Where To Get Wood Pellets
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 11. 6.05
Some of our readers were interested in finding suppliers of wood pellets. This year the demand for pellets is very high, leading to shortages in many stores. We've found a couple of pages with listings of suppliers in the U.S.: Pellet Fuel Institute and Alternative Energy Retailer Online (PDF File). When shortages are not in effect, wood pellets can also be found at hardware and retail stores around the country including Home Depot, Walmart and Ace Hardware. Pellets come in 3 grades, depending on ash content (less ash the better), the higher grade pellets are hardwood while the lower grade is pine, most of the major hardware chains sell the middle grades. The brands and availability change with each season.
Pellet stoves generally range in price from $1700 to $3300, depending the quality and features of the stove. Installation costs are relatively low, usually ranging from $350 to $550, because the stoves require a simple 3"-4" venting system (not a chimney). Many stoves can be vented horizontally, directly through an outside wall — no special materials on the surrounding walls are required. Here's a quick sampling of different brands of pellet stoves.
If you buy a pellet stove, prepare yourself for some manual labor. A homeowner who runs her stove 24 hours a day will need to fill the appliance with pellets once a day and clean out its ash once a week. You'll also need a large enough space to store roughly 150 40-pound bags of pellets.
I'd like to know what the energy costs are to produce the pellets in the first place?
Does anyone have any information as to where you can get pellets in the UK, and whether this is a more economical way of using a wood burner?
I have called Home Depot, Wal-mart, Lowes and Ace hardware none of these plcaes are carring wood pellets half of the people I have talked to don't even know what I am talking about..So I would like to know where I can get wood pellets..
Thanks,
Michelle
Where are wholesale dealers or manufacturers of wood pellet fuel hiding. Plenty of sites for the stoves but no one seems to offer the fuel this year. What is happening? Has someone cornered the market in this product and is holding it back for a higher price or what?
Trueman Harrison
Michelle - Try some of your local Feed & Grain suppliers. Many of them carry wood pellets. Agway, Sams club, and some of the Ace Hardware stores carry them as well.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/sporty04/toastystove3.jpg
Trueman
see my post above to Michelle. I'd like to add that, Lowes, Home Depot, and Walmart do get periodic deliveries of wood pellets throughout the season but you have to keep calling and be quick on the draw because each store only gets approx. 18 - 24 tons per delivery and they sell it out in a matter of an hour or two! Call their indoor seasonal department and ask when the next scheduled delivery will be, then start calling the week of the expected delivery.
Most of the chain stores sell by the ton, not by the bag, so have a truck ready to go or you will lose out. The reason they sell out so quickly is because their prices are often much lower than the feed/grain supply shops. (My local Lowes gets 198.00 per ton).
Lots of places here in Massachusetts are limiting sales to 10 or 20 bags per person per sale.
Some places will only sell by the ton, and others will only sell up to a ton per person. I paid from 5.15 a bag to 5.60 a bag at feed/grain supply shops. Highest price I've been quoted so far this past week was 6.75 per bag. That place can kiss my behind!
Anyway, try the places I mentioned and make sure to ask when they expect a shipment. Use your local yellow pages as well as the internet because many places that carry pellets just aren't listed on the web.
Good luck folks!
We've been told by the person who runs our local Agway that the sales of Wood Pellet stoves went up 700% this year and that pellet makers had not anticpated the rise in demand. She implied that hardware and feed stores might not be high on the list of those receiving deliveries in the near future.
I have wood pellets available by the bag or by the ton.Right now the price is $210.00 per ton or $4.40 per bag + tax for less than a ton.Delivery is available locally.The price could go up for my next shipment because of trucking charges.These are Premium Grade pellets manufactured by Allegheny Pellet. www.woodpelletfuels.com I am located in Urbana Ohio 43078.
I purchased a pellet stove on 9/21 and ordered 2 tons of pellets from Lowes. I paid for the pellets on 10/12, but they were never delivered. I was promised them many many times, but they have NEVER come through. Seems someone is selling any pellets coming in at a much higher price. The pellets can only be found for $8.00 a bag on Long Island. Sams, Agway and Walmart don't have any. Lowes is a horrible store. I complained to the national chain numerous times and nobody has ever called me back. Still no pellets, any suggestions. If I can't get pellets by next week I am returning the stove to Lowes.
Robert
the statement that hardwood pellets are the top grade aRE IN CORRECT BOTH HARDWOOD AND SOFTWOOD PELLETS ARE PREMIUM OR TOP GRADE IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE ASH CONTENT NOT THE TYPE OF WOOD.DONT BE MISLED BY PEOPLES OPINIONS BE LED BY THE FACTS
We puchased a pellet stove from Lowe's.It is a
ENGLANDSTOVE WORKS brand.Also, known as summersheat stoves.We plan to return the stove to Lowes because of the lack of customer service at englandstoves.The stove has many flaws that become obvious even without owning one in the past.The auto start feature of this stove wastes pellets.the auger continues to feed the burn tray
until the igniter finally kicks in.At that time the fire is huge and instantly begins to fray the door gasket.this auto start feature is pre-set by them.
After several attempts to reach their 1 customer
service line we attempted to email them.They did reply to 1 of our emails and then have ignored our
pleas to answer questions.We conveyed our disbelief of their toll free number being constantly busy.who ever heard of a busy signal
on an 800 number.this is a case of the mentioned
inablility of pellet stove makers to keep up with demand and do nothing but increase the costs as much as others have stated.they request on the paerwork NOT TO RETURN THE STOVE TO WHERE PURCHASED.Lowe's has promised to allow it to be returned.lowe's in pa. cannot keep up with pellet demands either.What the country needs is a way to
make our own pellets from the same wood waste they they make it from and eliminate they greed of them all.
would like to hear from anyone who has had similiar problems with them or lowes.we have always been satisfied with lowes and intend to post to this forum the results on this item.
thanks,
John
I have a Vermont Castings pellet stove. They made them for one year about 12 years ago (They are now owned by a Canadian company). It still runs, but the pellets I have been getting locally - when I can get them at $4.20 a bag, ten at a time - are very heavy with sawdust which clogs the stove very quickly and results in lots of clinkering. There is a severe shortage of pellets this year, and this is my primary heat source. Seven years ago I was one of four or five people in the county with a pellet stove and it was tough to get pellets due to lack of demand. Now that so many people have the stoves, the reverse is true. The local sawmill looked into going into production, but it was 8 million dollars just to buy used equipment. I have four bags left, and there are no retailers that have any pellets. I may be doing a mid-winter switch to a wood stove here very soon. How fun. Other than that, it is a good heat source. My house is too small and well insulated to have a wood stove that can support a fire all night and not roast the doors off of the place - but that is looking much better than freezing.
I was lucky from what I have read so far. Back 2 months ago I purchased a pellet stove (that was installed yesterday) and discovered then that pellets were very much in demand. Fortunately I happened upon that Wal-mart was carying them.
They were out frequently but I kept calling. Then the day came when they said "yes, we got in 22 ton yesterday". I had to move fast and I made 2 trips, getting 1 ton each trip.
My full-size van may not have liked it but I was very happy to snatch up the pellets at $3.67/bag. Whether in quanitity or by the bag the price was still the same.
Next year, I'm buying my pellets in June!
Good luck to the rest and keep calling!
In the Town of Fairfield Connecicut, located in lower Fairfield County, just south of Bridgeport is a company called Southport Boat Works. These two guys Brad and Joe usually have tons of pellets available at a reasonable price. They sell Allegheny Pellets Premium Grade Low ash .5%. You can E-mail Allegheny at pellet@woodpelletfuels.com or call Ron Leofsky(814)563-4358 for Southport Boat Works contact phone #. They mostly offer customer pick up but will deliver at an extra cost depending on distance and location. Also if you order early in March they can lock you in at a good rate for early pick up only if you have the room to store pellets in the summer. By ordering early and stock piling tons of pellets yourself will save you money and alot of hassles in the colder months when locating available tons is nearly impossible. An example of our usage and consumption. We have an Approx. 1800 sq. ft. house and run the stove 24/7 in the basement and burn approx. 4 1/2 to 5 tons a season. Heating the first floor between 70-72 degrees and the second floor to 65 degrees
Southport Boatworks in Souhport Connecticut has premium hardwood low ash pellets in stock. Please feel free to call us at 203 257 2941
We are also taking orders now for the up coming 06-07 heating season. Very reasonable prices can be had by ordering now.
Home Depot in Avon, Massachusetts had 18 tons of pellets available on Sunday, Jan 8th. Well, I bought a ton and picked them up on Monday and at that point they had 13 tons left. Brand is Stove Chow, and they are pretty much the same as Dry Creek. 229.00 a ton which isn't bad for this time of year considering the most recent mad rush and price gouging.
Looking for up to one ton of low ash wood pellets, with delivery for THIS season. Impossible to find ANY pellets from Ca to NY. Even called Canada!! Someone with stock to sell PLEASE email with quantity and shipping quote. Thanks to all who read.
Were are the pellets? There was also a shortage last year also. We have to keep calling the local hardware stores and occaisoinally get lucky. Is this a supply and demand thing because of the high price of natural gas?
I just wanted to let everyone know that I was able to purchase wood pellets from www.pelletsales.com just recently. Not only where they in stock, but they are much cheaper than any of my local stove shops. Best of all, they deliver right to my driveway. Worth checking out...
the pellets are made from sawdust waste. so, in a good way, it's recycling. the problem this year is, alas, the economy. not much building going on, less sawdust waste, less pellets being produced.
i live in missouri and we have plenty of pellets; at Lowe's, Home Depot, Wal-Mart's, most hardware stores as well as the pellet stove sales stores. low-grade to high-grade, with prices ranging from $3.67 per bag (yes, we can get them by the bag, as well as by the ton...with a nice discount by the ton...pallet is what they call it) to $4.20 per bag for premium (red oak). personally, i go to Osage Beach (about a half hour from me) to a Hartman Stove dealer and buy the pallet of premium grade from them for $200, which is the same price as last year. the only problem i've encountered is as spring approaches no one wants to keep them in stock, so around the end of february i buy enough to get through the cooler spring nights.
i also had an Englander (last winter)...nice enough for a starter, mostly i learned what i really wanted in a pellet stove and it was not the Englander. i concur with all of the problems that john (posted above) had. i recently sprung for an incredible pellet stove...(top of the line model) by Santa Fe...couldn't be happier. wish all the best of luck getting your pellets. call around, buy extra, stay warm! kate