Will we ever see pellets back down to 200-225 a ton or lower?

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Tony K

Tony K

Member
Hearth Supporter
Jan 11, 2009
173
Northeast Ct
Last year (and still spot burning) I used 5 tons. With todays price averaging 280 a ton for a decent pellet it will cost me 1400 plus for next year. I havent spent that much in oil the last 3 years combined! I am seriously thinking about spending the 1400 this year on a woodstove with the outside stainless steel vent giving me alternate heating sources in the future and hope pellet prices come back down. I have the wood sources right in my back yard, own a chain saw and a splitter so wouldnt have any additional cost. My situation is probably different than most. I bought the pellet stove originally not as a main source of heat but rather to heat my basement, spend a lot of time in the basement. When oil prices went crazy last year I decided to use the pellets 24/7 rather than paying the high oil prices and was happy with the results. The basement was always between 73 - 75 degrees (hamer hot ones, I'm sure the temp will be lower with some of the other pellets I'm seeing advertised) and upstairs was 68 - 69 degrees. Yes wood is a little more work but exercise is good for everyone! But then we in Ct will have the newly passed wood burning nuisance law to deal with starting in 2010!

so does anyone think the prices will come down?
 
Hey Tony,

I would say yes, But there are a lot of If's involved. Oil must stay low and the building trades have to pick up. Maybe even other fuels such as switch grass, Bark and Straw pellets becoming readily available. Otherwise were stuck with these prices for now.

just my 2
jay
 
and the competition from europe, there are quite a few pellet manufacturers exporting there now. Probably explaining some of the reason for higher pellet prices on the east coast, compared to the northern midwest, and north west US.
 
This terrible economy will probably cause pellet prices to go down.
If paper mills keep closing down, and lumber sales stay in a slump. Like in Maine.
They'll be more woodsmen lacking work and trying to sell logs to pellet mills.
Not a very pleasant picture for alot of folks in the forest industry.
 
i actually found pellets from Quebec which is just across the border from where i am in NY for 220/ton. they are LG Granules.....burned them last year and loved them!!! only 5 bucks more a ton than last year, so i feel lucky!!!!
 
Was talking to a customer of ours around here last week, he said he's looking to get some for $180 or less in a group truckload deal. Our prices out here seem to be a lot less than the north east though.
 
Prices will stay high as long as there are people willing to pay high prices . In my case at $ 280.00 a ton X 4 = $1120 + gas to eat and heat water $ 40.00 a month= $ 480.00 = $1600.00 or use gas for $150.00 a month = $ 1800.00 . SO I have a lot of screwing around for $ 200.00 savings a year . And I have to add delivery fee of 2 cases of beer and wings for use of my buddies truck and back add on another $75.00 .
 
As stated by others here, as long as people will pay $300.00 per ton, that's what pellets will go for. The only thing that will drive them down is when people stop buying at that price point. I took a different rout to reduce the cost of pellets: new attic insulation that cut my pellet usage by 1/3 this year.
 
Tony K said:
Last year (and still spot burning) I used 5 tons. With todays price averaging 280 a ton for a decent pellet it will cost me 1400 plus for next year. I havent spent that much in oil the last 3 years combined! I am seriously thinking about spending the 1400 this year on a woodstove with the outside stainless steel vent giving me alternate heating sources in the future and hope pellet prices come back down. I have the wood sources right in my back yard, own a chain saw and a splitter so wouldnt have any additional cost. My situation is probably different than most. I bought the pellet stove originally not as a main source of heat but rather to heat my basement, spend a lot of time in the basement. When oil prices went crazy last year I decided to use the pellets 24/7 rather than paying the high oil prices and was happy with the results. The basement was always between 73 - 75 degrees (hamer hot ones, I'm sure the temp will be lower with some of the other pellets I'm seeing advertised) and upstairs was 68 - 69 degrees. Yes wood is a little more work but exercise is good for everyone! But then we in Ct will have the newly passed wood burning nuisance law to deal with starting in 2010!

so does anyone think the prices will come down?
Click to expand...


I am seriously thinking about spending the 1400 this year on a woodstove with the outside stainless steel vent giving me alternate heating sources in the future and hope pellet prices come back down.

I do not think $1,400 will get you close to a stove and a chimney. You might come close to $3,500 but that is it.

As for pellet prices. You will not get any lower than what you see right now.

Eric
 
Tony K said:
Last year (and still spot burning) I used 5 tons.
With todays price averaging 280 a ton for a decent pellet it will cost me 1400 plus for next year.

so does anyone think the prices will come down?
Click to expand...

I don't think prices will be coming down any time soon in New England.
 
The highest I paid this past heating season was $220/ton.

Supplier thinking next years price will be around $230/ton, or there is a chance he thinks he can get under $200/ton if the deal he is working on comes together.

That is without a prebuy commitment, just picking up a ton when I need them.
 
Deffy said:
i went to home depot today to get supplies to start my veggie garden. on the way out i noticed half a pallet of stove chow pellets sitting in the corner.......if they are still sitting there wasting floor space maybe i can make a deal with a mgr just to get them off his floorspace.......
Click to expand...

Deffy,

I tried that with the HD in Newburgh...talked to the Mgr. about a deal to take 4 tons of the Stove Chow cheaper than the $298/ton he has them listed at (and still has 11 tons sitting outside), and he laughed...he said they plan on selling pellets all year long, and the price isn't going to change.
 
When I picked up my pellets I asked the owner if we will ever see prices at 200 per ton and she just looked at me like a deer staring at headlights... :gulp:
 
Here in New England (MA) I see pellet prices going nowhere but up. Right now, they are about the same as during the previous heating season, minus $10-$20. God help us is there is even slight rise in oil prices as pellets could easily reach $350 or more.
 
Once inflation picks up due to all the new money in circulation I think you will see all prices head up.


Matt
 
It appears that those of us in New England have some of the highest prices on pellets which makes it a tough decision. I really want Barefoot because it burns the best in my stove but the only realistic place for me to get it wants $305 a ton and they don't deliver. CTPellet had it for $280 but I'm not a customer yet and they were all gone before April 1st when I was allowed to buy. I think people are paying $300 a ton because, if we want a decent pellet, we have no choice. If I lived in a different part of the country and could get it for $230, this would be a no brainer. Oil is the variable. Right now its low but who knows after this weekends events in North Korea. In a nutshell, my big worry is to wait and then later in the season, pay more than I would now, if I could get them. Right now, I'm looking at Pelletsales but all I can get are Cleanfire and I can't find them around here to try a few bags before committing to 3 ton. Anyone have any feedback on them vs Barefoot?
 
In Rutland Vermont the pre-buy is $229 for Maine Pellets. The higher quality pellets are at $259. E-bay has some even lower prices with limited delivery.
 
same as the original poster, i bought my stove as supplimental heat, not primary. 2 years into it prices for pellets just kept going up. (with the price of oil) i used it pretty much for primary heat for 2 years. saved me a bunch of money, but where i installed the stove wasnt the greates location for trying to heat the whole house. this past fall i installed a wood boiler, which worked out real good. the boiler is real nice because every room is the same temp. i still had the stove on to help overnight because i was sometimes too lazy to feed the boiler right before going to bed, or if i was gone for long periods of time. right now with temps in the range of 50+ degrees, all i am using is the pellet stove, and only burning 1-2 bags a week. so, even at 6 bucks a bag, for me its still pretty efficient to run the stove. however, if i was burning 1-2 bags a day, that would be a different deal. just like posted above, the price of pellets really wont fall drastically until people quit buying them. i really like my pellet stove, but if prices continue to rise, well, thats just gonna suck.
 
mandkj said:
It appears that those of us in New England have some of the highest prices on pellets which makes it a tough decision. I really want Barefoot because it burns the best in my stove but the only realistic place for me to get it wants $305 a ton and they don't deliver. CTPellet had it for $280 but I'm not a customer yet and they were all gone before April 1st when I was allowed to buy. I think people are paying $300 a ton because, if we want a decent pellet, we have no choice. If I lived in a different part of the country and could get it for $230, this would be a no brainer. Oil is the variable. Right now its low but who knows after this weekends events in North Korea. In a nutshell, my big worry is to wait and then later in the season, pay more than I would now, if I could get them. Right now, I'm looking at Pelletsales but all I can get are Cleanfire and I can't find them around here to try a few bags before committing to 3 ton. Anyone have any feedback on them vs Barefoot?
Click to expand...

I also went to taht place and he said the price might be around $285/ton in a couple weeks, but we need to pick them up.

You can get Barefoot online for $279/ton plus delivery, check pelletsdirect.com

There's also a guy sellijng Greene Team Gold Premium in Wallingford, which is only 13 miles from me in Naugatuck, price is $275/ton, depending on the stove you have you may want to go there and try a couple bags, most people here (if not all) gave positive feedback about this brand, I burned a couple bags last week and liked them a lot, burns very hot. PM me if you need to.

..
 
Thanks for the info Geek. I really like Barefoot but for $305 a ton and I have to haul them, its not worth it. I e-mailed PelletsDirect a few weeks ago about a delivery and they never responded. Does the place in Wallingford deliver?
 
yeah, he does obviously by the tons.
I need to go back to Wallingford this week to pick up my car at Executive Honda and am planing to get 2 more bags to be positive the pellet is really good for me. This guy is very close to Executive Honda so would be a no brainer to stop by.

I can buy 2 bags for you if you want and then you can come up to my house and pick them up. Let me know or PM me if you want, otherwise you can make the trip and see their facility for yourself and all that. They also told me that either they can deliver this month or hold the pellets for you until no later than end of August. If buy a couple tons I'd definately want mine delivered right away......!!

..
 
Tony K said:
But then we in Ct will have the newly passed wood burning nuisance law to deal with starting in 2010!
Click to expand...
This is the first I've heard about this, do you have a link with the details?
 
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