pellet stove pellets in short supply?

[bitternut]

Well, it looks like the makers of stove pellets have taken a lesson from the oil and gas companies. A local news station in Buffalo, NY tonight did a report on the short supply of pellets for pellet stoves. They are talking about rationing and that the supply shortge won't end till spring. What the heck, I have a lot of aspen, black birch, beech and red maple they can grind up for pellets. I am sure that a lot of others do too. I just may have to start bagging up some of those piles at the bottom of the porcupine den trees. Any other parts of the country having a pellet supply problem?

[maple flats]

I've heard the same talk in central NY but I haven't checked it out. Doesn't seem like this would be a hard item for upstart companies to tap into  and fill a void.

[Tom]

Who's starting the rumors, the stove people, the pellet people or the media?

[Frank_Pender]

Tom, they are all in the same set of sheets, as far as I am concerned.  I will try and make a call or three out here tomorrow and see if I hear the same sort of story.

[Ed_K]

 I read in either the northern logger or forest products, that the short supply here in the east is due to, lack of producers. The only mill this side of the miss. rv is in Jaffery N.H. and they are running full tilt. Seems that a couple more mills could be built to get the flow up.

[Faron]

I use a handful to start my corn burner.  Went to my local Rural King yesterday, and they were out.  They expect to get another shipment in next week.  By the way, oak pellets are the only kind I have seen.

[mike_van]

I stopped to pick up coal Tue [not for Christmas presents]  The tractor trailer happened to be there unloading pellets, I talked to the driver, he said there was NO sawdust available to make the pellets from. Demand had skyrocketed according to him. Big sign at the store "5 BAG LIMIT"  I didn't price them 'cause I don't burn them, but i've heard the price has almost doubled since summer. 

[Cedarman]

One problem with getting into the pellet making business is a fairly high start up cost.  Then you need a source, a big source of dry, mostly kiln dried material.  A lot of the big mills use their waste wood to generate heat and electricity for their own needs. 

I doubt if the money is there to take even low grade wood, dry it, grind it and make into pellets. It is only feasible to use waste wood.

Now, I haven't taken a pencil to it. Anyone have all the facts and figures of costs in making pellets?

It is like our mulch.  We hog all of our slabs and edging strips to make mulch. But I could not grind logs and make mulch because I have too much money in the logs.  But in Missouri, a fellow that I know buys logs cheap and has done a good job marketing his mulch as a high end premium mulch and is making money at it.

[Roxie]

Ya know...I just put in a wood stove and when we were shopping for it, we saw a lot of those pellet stoves.  Cowboy Bob lingered over a few, and I told him to keep walking because the whole idea (to me) was to be able to go get your own fuel.  I wanted to be able to control the supply of heat fuel personally.  Even with coal stoves, someone else is setting the price.  I feel vindicated!     I'm real sorry other folks are having that problem, but I saw that coming from a mile away....

[Mr Mom]

look at the machains to make pellets the company said that if you had 2.5 to 3.5 million they could set up a system for you. all you need was a building 100ft wide 130ft long and a 30 to 40ft ceailing. My dad and i thought with all the amish having a mill around here we could start a little company. Anybody have 3.5 millon i can barrow.

[mike_van]

Roxie, I agree 100% - Worst part about those pellet stoves is thats all you can burn in them.  Some years ago it was Kero-Sun heaters, same thing one winter - Kero was hard to find, so the price went through the roof. They always stunk anyway.  The other day coal was 4.75 / 40lb bag, last year it was 4.00 - I use about a ton every winter, saves a few cord + of wood, and on the coldest nights [10F and lower]  it lasts all night where I can't stuff enough wood in to do that.  When I hear that oil burner kick on it gives me the creeps.  Oil came the other day, 2.45 gal. Tank only took 44 gals. Hardy Har Har.  

[bitternut]

Smart move there Roxie. Those pellet stoves do have some nice features but like people are finding out you are still at the mercy of fuel suppliers. Woodstoves make you pretty independent if you have your own wood.

I am totally dependent on propane for hot water, kitchen stove, clothes drier and forced air heat. Since I burn wood I wasn't burning enough propane so they raised the price on me. The higher the price got the more wood I burned. Now my furnace only runs when I am away longer than about 8 hours or so in winter. Used even less propane so the company raised the price even more. Took care of that though, bought my own tank. Now I can buy it from any body I please and it does pay you to shop around. It is a job trying to stay ahead of these energy companies. Someday I won't be able to cut wood and then I will be at their mercy again.

[Burlkraft]

I was at our local co-op earlier this fall. They told me then that pellets were in short supply. People were buying them by the pallet. I don't have a pellet stove, but we do buy wood shavings for the horse. Shavings are also getting in short supply cuz all the shaving are going to make pellets. It's like the dog chasing it's tail

[rebocardo]

Another thing is a pellet stove will only burn (without 120v electricity) as long as the battery will last for the feeder and such. If you do not have power for a week you better hope you have multiple batteries lined up unless you are going to recharge them by running your truck.

There are a few pluses for pellets, you can store the bags in the garage or room without worrying about bugs, it is possible to leave a load running when you go to bed and have it still burning when you get up, and you do not have to worry about fire smoke entering the room. Other then that, I can't see having one. Myself, I rather have a real stove or oven. One thing I do not like is once you put a hole in a bag, if you do not use it fairly soon and it is stored outside at all, even under cover, the pellets break down from absorbing air moisture.

[Burlkraft]

I wuz just wonderin' how many pellets are in a pallet of pellets

[srjones]

how many pellets are in a pallet of pellets

60 bags @ 40 lbs per bag or 1.2 tonnes

[Murf]

The same problem up here, a neighbour of mine has a pellet stove and he's been 'rationed' by the supplier too.

In fact they say they've temporarily shut down one pellet manufacturing facility up here because they can't get enough sawdust, it's all heading south. Rumour has it they're going to start making softwood / hardwood mix pellets soon to try and ease the shortage.

[bitternut]

Here you go guys. Just a short drive and you can get all the pellets you need. You can find anything on E-Bay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Premium-Wood-Pellets-Pellet-Stove-Fuel-4-000-lbs_W0QQitemZ6020871336QQcategoryZ20598QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[sjh]

My parents have a pellet stove. There pellets are made localy. I think Arcade NY. They can only get 3 bags at a time. They can get a ton in January from another source.

[Jason_WI]

Get one that burns corn. At a $1.50 a bushel it is cost effective.

This is what happens when too many people jump on the alt energy bandwagon and the axels busted on the wagon

Jason

[farmerdoug]

That sounds alot like the local paper here.  They did an article on alternative fueled vehicles.  At the top of their list was diesel fueled vehicles.

Farmerdoug

[jgoodhart]

Just went up to the stove shop and snoust around and they only have 12 skids of pellets that I seen and they normally have them stacked everywhere. Asked about wood stove sales and the salesman said there is a waiting list on popular models and manufactures can't build them quick enough. I guess fuel oil at 2.45 to 3.00$ gallon folks are getting there chain saws back out.

[Burlkraft]

60 bags @ 40 lbs per bag or 1.2 tonnes

Okay....but then how many pellets does it take to make 40 lbs

I got waaaay too much time on my hands

[GF]

I did the same thing this past fall as you did Roxie.  I thought very seriuosly about a pellet stove, but decided on wood, at least I can go cut a tree down someplace to stay warm and not have to listen to excuses why the prices keep increasing.   I am sure glad I purchased the wood stove instead.

[sjh]

Burlkraft
Using my parents pellets there are 1,280,000 pellets in a ton. That is figuring all of them are 1/2" long. They actual are 3/8" to 1& 3/4" long.
Scott

[Tom_Averwater]

One of the farmers around here has an ad in the paper for corn for corn stoves. $ 3.00 a 50 pound bag.

[Jason_WI]

Marketing at its best. Most people have no way of handling bulk corn so they get the convience of it in bags, for a price. No worse than the armfull of campfire wood at the gas stations for $5 bux.

Jason

[farmerdoug]

I hear you on marketing.  I tried to sell pickles at the market loose and in a quart container.  I was charging 4 for $1.00 loose and 1.50 a conainer, there is 5 pickles in the container.  Most people will take the quart container as they do not like to have to pick their own out.

Farmerdoug

[Burlkraft]

Ya learn sumpthin' evry day don't ya?

That's a lot of pellets..................

I'm sure you know my next question.........

At say 20* F with R19 insulation in your shop.........

How long will a pallet of pellets last you   

[Fla._Deadheader]

 Is that question regarding LIT or just standby

[rebocardo]

Those pellets on E-Bay sold for $610! 

re:how many pellets per bag

4,016 give or take 1,000   

The size of a big green pea and weigh about the same.

I saw that this mightbe energy crisis time, so I ordered my wood stove from northern tool Note:Please read the Forestry Forum's postion on this company on August. Now I just have to install it ...

[Jim_Rogers]

One of the fellows who comes over here from time to time, and his friends were going to buy a lot of pellets and store them in a tractor trailer box one of them had.
What they wanted to do was all throw in together and get a good price on buying a lot of pallets so they'd all have enough for the entire winter.
The set up the trailer last August and went to the local supply store and tried to buy enough for all of them to get through the winter.
The supply house said they have to place their order for all the pellets they want for the coming winter in March, and that he didn't expect them to place such a large order that he couldn't help them as their order would have taken a lot of his supply away from his regular customers.
I'm not sure if they are going to do this again this year by placing their order in March or not.
They were talking about the factory in or around Keene, NH as being the only one in the New England area, and that he was running his operation full speed and wanted to expand to meet demand.

And  also, the suppliers were importing some pellets from Canada, and other states further away, to New England.

[exssnelt]

I installed a pellet stove in a house built in the late 1700s because I like liked the consistent heat it provided in my parents house.  My parents live 2 doors down from me-all houses on our street are log with siding. I have been remodeling my parents house for the last 20+ years-now its energy efficient, but the house I had was a nightmare. Consistent heat heat only happens in a well insulated house (mine was not). The only room that was warm was the room with the stove. The dealer that sold me the stove assured me the stove would heat my whole house (not even close). In the dead of winter it was 60F in the stove room, and much colder in all the other rooms. We had to order pellets in August to make sure we had a timely delivery.

In summary, if you want to heat one room-they work great. IMO they dont come close to a wood stove. My Dad likes it because there is no splitting, stacking, etc. cut open a bag-load and go. Me, I like more heat.

Jim

[Rockn H]

I was just talking about this with a couple of my freinds that haul pellets out of the plant in Pinebluff AR.  You can go there and buy a pallet ( one ton ) for around $200.  They have no sortage of sawdust, but when my freinds ask the dealers they are delivering to about how much they sell the answer is always that this truckload has already been sold.  It seems that demand is way above supply.  The guy that runs the plant there tells one of my buddies that a pallet should last all winter, and for $200, to fuel it all winter, my friend is thinking about buying one of these high dollar stoves.  To me, being limited to a manufactured fuel surce is not what I would want to spend money one right now.   I see a chance for a large price increase.

[Ironwood]

I am with Roxie, Years ago we bought a fancy Vermont Castings (Their largest wood stove) for our main entry into our 1300 sq. ft. house.   The house is 30 x 30 two story gambrel roof. We insulated the heck out of it when we did a full renovation. The heat naturally convects and the WOOD stove can heat the whole house. I haven't used it for two years (we ran 1000' of 2" pipe) since we got natural gas and had a baby. I need to build a cage around it to protect our 3 year old. I understand the conveinence of openiing a bag but heck, just turn on the furnace! I am not sure any of this is worth it unless you can create your own supply of wood and even then it depends on what your time is worth. I got to the point were I was just buying wood from others. I just decided to turn up the themostat!

                            Reid