BANGOR, Maine — Within the past couple of years, wood pellet stoves have emerged as a cheaper alternative to No. 2 heating oil and a less labor-intensive option than regular firewood.
But, while it’s still early in the season, finding pellets to feed these stoves is no easy task
A number of pellet purveyors in Greater Bangor reported this week that while they are selling pellets, they don’t have any at the moment.
“I think October 1st is our next shipment,” said Luke Waldron, a sales associate at Lowe’s in Ellsworth. “We usually get a truckload every two weeks, but they are gone within three days.”
Jeff Stein, assistant store manager at The Home Depot in Bangor, also said his pellet pallets are empty.
“We’re still trying to catch up to the people that we pre-sold to earlier this year,” he said. “We’ve been getting three trucks a week, but very few of those bags go to in-store customers.”
Because the demand is so high, Stein said, the Bangor store has stopped pre-selling.
At Aubuchon Hardware in Newport, a sales associate who identified himself only as Al, said he has had to turn down customers in recent weeks.
“If I had [wood pellets], it would be fantastic, because tons of people want them,” he said Wednesday by phone.
Aubuchon has consistently carried pellets, he said, but lately suppliers have not been delivering in a timely fashion.
“We have 80 tons on order from seven different suppliers, but they all have a different excuse for why they can’t deliver,” he said. “It’s too bad, though, because we have customers that have been coming for years, and we can’t give them a single bag.”
Like Home Depot, Aubuchon has stopped pre-selling.
“We had a guy come in last year and order 5 tons, so we stopped doing that,” Al said.
The current price for a ton of pellets is around $300 in the Bangor area. A 40-pound bag usually retails between $6 and $8. Even if the price of pellets doubles, energy experts say, it’s still more cost-effective than oil, although that does not include the initial price of a stove, which can range anywhere from $1,500 to $5,000.
On 9/25/08 at 5:22 AM,
mrclam wrote:
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I bought 6 tons of delivered to my door pellets at $200 per ton in June. Don't people plan ahead? Winter comes every year. Come on people, think.
On 9/25/08 at 7:52 AM,
Knightscross wrote:
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I bet in a few years Wood Pellets will cost the same as oil per BTU. These manufacturers know they have a monopoly and captured, desperate customers.
On 9/25/08 at 12:02 PM,
SteveyDee wrote:
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About 8 yrs ago I bought a ton for $154.00.
On 9/25/08 at 2:54 PM,
Forbes wrote:
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The readers of this article should know some things before jumping to conclusions in regards to Pellet producers in Maine. Here in the County we have 1 medium mill producing pellets. There has been a shutdown of the largets mill in the County, and a reduction of production in all Mills in this area. This has put a cramthe producers of pellets in getting the raw materials needed to produce this material. The owner of Northeast Pellets in Ashland is a 27 year old single man in a wheelchair, he and his crew are running 24 hours a day 6 days a week. There is by no means a manopoly is play. This young man is owed respect for what he has done in his condition, and looked at as a role model for people to overcome handicaps. Not only is this man a friend of mine, we are cousins. Instead of pointing fingers towards individuals who own the pellet mills, lets look o our Senators to assist us in Washington to bring our economy back on track, oil prices down, and allow people to build homes again in this Country. These are the DIRECT factor as to why pellets are not sitting on shelves throughout the Northeast on any given day. KUDDOS TO YOU MATT!
On 9/25/08 at 3:18 PM,
Diana22 wrote:
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Wait. i thought there was an abundance of pellets not even 2 months ago?
On 9/25/08 at 4:51 PM,
Maggie wrote:
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I can't help but wonder if the pellet industry is screwing us like the oil companies. We bought our pellets in the spring for 219.00 a ton and bought the stove. Now my stomach sinks everytime I see how much they keep raising the prices and southern Maine is even more expensive. Can we honestly say that pellets are going to continue to be lower than oil to make it worth it to go out and purchase a stove? I think that we did all this work to get the stove up and running this year, only to have the cost next year to be the same as oil. When is the price increase enough??!
On 9/25/08 at 8:18 PM,
Harrry wrote:
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Many folks wonder when our elected leaders are going to help us, (the People). Sorry but they are busy hepling those on Wall St., who have been screwing us for years. Unless we help ourselves, nobody will.
On 9/25/08 at 8:43 PM,
christine wrote:
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Supply & Demand......
On 9/26/08 at 6:42 AM,
CharlieS wrote:
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I bought a pellet stove in April for 4000.00 installed. A new high energy oil furnace is 4500.00 I also bought my pellets at the same time for 209.00 a ton. For the last 25 years I used round wood for heat. Now round wood is 300.00 a cord a ton of pellets is equal to 1 1/2 cords of wood so at 300.00 a ton pellets are still a good buy plus there 1/3 the work with the same type of heat
On 9/26/08 at 9:39 AM,
downfleeced wrote:
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At $300.00 a ton pellets are still a 1/3 cheaper than oil at $3.75 per gallon based on BTU output. I'm still waiting for my wood stove to arrive...DAH!
On 9/26/08 at 8:41 PM,
robmalone wrote:
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ever thought of coal? based on btu output and price coal is about the best way to go.
On 9/28/08 at 2:11 PM,
jake04743 wrote:
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To the gent that spoke of planning ahead, I have been trying to purchase my 4 tons since June, quite unsuccessfully. I also don't think that anyone is directly criticizing the wheelchair bound owner of the Ashland mill ( I burnt his pellets last year, and they are one of the better quality I've yet to see ). I think most of the problem is simply supply, demand, and buying more than you need. I still have not purchased pellets, though I will be shortly. I have reduced my order by half reducing the burden on my supplier, and I urge others to do the same. We will have pellets. Just like we had electricity and computers at the turn of the millenium.
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