only kidding your selfs if you think pellets will go any lower and if they do it will be whats on hand at the big box stores just before the weather starts to turn better. You will have to be in the right place at the right time to get them any cheaper and they will probably be the junk, Inferno's, that no one wants. If you have the room I say get them stock piled using whatever long term financing you can get or rob some money out of the pillow your sleeping on.
I have just shy of 11 tons stashed and will get more a little later on.

Lower than what? Prices here are the same or higher then they were last Spring, 250-270 a ton here in Western MA for anything worth burning.

I kinda see what your saying here in southern VT. We bought our stove in the summer of 2008 and scrambled a bit to find pellets. We finally bought 3 tons from our local TSC. In 2009 when we got our tax return we spent it on pellets. Prices had been climbing and we were worried about being able to find affordable pellets. WE settled on 4 tons of Maine Woods for $229/ton. They were ashy but OK. This year we have a new pellet plant, Vermont Wood Pellets, that has opened and their pick up prices have stayed right around $220-$240/ton. Right now they are $236.50/ton. At HD you can get freedom fuel for $187/ton but that is the only "deal" right now. Prices vary from $215-$260/ton depending on the store and the brand. I can't imagine them going that much higher in this area unless oil really goes WAY high, then we might see a bump in prices.

But who knows... I mean the last time oil went this high, it stayed high for awhile then crashed right along with the economy. IMHO if oil and gas go that high again, our economy is to fragile to keep them that high and we will have another crash. Of course I could be WAY wrong, I thought the Pats would beat the Jets after all!

I noticed Woodpellets.com has the Cleanfire Pacific pellets at $289!?!?! Is there glue in the wood pellets they make? I am thinking someone must be sniffing too much of it.

Pellet dealers aren't giving there pellets away like the bigbox's are. I doubt the bigboxes are making $10/ton on them! I still see pellets close to $300/ton in my area as well. I would say the average is about $250 to $260/ton from the dealers. But the topshelf stuff is still pretty darn high.

Worst part is the delivery cost is about $25 per ton, not exactly cheap around here for pellets.

Think about the expense involved in delivering those pellets. $25 is pretty cheap. I bet that doesn't even cover expenses.

All I think about is the cost to burn pellets compared to oil, and the extra work needed to take care of the pellet stove. Pellets need to stay much cheaper than oil to make it worth burning them, otherwise the pellet industry will implode from consumer backlash.

I definitely see what you're saying and if you have looked at Craigslist or other classifieds you will see that most people feel the same way about how much work a stove can be. Cost wise I break even with pellets being $225-$230/ton and oil at around $2/gal-this does not take into account getting and hauling the pellets, unloading them, stacking and storing them along with the cleaning that goes into owning a stove. So, in my mind, with pellets at $230/ton (pickup) I would say my break even point with oil would be oil around $2.50/gallon. I haven't seen that price in my area in about 15 months, over the summer you could get pre buy prices for oil at around $2.70 or so a gallon.

If pellets get up around $250-$275/ton it becomes less about beating the price of oil and just plain NOT using oil and reducing my dependency on it. But even when prices spiked in late 2008 and into 2009 I was able to find pellets for $229/ton. They were lower quality and more work but they kept the house warm and I didn't have to pay $3.50/gal for fuel oil.

Since I don't do anything in the winter anyway other than sleep, eat and work, I don't mind the extra cleaning and upkeep on my stove-it gives me something to do when there isn't football to watch.

 

[Bigjim13]

All I think about is the cost to burn pellets compared to oil, and the extra work needed to take care of the pellet stove. Pellets need to stay much cheaper than oil to make it worth burning them, otherwise the pellet industry will implode from consumer backlash.

Pellets are very much going to become more like oil. World demand will have more to do with setting the price than what the different parts of the US will pay. Higher prices for crude because of world demand (expecially in China/India and Europe) will certainly have there effect on what you will pay for pellets. The biggest competition for fiber is the pulp industry (for paper) and I think it is safe to say that 2011 will probably see a slight up tick in pricing. World demand for paper is growing. Coal is used to generate electricity in most parts of the world (coal is also on the rise) (nuclear is gaining, just not in the US), and the utilities are starting to use more chips/pellets to off set some of the negative effects of burning coal. The US will also do this someday and that will have huge effects on the pellet markets here. Of course the higher that oil goes, the more expensive it is to get product to market and that will effect pricing.

Personally, I don't understand the big boxes pricing right now, but it won't last too much longer......they will be out of the pellet business till fall again very soon. Very few if any really stock any past spring, and most of the stores now are just cleaning up the remaining orders they still have on the books, then that's it till fall. With the slow down in the economy, there has been an excessive amount of pellets on the home heating side of the market these last two seasons, but I think you will see that start to decrease this year. You have seen some evidence of that already in some parts of NE....Barefoot being a good example.

Currently pellets are considerably cheaper than oil and they are selling very well....as they should....it's been frigin cold in the mid-west and east, since around Xmas and its safe to say, most of you are using more pellets at this point in winter than in years past and since it looks like it will stay cold for awhile longer, a lot of you need to replace stock ... Not everyone, but a lot of you will.

There might be some deals to be had this spring, but if the economy picks up any and the world demand keeps up the pace they are currently on, I would not be surprised to see pellets on average $10-20 higher come fall than where they are right now....if oil does go to $150 again, then they will certainly be higher than that. That would be an easy call. Going lower from here will be tough...the boxes will be sold out shortly (some already are) and the better brands have really been selling well all the way thru this winter....so if you see a deal, you may want to jump on it....but being a producer, some of you might take whatever I say with a grain of salt anyways......stay warm.....

I agree with most, actually all of what you're saying. My question is this, what happens when Oil gets to $150/barrel again? I think the US economy is to fragile to handle that right now but the world market may support it so we may be "up a creek" on that front. If HHO and gas gets to $4+ per gallon and pellets hit a low price of $250-$275/ton it may just be to much for people here in my neck of the woods. There just aren't the jobs anymore to support the cost of living here. While my job is fairly secure now, if some of the bigger MFG jobs and factories close their doors, that leaves my job in the lurch. Each factor affects another.

Personally, I like using pellets and supporting locals (local to US, places like VT, ME, NH pellet makers etc) rather than supporting oil companies.

 

[Pellet-King]

Pretty much most of us are F$@#$%D in a few year's when the price of everything will be so high do to what the rich will feel were out the woods and in a boom economy.
I feel sorry for the kids today
Also Real estate will never be like 1960-2000, where else could you buy a house for 15k then it's worth 300k?, the day's of huge equity are long gone!!

 

[Harman Lover 007]

All I think about is the cost to burn pellets compared to oil, and the extra work needed to take care of the pellet stove. Pellets need to stay much cheaper than oil to make it worth burning them, otherwise the pellet industry will implode from consumer backlash.

Pellets are very much going to become more like oil. World demand will have more to do with setting the price than what the different parts of the US will pay. Higher prices for crude because of world demand (expecially in China/India and Europe) will certainly have there effect on what you will pay for pellets. The biggest competition for fiber is the pulp industry (for paper) and I think it is safe to say that 2011 will probably see a slight up tick in pricing. World demand for paper is growing. Coal is used to generate electricity in most parts of the world (coal is also on the rise) (nuclear is gaining, just not in the US), and the utilities are starting to use more chips/pellets to off set some of the negative effects of burning coal. The US will also do this someday and that will have huge effects on the pellet markets here. Of course the higher that oil goes, the more expensive it is to get product to market and that will effect pricing.

Personally, I don't understand the big boxes pricing right now, but it won't last too much longer......they will be out of the pellet business till fall again very soon. Very few if any really stock any past spring, and most of the stores now are just cleaning up the remaining orders they still have on the books, then that's it till fall. With the slow down in the economy, there has been an excessive amount of pellets on the home heating side of the market these last two seasons, but I think you will see that start to decrease this year. You have seen some evidence of that already in some parts of NE....Barefoot being a good example.

Currently pellets are considerably cheaper than oil and they are selling very well....as they should....it's been frigin cold in the mid-west and east, since around Xmas and its safe to say, most of you are using more pellets at this point in winter than in years past and since it looks like it will stay cold for awhile longer, a lot of you need to replace stock ... Not everyone, but a lot of you will.

There might be some deals to be had this spring, but if the economy picks up any and the world demand keeps up the pace they are currently on, I would not be surprised to see pellets on average $10-20 higher come fall than where they are right now....if oil does go to $150 again, then they will certainly be higher than that. That would be an easy call. Going lower from here will be tough...the boxes will be sold out shortly (some already are) and the better brands have really been selling well all the way thru this winter....so if you see a deal, you may want to jump on it....but being a producer, some of you might take whatever I say with a grain of salt anyways......stay warm.....

BTU,

I'm new to this rodeo (Hearth.com) but I've had a Harman stove and have been a consumer of pellets for 15 years. I also understand and agree with what you state here.

It might be the yankee in me but I refuse to buy into the supply and demand argument for pellet pricing. The fact of the matter is if the big box stores can sell a quality premium pellet for $165-$190 per ton, whatever the brand, then a pellet selling elsewhere for $250-$300 in just plain gouging.

As you know, being in the pellet business, the raw materials used from year to year can change and thus the quality changes. To pick on a couple of brands, I used Stove Chow about 10 years ago and it was absolutely junk. The supply I currently have is tremendously clean and burns very hot. On the other hand I have used NEWP from the Jaffrey NH facility for all of these 15 years. There have been some minor variations in quality over the years but this years batch is horrible. Lots of dust, very high ash and large clinkers.

In general, I don't price shop. Unfortunately this year I'm forced to.

 

[OrpingtonManor]

If you have the opportunity to price shop, you are very fortunate. Here, HD stocks pellets for roughly $5.50/bag, no discount for a ton, and no delivery. I bought my pellets from woodpellets.com both this year and last because I could get them for $5.00/bag, which included delivery. My local Ace Hardware charges $6.00/bag, not including delivery. Discounts on ton purchases ended long ago, 2007, I think. Next year, woodpellets.com has decided not to service the residential customer in this area anymore. I will be forced to pay ridiculous prices. I don't have any other source of heat.

My solution...put in a small woodstove and start scrounging for wood.

 

[lordgrinz]

Going to give 4 bags of Maine Woods Pellets a try, if they fall short, then I will be buying a couple more pallets of the Okies. Though I do hope they get the dust under control, probably the only drawback to Okies, other than the pungent smell.

 

[Bigjim13]

Going to give 4 bags of Maine Woods Pellets a try, if they fall short, then I will be buying a couple more pallets of the Okies. Though I do hope they get the dust under control, probably the only drawback to Okies, other than the pungent smell.

I burned 4 tons of MWP last year and from what I have heard they have improved this year. I thought the heat output was OK, they were very ashy and I noticed more than usual carbon build up with last years batch in my Harman. I paid $229/ton for 4 tons when everything else in my area was around $250/ton at least-none of these prices include delivery. I had to clean my stove pretty much on a weekly basis and was emptying my ashpan about every other week-the Harman manual says you can go through a ton before emptying the ash pan, but that I know varies depending on pellets.

All this being said, I would buy them again if their price stayed low and other pellets got significantly more pricey. I am lucky in that while we don't have alot of choices here in SOuthern VT, we have a range of choices that are pretty closely priced (with the exception of HD).

 

[lordgrinz]

Going to give 4 bags of Maine Woods Pellets a try, if they fall short, then I will be buying a couple more pallets of the Okies. Though I do hope they get the dust under control, probably the only drawback to Okies, other than the pungent smell.

I guess that is a compliment.....

I like the way they burn BTU ;-) I just have a problem with the dust, it is pretty bad in the batch I have, and I am unsure of the sticky residue in my hopper, not sure if that is normal or not, I didn't notice it with the NEWP's but those were really full of ash. I guess all pellets have some trade off, I just need to figure out which direction is best.

 

[countk]

All I think about is the cost to burn pellets compared to oil, and the extra work needed to take care of the pellet stove. Pellets need to stay much cheaper than oil to make it worth burning them, otherwise the pellet industry will implode from consumer backlash.

Pellets are very much going to become more like oil. World demand will have more to do with setting the price than what the different parts of the US will pay. Higher prices for crude because of world demand (expecially in China/India and Europe) will certainly have there effect on what you will pay for pellets. The biggest competition for fiber is the pulp industry (for paper) and I think it is safe to say that 2011 will probably see a slight up tick in pricing. World demand for paper is growing. Coal is used to generate electricity in most parts of the world (coal is also on the rise) (nuclear is gaining, just not in the US), and the utilities are starting to use more chips/pellets to off set some of the negative effects of burning coal. The US will also do this someday and that will have huge effects on the pellet markets here. Of course the higher that oil goes, the more expensive it is to get product to market and that will effect pricing.

Personally, I don't understand the big boxes pricing right now, but it won't last too much longer......they will be out of the pellet business till fall again very soon. Very few if any really stock any past spring, and most of the stores now are just cleaning up the remaining orders they still have on the books, then that's it till fall. With the slow down in the economy, there has been an excessive amount of pellets on the home heating side of the market these last two seasons, but I think you will see that start to decrease this year. You have seen some evidence of that already in some parts of NE....Barefoot being a good example.

Currently pellets are considerably cheaper than oil and they are selling very well....as they should....it's been frigin cold in the mid-west and east, since around Xmas and its safe to say, most of you are using more pellets at this point in winter than in years past and since it looks like it will stay cold for awhile longer, a lot of you need to replace stock ... Not everyone, but a lot of you will.

There might be some deals to be had this spring, but if the economy picks up any and the world demand keeps up the pace they are currently on, I would not be surprised to see pellets on average $10-20 higher come fall than where they are right now....if oil does go to $150 again, then they will certainly be higher than that. That would be an easy call. Going lower from here will be tough...the boxes will be sold out shortly (some already are) and the better brands have really been selling well all the way thru this winter....so if you see a deal, you may want to jump on it....but being a producer, some of you might take whatever I say with a grain of salt anyways......stay warm.....

BTU,

I'm new to this rodeo (Hearth.com) but I've had a Harman stove and have been a consumer of pellets for 15 years. I also understand and agree with what you state here.

It might be the yankee in me but I refuse to buy into the supply and demand argument for pellet pricing. The fact of the matter is if the big box stores can sell a quality premium pellet for $165-$190 per ton, whatever the brand, then a pellet selling elsewhere for $250-$300 in just plain gouging.

As you know, being in the pellet business, the raw materials used from year to year can change and thus the quality changes. To pick on a couple of brands, I used Stove Chow about 10 years ago and it was absolutely junk. The supply I currently have is tremendously clean and burns very hot. On the other hand I have used NEWP from the Jaffrey NH facility for all of these 15 years. There have been some minor variations in quality over the years but this years batch is horrible. Lots of dust, very high ash and large clinkers.

In general, I don't price shop. Unfortunately this year I'm forced to.

The big box stores can sell ANY product as a "loss leader" just like the big grocery stores will run specials on milk at times.......both of them will loose money, but they want your butts in the store.....a smaller hearth dealer can't do that and would be out of business in short order if they tried at times to go head to head with them. I pretty much know within a few dollars what most pellet producers sell their pellet for at just about any given time....as they do mine probably....and most retailers have to make a mark up to stay in business. That mark up will again probably be somewhere between $30-$50 per ton depending on a whole bunch of things......

Nobody is gouging anybody as the market is just too competitive for that right now......the boxes are selling either at or below cost in most cases (they average their costs over a whole area, whereas a dealer can't do that most of the time)

If you like the big box brands, I would suggest you stock up fast....they probably won't be around much after the end of the month....

While I understand a grocery store or convenient store selling milk as a loss leader, or coffee, (close to it at Cumberland Farms), IMHO it just doesn't make sense to me to sell pellets as a lost leader. If I'm going to Lowe's or HD to buy pellets, I'm buying pellets and nothing else, because they are not like a gallon of milk or bread, where you pick it up and can walk around and get something else. Besides which you go to Seasonal, have them loaded up and piled up in you car or truck, not likely to continue shopping.

Also both the HD and Lowe's near me just got shipments. So does that mean Corporate is still overstocked?? I say yes and that's good news for me. Just my 2 cents!

 

[chris288]

Anyone paying 265.00 / ton at their local hearth dealer, when they can get them for 187.00 / ton should just burn 100 dollar bills in their stove because it's obvious they don't need the money. Seems to me hearth dealers are doing whatever they can to sell stoves, this is the first year in a long time I went stove shopping, but I highly doubt they have been giving away 2 tons for free with a stove purchase for past several seasons. I paid top dollar for my whitfield in 1997 ( 2,500 ) and got 30 bags for free, and that was when pellets were 99.00 / ton.

 

[chris288]

choices are good, don't want to step on any hearth or pellet dealers toes, and to be honest the absolute best pellet I ever burned was dry creek at between 275-300.00 / ton, but I can buy 3 tons of BBS pellets for what 2 tons of Dry creek cost, I'd rather have the xtra ton of pellets and save myself 300.00 in the process. With that kind of savings, I can deal with a bit more ash or a tiny bit less heat.

 

[turbotech]

What I read from all this is that HD and Lowes won't be dropping the price another 10-15% before the end of the season. Maybe it is time to get some Greene Teams for 187/ton and some Okies for the heart of the cold season.
In terms of the current pricing vs the amount of work and cost to make a wood pellet I think it is too low. But that is just an opinion of a board stacker that used to work at a mill. I guess that is why I was only a laborer.