We bought the stove to get away from these kind of spikes but now the pellet industry is at the same game as oil.I am hoping that with heating oil dropping people will stop using pellets thus driving down demand for pellets thus dropping the price.We just need heating price to keep up with our pay increases say 3 to 4% not 50%. Why is it every year we have these hugh fluctuations in energy costs
Last year I paid $4 for pellets this year I paid $6 a bag whatever way you cut it thats a 50% increa
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Wet1 said:
$300/ton pellets looked pretty good when oil was headed for $5/gal.
Just like a lot of people locked in to oil for $4+/gal for the season, I locked in to $299/ton for 4 tons of pellets.
The pellets are paid for so they are getting burned.
Some vendors around my area have been asking $8 per bag. It kind of makes you wonder though. We are being asked not to hord and buy up pellets because it only adds to the current shortage, but they price the individual bag purchases so high that they are trying to get you to buy by the ton.
I can still find bags at $5.75 around here though.
I can still find bags at $5.75 around here though.
Paid $279.00 a ton for mine, and I am burning them as well. I want to make sure this new stove gets some of the kinks out of it, and I want to have a good understanding of what it takes to operate it for a full winter, with cleaning and maintenance. But, starting next year, I'll have pellets on hand, but whatever is cheaper is what is going to warm my house. Hopefully I can stock up in the off season, but not at outrageous prices, kind of defeats one of the main reasons I bought the stove. Love the looks of a fire in the house and the different kind of comfortable warmth throughout, but money is money.timalabim said:
yardleypa said:
I cannot imagine ANY reason why people would think pellet prices are more stable than oil or anything else.
Let's see...it's a new commodity, supply is short, the raw materials changes price often, it often needs to be transported far, etc. etc.
In fact, there is NO market forces which would tend to keep the prices stable.
Again, I wonder why folks would have thought so. We had a spike in pellet prices from $175 to over $300 just two years ago! Did people forget so quickly?
Yep, prices have gone up sharply since last year. Let's see...I paid $220 last year and $244 delivered this year...for a 2 year supply. When you go to buy them next December I wonder how much they'll be? If you want to use a stove as a cost cutting measure you must be willing to get your hands dirty doing your own maintenance, and you must be able to store fuel and be able to purchase it in bulk, off season. If prices are high this off season I won't buy any, but if they get close to $200 I'll get as many as I can store.
Does bad planning on your part make and emergency on mine?
I think the $200 a ton pricing is gone unless the building industry really takes off. The saw mills know they have a product they use to pay to have taken away is now in prime demand. What would you do in their situation. THINK!
Eric
I think the $200 a ton pricing is gone unless the building industry really takes off. The saw mills know they have a product they use to pay to have taken away is now in prime demand. What would you do in their situation. THINK!
Eric
I can only imagine that people are going to get sick of me and my semi-constant refrain. Please don't forget that when you buy pellets instead of oil, you're paying for your neighbor to have a job (if you're buying local). Right now I'm burning pellets at $249 a ton, while oil is "only" $1.99/gallon. As for economics, I bought my Quadrafire the day that oil hit $3.00/gallon last year, and even with oil at $1.99, it will have paid for itself by the end of next year, so there is still a savings to be had.
Personally, I'd rather give my money to the people of Maine or Quebec than the governments of Saudi Arabia, Iran or Russia.
Local, renewable fuel is the wave of the future. I hope.
Personally, I'd rather give my money to the people of Maine or Quebec than the governments of Saudi Arabia, Iran or Russia.
Local, renewable fuel is the wave of the future. I hope.
From a wood burner...
I would never plan to buy firewood in January. Midwinter demand will always outstrip the supply and drive the price to a seasonal max. The same goes for your pellets. Since the dealers plan to make their highest margin/profit at this time.
Try to plan your bulk purchases when the demand slows in late winter/early spring. Then dealers/suppliers have to dump their inventory since they do not want to carry it until next fall.
At least, we are not filling our car/truck fuel tank with $4 gal. gasoline, for now.
Good luck and good pellet shopping.
Keep warm.
I would never plan to buy firewood in January. Midwinter demand will always outstrip the supply and drive the price to a seasonal max. The same goes for your pellets. Since the dealers plan to make their highest margin/profit at this time.
Try to plan your bulk purchases when the demand slows in late winter/early spring. Then dealers/suppliers have to dump their inventory since they do not want to carry it until next fall.
At least, we are not filling our car/truck fuel tank with $4 gal. gasoline, for now.
Good luck and good pellet shopping.
Keep warm.
kinsman stoves said:
I paid $187/ton this year, so I think good prices are still out there. I do however live in the midwest, where it seems that the price is always lower for pellets. To me, the prices being paid on the coasts are crazy and if pellets were only available in my area at $6 or more per bag, I wouldn't be buying them.
I understand pellets are high priced right now. There are numerous factors for this and I know they all have been brought up here. Pellets are only one source of heat and yes they can be a bargain but plan ahead. Currently it is 31 degrees outside. A few months ago it was 70 degree but I knew it was going to get cold. I paid $3.11 a gallon for propane because I know I will need 300 gallons for the winter. I also filled a 18' x 20' sally port with wood for the wood stove. Some was seasoned and some is not. I will not use all of it or at least I hope I do not. I had 5 tons of pellets in my garage and have pellets I can bring home from the store. I try to bring a few bags home each night.
You have to plan ahead. Yes it will get cold in the winter and warm in the summer. My wife bought me some shorts the other day for this summer. I am sure they were on sale.
Eric
You have to plan ahead. Yes it will get cold in the winter and warm in the summer. My wife bought me some shorts the other day for this summer. I am sure they were on sale.
Eric
I guess all of you have a valid point. I am lucky enough to have a area to store pellets and was able to get them for 199.00/ton back in May, purchased 5 ton. It will be interesting to see how much they are this May but I don't expect a dramatic increase, I might be surprised. In any event propane, oil and natural gas will go back up in price. A few years from now I believe all of you will be happy you have a pellet stove that is burning fairly inexpensive fuel.
SparkMan said:
gawd bless ya sparky, great point , keep making it!
as for us locally they went up a buck a bag from this time last year, it should be noted that my house has electric baseboard heat and my electric has gone up more per KWh in that span than the pellets did , BTW in 1993 it was almost 400 a month to heat with the baseboard electric and that was before it was really cold, i can still buy a ton of pellets a month and still come out ahead, and i wont burn a ton in a month by far. if pellets get to where its cheaper for me to use baseboard im back to cordwood , i think i know where i can come by a woodstove at a fairly decent price ;-P i dont see that happening though, even at 6 bucks a bag its quite acceptable for me.
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